The Snowy Valleys Council is a local government area located in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. This area was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of the Tumut Shire and Tumbarumba Shire councils. However, following a massively successful referendum in 2025, the council will be deamalgamated back to the two shires by 2027.
The council area comprises 8,960 square kilometres (3,460 sq mi) and covers the western side of the southernmost parts of the Great Dividing Range and foothills in New South Wales. Large sections of the local government area are contained in national parks. At the time of its establishment, the population of the council area was estimated to be 14,953.
The Mayor of Snowy Valleys Council is Councillor Julia Ham, who won the most recent election in 2024.
In November 2025, the Snowy Valleys Council held a referendum to de-amalgamate into the former Tumbarumba Shire and Tumut Shire local government areas with 87.28% support and 12.72% against.
Contents
Main towns and villages
In addition to the towns of Adelong, Batlow, Tumbarumba and Tumut, localities in the area include Brindabella, Brungle, Cabramurra, Gilmore, Grahamstown, Greg Greg, Gocup, Jingellic, Khancoban, Killimicat, Little River, Maragle, Rosewood, Talbingo, Tooma, Wondalga and Yarrangobilly.
Heritage listings
The Snowy Valleys Council has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Mount Kosciuszko to Eden: Bundian Way
Tumut, Adelong Falls Gold Workings
Tumut, Cootamundra-Tumut railway: Tumut railway station
Tumut, 46 Russell Street: Montreal Community Theatre
Tumut, Tumut Plains Road: Junction Bridge, Tumut
Rosewood, 1730 Tumbarumba Rd - Elm Cottage established c 1885.
Demographics
At the 2021 census, there were 14,891 people in the Snowy Valleys local government area; of these 50.4% were male and 49.6% were female. The median age of people in Snowy Valleys Council was 45 years; the national median is 38 years.
At the 2021 census, 42.0% of residents stated their ancestry as Australian. 65% nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity, which was significantly higher than the national average of 47.1%. 87.2% of households only speak English at home, higher than the national average of 72%.
Council
Snowy Valleys Council consists of nine councillors elected proportionally as a single ward.
Current composition
The current Council, elected in 2024, is: