Mansfield Shire is located about 180 kms north east of Melbourne. The main town is Mansfield. The surrounding smaller settlements only have small numbers of permanent residents but swell considerably during holidays. Natural attractions include Mount Buller, Mount Stirling, parts of Lake Eildon and Alpine National Parks and the Great Dividing Range. The Alpine Resort areas of Mount Buller and Mount Stirling are wholly surrounded but excluded from the municipal district. A significant part of the municipality is Crown land. The main industries are tourism, farming (seed, sheep and cattle), light industry, light manufacturing, related timber industries and retail farming.

	2012-13	2011-12	2010-11	2009-10
Expenditure ($)	18.783m	18.083m	20.477m	15.258m
Revenue ($)	19.894m	22.213m	26.236m	20.008m
- Charges ($)	10.681m	9.885m	9.123m	8.522m
- VGC Grants ($)	2.637m	2.641m	2.552m	2.440m