The mayor of Tamworth Regional Council is Cr. Russell Webb, who was elected (by councillors) despite earning only 6.73% of the community's first preference votes, compared to Mark Rodda, who earned 25.63% of the community's first preference votes.
At the 2021 census, there were 63,070 people in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area, of these 49.0 per cent identified as male and 51.0 per cent identified as female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 12.7 per cent of the population, which was greater than three times higher than the national average of 3.2 per cent. The median age of people in the Tamworth Regional Council was 39 years, which was marginally higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.2 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.8 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 44.6 per cent were married and 11.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.[1]
Population growth in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area between the 2011 Census and the 2016 Census was 6.0 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area was slightly lower than the national average.[14]
The median weekly income for residents within the Tamworth Regional Council was lower than the national average, this downwards trend compared to the national average was also seen with personal and family incomes.[1]
At the 2021 Census, the proportion of residents in the Tamworth Regional local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon was about 83.3 per cent of all residents (the national average was around 62.9 per cent). About 49.2% of all residents in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2021 Census, which was higher than the national average of approximately 32.4 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the 2021 Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area had a significantly lower than average proportion (6.8 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (the national average was 24.8 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (87.2 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (the national average was 72.0 per cent).[1]
Selected historical Census data for the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area
Tamworth Regional Council is composed of nine 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 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:[17]
^"Tamworth Regional Council". data.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 22 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024. Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) was established in March 2004, amalgamating the northern NSW shires of Barraba, Manilla, Nundle and Parry and the city of Tamworth. It is one of the biggest councils in inland NSW, with a population of over 58,000 spread over an area three times as large as the Sydney basin at 9884.2 sq Km.
^ ab"Tamworth Regional Councillor Election". NSW Electoral Commission. 22 December 2021. Archived from the original on 23 July 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024. The following candidates were declared elected on 22 December 2021: Bede BURKE Russell WEBB (IND) Mark RODDA (IND) Marc SUTHERLAND (IND) Phil BETTS (IND) Helen TICKLE (IND) Brooke SOUTHWELL (IND) Stephen MEARS (ALP) Judy COATES