City of Wyndham: History
The Wyndham District was first incorporated as a local government entity on 6 October 1862. Under changes made to Local Government legislation, it became the Shire of Wyndham on 7 March 1864 and was renamed the Shire of Werribee on 15 December 1909.
With an initial size of 715 square kilometres (276 sq mi) and being largely rural in character, the shire ceded land to metropolitan Melbourne as suburban development encroached. On 6 January 1922 and 5 February 1941, the City of Footscray annexed two parcels of land totalling about 700 hectares. On 20 February 1957, the Altona Riding of the Shire of Werribee was severed and incorporated as the Shire of Altona, which became a City eleven years later. After this, the boundaries remained fairly stable, and on 20 March 1987 Werribee was proclaimed a City.
On 15 December 1994, during major restructuring of Victoria's local governments, Werribee changed less than most. It gained no new territory, and lost only some rural areas in its north-west (Balliang East to the Shire of Moorabool and Exford to the Shire of Melton) and residential areas on its eastern flank (Seabrook, the western half of Altona Meadows and the residential part of Laverton to the City of Hobsons Bay). After 85 years of being known as Werribee, the area's former name of Wyndham was restored.
The Eynesbury development, approved in the 2000s, straddled the 1994 LGA boundary. On 1 July 2026, Wyndham's northern boundary was shifted southward so as to unite the entire urban-zoned area of Eynesbury in the City of Melton.