Council history

The path to today

The Cairns region has an interesting local government history since the first body was formed in 1879. Since then there have been amalgamations and de-amalgamations. Below is a short history of the Cairns Regional Council.

The first local government of Cairns, the Cairns Divisional Board, was established in 1879.

In 1885, the Divisional Board was split into two parts. One remained the Cairns Divisional Board while the other became the Cairns Municipal Council. In 1923, the Municipal Council became the Cairns City Council.

The Cairns Divisional Board existed until 1902 when it became the Cairns Shire Council, which in 1940 became the Mulgrave Shire Council. The Mulgrave Shire Council operated until 1995 when it was amalgamated with Cairns City Council.

Cairns City Council amalgamated with Douglas Shire Council in 2008 to become Cairns Regional Council, and then de-amalgamated with Douglas in 2014.