Central Highlands Council

Central Highlands Council Tasmania
Central Highlands LGA in Tasmania
Coordinates	42°12′36″S 146°39′36″E / 42.21000°S 146.66000°E / -42.21000; 146.66000Coordinates: 42°12′36″S 146°39′36″E / 42.21000°S 146.66000°E / -42.21000; 146.66000
Population	2,309 (2015 est)
• Density	0.28948/km2 (0.74975/sq mi)
Area	7,976.4 km2 (3,079.7 sq mi)
Mayor	Deirdre Flint
Council seat	Hamilton
Region	Central Highlands
State electorate(s)	Lyons
Federal Division(s)	Lyons
Website	Central Highlands Council
LGAs around Central Highlands Council: West Coast Meander Valley Northern Midlands West Coast Central Highlands Council Southern Midlands West Coast Derwent Valley Southern Midlands

The Central Highlands Council is a local government area in the central highland region of Tasmania. It is the second largest Local Government Area of Tasmania, after the West Coast, and the least densely populated, with only 0.3 people per square kilometre.

It covers most of the mountainous centre of the state, also known as the Central Plateau which contains the Central Plateau Conservation Area including sections of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, as well as the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, and Walls of Jerusalem National Park. Other smaller reserves of different status occur in the region as well.

The population of the area is small and quite decentralised, resulting in a large number of small towns. Some of these towns were founded as support sites for workers on the hydro-electric dams scattered along the upper Derwent River. Main towns are considered Hamilton (council headquarters) and Bothwell.

The towns (with population as of 2006):

The municipality is subdivided into eight townships:

Central Highlands Council have the second highest birth rate in all of Tasmania and one of the highest birth rates for all of Australia. The TFR was estimated at 3.20 in 2006. Source. Only George Town with a TFR of 3.75 had a higher birth rate than Central Highlands. [1]. TFR was reported at 3.46 in 2007. [2]