Shire of Colac Otway

The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 3433km2 and, at the 2011 Census, had a population of 20,345. It includes the towns of Apollo Bay, Beeac, Beech Forest, Birregurra, Colac, Cressy, Forrest, Johanna, Kennett River, Lavers Hill, Warrion and Wye River. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the City of Colac, Shire of Colac, Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury.The Shire is governed and administered by the Colac Otway Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Colac, it also has a service centre located in Apollo Bay. The Shire is named after the combination of the names for the former City of Colac, and Shires of Colac and Otway, of which the majority of the LGA was formed from. The name Colac is used for both the main urban settlement and the lake, Lake Colac, which are located in the north-centre of the LGA. Colac is also the most populous urban centre in the LGA with a population of 11,415. The name Otways is used for the major geographical features located in the south of the LGA, which are The Otways and Cape Otway.