The review of electoral structures in 12 Victorian rural shires will commence next week.
The Victorian Electoral Commission today announced the schedule for the reviews which split the 12 councils into three groups.
Independent electoral representation advisory panels will conduct the reviews, with the process to include public information sessions and a public submission period.
The process commences next week for Buloke, Gannawarra, Northern Grampians and Yarriambiack shire councils. They will be followed in subsequent weeks by Corangamite, Surf Coast, Campaspe, Strathbogie, Hepburn, Moorabool, Central Goldfields and Mount Alexander shire councils.
More details about the the process, including dates and panel composition can be found here.
VEC Media Release:
Throughout 2023–24, 39 Victorian local councils will undergo electoral structure reviews, with round one reviews for 12 rural shire councils kicking off next week.
The Local Government Act 2020 (the Act) introduced several changes, including that all small and large rural shire councils must now have electoral structures that are either unsubdivided, subdivided with single-councillor wards, or multi-councillor wards with an equal number of councillors per ward.
The reviews will be conducted by independent electoral representation advisory panels. Under the Act, the Electoral Commissioner (or delegate) must be a member of a panel.
‘The panels will consider if councils have an appropriate number of councillors and whether they should be one large unsubdivided area or subdivided into wards,’ Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately said. ‘If the council will be subdivided, the panel will look at how many wards the council should have, the number of councillors in each ward, ward boundaries and ward names.’
The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) will provide technical and administrative support to the panels.
The 12 councils in round one have been divided into 3 groups. For each group of councils, there will be 2 public information sessions to announce the start of the reviews, explain the processes, and open the submissions period.
The VEC encourages all Victorians, particularly those in the local council areas under review, to contribute to the review process and have their say.
People interested in making a submission can map their proposed electoral structure online using the public submission tool available on the VEC website at vec.vic.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/council-reviews/electoral-structure-reviews from Wednesday 25 January.