Local government areas of the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal Australian territory in north-central Australia. It is the third largest Australian federal division with an area of 1,348,094.3 square kilometres (520,502 sq mi) but the least populous with 245,929 inhabitants as at June 2019.^[1] The Northern Territory is divided administratively into 17 Local government areas (LGAs) generally known as Councils who are responsible for providing local government services.^[2]

Area types

As of 1 July 2008, there were two classifications of local government in the Northern Territory:

Municipalities (predominantly inner-city suburban areas and smaller rural towns), of which there were five; and
Shires or Regions (predominantly rural or outer suburban areas), of which there were eleven shire councils.

The Northern Territory was unusual as a comparatively large share of the territory's population lived in unincorporated areas. In 2006, prior to the reorganisation of local government areas in the territory, 92 percent of the land area (1,237,999 km² (477,994 sq mi) out of 1,349,130 km² (520,900 sq mi)) with 16 percent of the population (30,523 out of 192,898), was unincorporated. This anomaly is due to the territory's very low population density, just 0.16 people per km² (0.099 people per sq mi).^[3]

Most of the unincorporated areas disappeared as a result of local government reform in 2008. The area remaining unincorporated is 19,790 km² (7,640 sq mi), 1.47 percent of the total,^[4]^[1] and contains 3.0 percent of the population in June 2019.^[1]

By comparison, in the only other states or territories in Australia with unincorporated areas, only 0.02% of the population of New South Wales, 0.002% of Victoria's population and 0.6% of the population of South Australia, live in unincorporated areas.

Current local government areas

Local government area	Council seat	Region	Type	Year est.	Land area^[1]		Population^[5]		Notes
Local government area	Council seat	Region	Type	Year est.	km²	sq mi	2021	2022	Notes
Alice Springs, Town of	Alice Springs	Central Australia	Town	1 July 1971 (1971-07-01)	328	127	28,601	28,922
Barkly Region	Tennant Creek	Barkly Tableland	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	322,713	124,600	7,203	7,239
Belyuen Shire	Belyuen	Greater Darwin	Shire	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	41	16	165	165
Central Desert Region	Alice Springs	Central Australia	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	281,312	108,615	4,124	4,114
Coomalie Community Government Council	Batchelor	Greater Darwin	Council	7 December 1990 (1990-12-07)	2,056	794	1,403	1,399
Darwin, City of	Darwin	Greater Darwin	City	1854 (1854)	111	43	85,397	85,158	Darwin Town and District Council formed, 1874; redesignated Darwin Town Council, 1915; redesignated Municipality of Darwin, 1955; redesignated City of Darwin, 1959
East Arnhem Region	Nhulunbuy	Arnhem Land	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	33,310	12,861	10,097	10,096
Katherine, Town of	Katherine	Katherine	Town	3 March 1978 (1978-03-03)	7,417	2,864	10,706	10,802
Litchfield Council	Freds Pass	Greater Darwin	Council	6 September 1985 (1985-09-06)	2,903	1,121	23,048	23,209
MacDonnell Region	Alice Springs	Central Australia	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	268,329	103,602	6,583	6,640
Palmerston, City of	Palmerston	Greater Darwin	City	2000 (2000) (as a city)	53	20	39,641	40,447
Roper Gulf Region	Katherine	Katherine	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	185,210	71,510	7,442	7,487
Tiwi Islands Region	Darwin	Greater Darwin	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	7,483	2,889	2,738	2,744
Victoria Daly Region	Katherine	Katherine	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	153,287	59,184	3,224	3,265	De-amalgamated in 2014 into Victoria Daly and West Daly Regional Councils
Wagait Shire	Wagait Beach	Greater Darwin	Shire	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	6	2	465	465	Formerly the Cox Peninsula Community Government Council, established on 28 April 1995.
West Arnhem Region	Jabiru	Arnhem Land	Region	1 July 2008 (2008-07-01)	49,675	19,180	7,186	7,249
West Daly Region	Wadeye	Katherine	Region	1 July 2014 (2014-07-01)^[6]	14,070	5,432	3,426	3,439	Part of Victoria Daly Regional Council from 2008 until 2014 de-amalgamation

Former local government areas

Prior to 1 July 2008, local government areas in the Northern Territory were classified as either :

Community Government Councils of which 51 existed,
Incorporated Associations (Commonwealth) of which three existed,
Municipalities of which six existed and
Special Purpose Towns of which there is only one example.

Towns

Town of Jabiru (special purpose town)
Town of Tennant Creek

Community Government Councils

Alpurrurulam CGC
Angurugu CGC
Anmatjere CGC
Arltarlpilta CGC
Belyuen CGC (now Belyuen Shire)
Binjari CGC
Borroloola CGC
Coomalie CGC (now Coomalie Shire)
Cox Peninsula CGC (now Wagait Shire)
Daguragu CGC
Elliott District CGC
Jilkminggan CGC
Kunbarllanjnja CGC
Lajamanu CGC
Ltyentye Apurte CGC
Marngarr CGC
Mataranka CGC
Nauiyu Nambiyu CGC
Numbulwar Numburindi CGC
Nyirranggulung Mardrulk Ngadberre Regional Council
Pine Creek CGC
Tapatjatjaka CGC
Thamarrurr Regional Council
Timber Creek CGC
Tiwi Islands CGC (now Tiwi Islands Region)
Walangeri Ngumpinku CGC
Wallace Rockhole CGC
Watiyawanu CGC
Yuendumu CGC
Yugul Mangi CGC

Incorporated Communities

Unincorporated Area

Unincorporated Area: A contiguous 92 percent of the area did not belong to any local government area. The LGAs were enclaves within unincorporated territory.