The Central Goldfields Shire is located in central Victoria, one hour's drive from the regional cities of Ballarat and Bendigo and two hour's drive north west of Melbourne. Originally a gold mining area, the shire has developed on the back of agricultural industry. The main activities are cropping and sheep farming. Maryborough, the principal town in the shire, is a manufacturing centre. The main industries include meat and meat product manufacturing, other food manufacturing, printing & services to printing, agriculture.

	2012-13	2011-12	2010-11	2009-10
Expenditure ($)	28.274m	30.152m	24.684m	20.142m
Revenue ($)	37.219m	41.596m	29.062m	19.492m
- Charges ($)	10.672m	9.996m	9.081m	8.322m
- VGC Grants ($)	3.348m	3.348m	3.180m	2.978m