Election information

Yarra electors went to the polls to elect the city's nine Councillors in November 2008. All Victorian Councils now have a four year term, with the next Council election to be held on Saturday 27 October 2012.

Council elections can be conducted by either attendance voting or postal voting. Each Council decides on the method by which the election will be held. The 2012 election of Yarra Council will be conducted by attendance voting as per previous Yarra elections.

Changed ward boundaries

Some changes have been made to the internal boundaries of Yarra's three wards following a review by the Victorian Electoral Commission. These changes will apply at the 2012 election, meaning that some people will be voting for representation in a different ward compared to the previous Council election. Here is more information on the results of the Review of Council Representation.

Eligibility to vote in Council elections

A person who is entitled to vote at State elections (i.e. is 18 years of age or over and is an Australian citizen) is required to vote in a Council election for the ward in which she/he is registered as having their principal place of residence. You can check if you are already on the state register of electors for Victoria by visiting the Victorian Electoral Commission website.

Under the Local Government Act 1989, you can also vote in any municipality where you own property. This is otherwise known as being an absentee ratepayer. You are only entitled to one vote in any single municipality. For example, if you own multiple properties in a single municipality, you may still only vote once in that municipality's local Council elections.

Council automatically enrols most absentee ratepayers without requiring an application. There are exceptions to this:

if there are more than two owners, a maximum of two can be enrolled
if an owner is a corporation, the council will not automatically enrol it. A corporation can apply to enrol one of its directors or company secretaries as a voter
if an owner lives at the property the council will not automatically enrol them because they will normally be on the State electoral roll. A resident owner, who is not on the State roll, can apply for enrolment on the council roll

If you have any queries about whether you are enrolled as a absentee ratepayer or to apply to enrol, please contact David Slater, Revenue Services Coordinator, on 9205 5261 or at David.Slater@yarracity.vic.gov.au

Failure to Vote

People are required to vote at Council elections held for the municipality in which they have their principal place of residence. Failure to vote will attract a penalty of approx $66.

If you are enrolled as a absentee ratepayer, voting in the municipality where you do not live is not compulsory.

Change to Elector Details

Where a person changes their principal place of residence, they need to obtain an Electoral Enrolment Card from any Post Office. The card will need to be completed with the new residential details and returned to the Australian Electoral Commission. The Commission will record the changes, which will then be reflected in Commonwealth, State and Council Voters' Rolls. For enquiries, please contact the Victorian Electoral Commission on 13 1832.

Further information

Ivan Gilbert
Executive Manager - Governance
9205 5110
Ivan.Gilbert@yarracity.vic.gov.au