Horsham Rural City

Horsham rural city, an area of 4450 sq km, is north-west of the Grampians Range. Its administrative centre, Horsham, is 270 km north-west of Melbourne. The rural city is almost entirely in the Wimmera region. Its southern boundary touches the Rocklands reservoir on the Glenelg River and its northern boundary is a few kilometres from Dimboola.

Horsham rural city was formed on 20 January 1995 by the union of Horsham city, most of Arapiles and Wimmera shires and part of Kowree shire.

Horsham is a dominant part of the municipality having 79% of the population (2011 census), up from 76% in 2006 and 73% in 1996. The Western and Henty Highways intersect at Horsham and the Wimmera Highway joins the Henty 12 km north of Horsham.

Several streams run down from the Grampians, a few emptying into lakes in the south of the municipality. The Wimmera River, the largest watercourse, passes through Horsham and ends at Lake Hindmarsh in the Mallee: in very wet years it can overflow further north. Yarriambiack Creek, the municipality’s eastern boundary, ends at Lake Coorong, near Hopetoun, also in the Mallee. For the most part the streams pass through undulating to flat wheat/sheep country.

There are several small towns in the municipality, and the largest is Natimuk.

Horsham rural city’s census populations have been:

At the 2011 census, farming accounted for 9.5% of employment. The region’s original settlers are still reflected in residents’ religious affiliations at the 2011 census: