Litchfield Municipality

Geography

The Litchfield Municipality is bounded by the Adelaide River to the east, Van Diemen Gulf and the Coomalie Shire in the south and the City of Darwin and City of Palmerston to the northwest. The Stuart and Arnhem Highways run through the Litchfield Municipality. Most of the Municipality is rural or rural-residential in character.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of the shire is 12.4%.

Current day service provision

Despite the first elected body's original ethos of the 3Rs in the early 1980s, Litchfield Council went on, and continues, to provide numerous services beyond Roads, Rubbish and Recreation, including but not limited to;

• Animal Management
• Abandoned Vehicles
• Planning and Development
• Thorak Regional Cemetery (from 1 July 2008)
• Street Lights (from 1 January 2018)
• Waste and Recycling
• Taminmin Library
• Recreation Reserves
• Weed and Roadside Management

These services are available to be used by all residents and visitors to the municipality in carrying out their daily activities.

In addition to its services, Litchfield Council has adopted a Tourism and Events Strategy 2021-2024 https://litchfield.nt.gov.au/system/files/uploads/files/2020/Litchfield%20Council%20Tourism%20and%20Events%20Strategy%20-%20FINAL.pdf and, in its Municipal Plan 2021-22, committed to develop a youth strategy and action plan https://litchfield.nt.gov.au/system/files/uploads/files/2021/Litchfield%20Municipal%20Plan%202021-22-online.pdf

History

The original inhabitants of the Litchfield area were the Larrakia, Wulna (or Djerimanga) and Djowei Aboriginal people. The arrival of European settlers dates from 1864. Litchfield is named after Frederick Henry Litchfield who with William Patrick Auld was a member of an early survey and settlement party and who explored areas of the Northern Territory from Escape Cliffs in Van Diemen Gulf to the Daly River. Some growth took place during the 1870s and 1880s, after the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line. There was more substantial growth during the post-war years, especially during the 1970s.

The Litchfield Shire was proclaimed by an Act of the NT Parliament on 6 September 1985. On 7 December 1985 an election was held to elect the first Council composed of a Shire President and four Councillors each representing a ward – North, South, East and Central.

This first elected body formulated a series of objectives under which Council was to operate. The objectives were based upon the provision of services in what is traditionally known as the 3Rs (Roads, Rubbish and Recreation) and on the principle of contracting out the provision of these services. The level of services under these functions were to be commensurate with a philosophy of low rates.

In 2008 Litchfield Shire removed Shire in its name due to the new Local Government Act 2008, which saw changes in the structure of local government across the Northern Territory.

In 2015 the entire Litchfield council and mayor Allan McKay was sacked by then NT Local Government Minister Bess Price amid allegations of bullying, misuse of funds and budget blow-outs. Allan McKay while serving as mayor had previously received a no-entry order and had been banned from council property after being accused of harassing council staff and fellow councilors.

In the subsequent election in November 2015, former local primary school principal Maree Bredhauer was elected as Mayor out of a field of eight candidates.

Consistent with its legislative requirements under the Local Government Act 2008, Council undertook an electoral review in May/June 2020, with a formal recommendation put forward to the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Community Development, for the Litchfield Council area to be divided into three (3) wards, North, South, and Central. These new boundaries came into effect on 16 July 2021.

A new Mayor, Doug Barden, was elected in the 2021 general election held in August. There is a growing tension between zoning of rural blocks into suburban size blocks, such as in Howard Springs. This is being inflamed by a rising population post-COVID into the Territory who require housing as opposed to residents who settled due to the rural lifestyle.

Localities

Localities within the boundary of the Municipality include:

The majority of localities within the Municipality were gazetted on 29 October 1997. Herbert was gazetted on 15 July 1998 while Channel Island and Wickham were gazetted on 21 April 2004. On 4 April 2007, the localities of Glyde Point, Gunn Point, Koolpinyah, Shoal Bay, Weddell and Wak Wak were created and the boundaries of the localities of Blackmore and Murrumujuk were amended.

Population

In the 2021 census, the Litchfield Municipality had a population of 21,411 with 39.1% describing their ancestry as Australian. This is followed by 34.6% describing their ancestry as English, 9.2% Irish, 8.9% Scottish and 7.2% Australian Aboriginal. 77.0% of Litchfield residents were born in Australia, followed by 3.1% in England, 1.8% in New Zealand, 0.7% in the Philippines, 0.7% in Thailand and 0.6% in Vietnam. 79.0% spoke only English at home followed by the next most common languages: 0.7% Vietnamese, 0.6% Thai, 0.5% Greek, 0.4% Mandarin and 0.4% German.{{Historical populations |1986 | 7410 |1991 | 9746 |1996 | 13858 |2001 | 16086 |2006 | 17461 |2011 | 18994 |2021|22879}}

Council presidents

• John Maley (1985–1996)
• Gerry Wood (1996–2001)
• Mary Walshe (2001–2012)

Mayors

• Alan McKay (2012 – 2015)
• Maree Bredhauer (2015 - 2021)
• Doug Barden (2021 - 2025)
• Rachael Wright (September 2025 - present)

Council - current composition

The city of Litchfield is divided into 3 wards each electing two councillors, as well as a directly elected Mayor.

References

References

1. (27 March 2019). "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
2. (29 October 1997). "Litchfield Municipality Localities (map)". Northern Territory Government.
3. "Data by region {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics".
4. "Services & Projects".
5. (12 October 2015). "'Dysfunctional' Litchfield Council sacked by NT Government". ABC News.
6. (22 January 2015). "'Exiled' mayor allowed into council building for meeting". ABC News.
7. "Archived copy".
8. (28 August 2021). "Litchfield - Mayor".
9. "Place Names Committee".
10. "Place Names Register Extract for Herbert (locality)". Northern Territory Government.
11. (29 October 1997). "Place Names Act, NAMING OF PUBLIC PLACE". Northern Territory Government.
12. (21 April 2004). "Place Names Act, Naming of Public Place ("East Arm localities")". Northern Territory Government.
13. "Litchfield Council (sic)". Northern Territory Government.
14. "2021 Litchfield, Census All persons QuickStats {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics".
15. Government, Northern Territory. (2025-08-23). "Litchfield - Mayor (1 vacancy)".
16. Government, Northern Territory. (2025-09-06). "Results".
17. "Elected Members {{!}} Litchfield Council".