A delightful area and a tourist destination since the founding of its first settlements in the 1800s, the modern Cardinia Shire was formed in 1994, when the existing Shire of Pakenham was merged with parts of the Shire of Sherbrooke and the City of Cranbourne. The Shire exists on the traditional lands of the Bunurong and Wurundjeri people.
It covers and area of approximately 1280 square kilometres, from Emerald, Cockatoo and Gembrook in the north to Caldermeade and Lang Lang in the south, and from Beaconsfield and Officer in the west to Longwarry in the east. At the time of the census in 2016, the population was about 94,000.
The Shire council comprises 9 councillors, across 3 wards: Central (Pakenham, ~24sq km, 4 councillors, ~30500 voters), Ranges (Avonsleigh, Beaconsfield,Beaconsfield Upper, Clematis, Cockatoo, Dewhurst, Emerald, Gembrook, Guys Hill, Menzies Creek, Mount Burnett, Nangana, Officer, Toomuc Valley, Pakenham Upper, ~405 sq km, 3 councillors, ~24,500 voters) and Port (Bayles, Bunyip, Bunyip North, Caldermeade, Cardinia, Catani, Cora Lynn, Dalmore, Garfield, Garfield North, Heath Hill, Iona, Koo Wee Rup, Koo Wee Rup North, Lang Lang, Lang Lang East, Longwarry, Maryknoll, Modella, Monomeith, Nar Nar Goon, Nar Nar Goon North, Nyora, Officer South, Pakenham South, Rythdale, Tonimbuk, Tooradin, Tynong, Tynong North, Vervale, Yannathan, ~851 sq km, 2 councillors, ~15, 125 voters).
The northern part of the shire borders the Dandenong ranges and is not only a popular tourist destination, but includes some of Australia’s most significant attractions and places, including Puffing Billy, while the southern and eastern parts are part of the green belt producing a significant part of Australia’s asparagus, apple and dairy.
It is serviced by both a suburban train service (as far as out from the city as Pakenham) and the country rail service VLine.
Still one of Australia’s fastest growing areas, despite suffering immensely in both the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983 and the Black Saturday fires of 2009, the residents 0f the Shire continually show great resilience and a strong sense of community.