Barwon South West (region)

The Barwon South West is an economic rural region located in the southwestern part of Victoria, Australia. The Barwon South West region stretches from the tip of the Queenscliff Heads to the border of South Australia. It is home to Victoria’s largest provincial centre, Geelong and the major centres of Aireys Inlet, Apollo Bay, Camperdown, Colac, Hamilton, Lorne, Port Campbell, Port Fairy, Portland, Torquay and Warrnambool. It draws its name from the Barwon River and the geographic location of the region in the state of Victoria.

Comprising an area in excess of 40,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi) with approximately 360,000 residents as at the 2011 census, the Barwon South West region includes the Colac Otway, Corangamite, Glenelg, Greater Geelong, Moyne, Queenscliffe, Southern Grampians, Surf Coast and Warrnambool City local government areas and the Unincorporated area of Lady Julia Percy Island.

The Barwon South West region is located along the two major interstate transport corridors – the Princes Highway corridor and the Western Highway corridor. The region comprises two distinct and inter-connected sub-regions or districts: Greater Geelong and the Great South Coast. The region is bounded by Bass Strait and the Great Australian Bight in the south and southwest, the South Australian border in the west, the Grampians region in the north and the Greater Melbourne region in the east.