Ten Victorian councils will have their ward boundaries altered, just in time for the 2024 elections.
Following a review by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), the State Government has accepted the VEC’s final reports and recommendations to ensure a ‘fair and equitable representation’.
According to the Local Government Act 2020, the number of voters per councillor in any given ward should not vary by more than ten per cent from the average number of voters per councillor for all of the wards.
In February last year, VEC flagged the issue with the State Government, stating that they expected that councils in Bass Coast, Baw Baw, Boroondara, Cardinia, Greater Dandenong, Loddon, Murrindindi, Pyrenees, South Gippsland, and Wellington would have one or more wards with councillor-voter ratios outside of the allowed ten per cent tolerance by the October 2024 elections.
The State Government responded to the issue in April 2023, asking the VEC to conduct ward boundary reviews for these councils.
As a result, VEC has recommended that the ten councils alter their ward boundaries, with the State Government accepting the new ward boundary arrangements.
Minister for Local Government Melissa Horne praised VEC’s efforts to ensure a fair representation.
“We thank the Victorian Electoral Commission for their extensive work to ensure Victorian communities have fair and equitable representation from their local councils,” she said.
“These new ward boundaries will be in place for the local government elections this year, which is an important step in supporting local government to meet community expectations.”
