The Hay Shire is a local government area in the Riverina area of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Shire comprises 11,326 square kilometres (4,373 sq mi) and is located adjacent to the Sturt, Mid-western and Cobb Highways. The area includes the towns of Hay, Booligal and Maude.

Hay Shire was established in 1965 by the amalgamation of the Municipality of Hay with the surrounding Waradgery Shire.

The mayor of Hay Shire is Cr. Carol Oataway, an unaligned politician who had previously held the position of Principal of Hay Public School.

Demographics

Selected historical census data for Hay Shire local government area
Census year20012006201120162021
PopulationEstimated residents on census night3,5623,3832,9562,9462,884
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders (%)3.5%4.2%5.6%6.0%8.3%
LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales123rd121st121st
% of New South Wales population0.06%0.05%0.04%0.04%0.04%
% of Australian population0.02%0.02%0.01%0.01%0.01%
Cultural and linguistic diversity20012006201120162021
Country of birth (top responses)Australia90.4%90.5%88.2%80.3%80.0%
India0.7%0.5%1.3%
New Zealand0.8%1.1%0.8%1.3%1.1%
England1.0%0.8%1.0%0.9%0.9%
Fiji0.4%0.6%
Scotland0.3%0.4%0.4%0.4%0.5%
Language (top responses, other than English)Italian1.1%0.8%1.2%0.8%0.7%
Punjabi0.3%0.6%
Fijian0.2%0.5%0.4%
Afrikaans0.4%
Malayalam0.3%
Religious affiliation20012006201120162021
Religious affiliation (top responses)Catholic36.4%36.1%35.8%31.9%27.6%
No Religion7.1%10.4%10.9%16.3%24.3%
Anglican31.8%31.1%31.1%24.7%21.7%
Not statedn/cn/cn/c12.8%12.3%
Presbyterian and Reformed9.2%7.9%7.9%5.8%4.8%
Median weekly incomes20012006201120162021
Personal incomeMedian weekly personal incomeA$404A$441A$587A$700
% of Australian median income86.7%76.4%88.7%86.9%
Family incomeMedian weekly family incomeA$983A$981A$1,344A$1,622
% of Australian median income83.9%66.2%77.5%76.5%
Household incomeMedian weekly household incomeA$741A$805A$1,075A$1,236
% of Australian median income72.2%65.2%74.8%70.8%

Council

Hay Shire Council office and chambers, Hay

Current composition and election method

Hay Shire Council is composed of eight councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows:

PartyCouncillors
Unaligned7
Independent1
Total8

The current Council was elected in September 2024 . The councillors, in order of election, are:

CouncillorPartyNotes
Carol OatawayUnalignedMayor
Will MillerUnaligned
Lionel GarnerUnaligned
Martyn QuinnUnalignedDeputy Mayor
Darren TapperUnaligned
Geoff ChapmanUnaligned
Paul PorterIndependent
John PerryUnaligned

Election results

2024

2024 New South Wales local elections: Hay
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
IndependentCarol Oataway (elected)36622.79
IndependentWill Miller (elected)34821.67
IndependentLionel Garner (elected)20012.45
IndependentMartyn Quinn (elected)19712.27
IndependentDarren Tapper (elected)1418.78
IndependentGeoff Chapman (elected)976.04
IndependentDavid Townsend825.11
IndependentPaul Porter (elected)794.92
IndependentJohn Perry (elected)764.73
IndependentSteven Young201.25
Total formal votes1,606100
Informal votes55
Turnout1,661

2021

2021 New South Wales local elections: Hay
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
IndependentJenny Dwyer (elected)49128.1
IndependentMartyn Quinn (elected)26415.1
IndependentPeter Handford (elected)19811.3
IndependentPeter Dwyer (elected)19010.9
IndependentCarol Oataway (elected)1176.7
IndependentLionel Garner (elected)1035.9
IndependentGeoff Chapman (elected)905.2
IndependentJohn Perry643.7
IndependentDarren Clarke623.5
IndependentPaul Porter (elected)573.3
IndependentBeverley McRae482.7
IndependentDavid Townsend331.9
IndependentMegan Ruska301.7
Total formal votes1,74797.4
Informal votes472.6
Turnout1,79483.6

Literary reference

Banjo Paterson (1864–1941) wrote a poem called Hay and Hell and Booligal about the district.