The Local Government Act 1989 requires the VEC to conduct an electoral representation review of each municipality in Victoria at least every 12 years. The VEC is an independent statutory authority that conducts reviews independently of both councils and the State government.
An electoral representation review considers:
- the appropriate number of councillors for the municipality;
- whether it should be divided into wards; and,
- whether it is to be divided into wards, the number of wards and councillors per ward, names of wards and positioning of ward boundaries.
If it is decided that a municipality will be subdivided, all votes within the municipality are required to have the same value. To achieve this, the VEC must ensure the number of voters represented by each councillor in each ward is within 10% of the average of voters per councillor for the whole municipality.
The VEC also considers the electoral structure of the municipality. Considerations include areas and physical features of terrain; means of travel, traffic arteries, communities and diversities of interest; and, the likelihood of changes in the number of voters in various localities. This ensures an electoral structure that best captures the community interests within the municipality is applied.
At the end of the review, the VEC makes its a final recommendation to the Minister for Local Government. Any changes to the electoral structure of the municipality apply at the next Council general elections.
The representation review process
- The VEC conducts research and prepares material for the public.
- The VEC advertises the review in local media, and holds public information session(s).
- People can make 'preliminary submissions' to contribute their views and local knowledge about any issues relevant to the review. Any person or group, including the Council, can make a submission. People have at least 28 days after the review is advertised to lodge a submission. The VEC recommends consulting the relevant Guide for Submissions first.
- The VEC creates a number of different options for the municipality's electoral structure. The VEC presents the best options in a Preliminary Report. The VEC chooses these options based on its research, including information presented by the public.
- People and groups have at least 28 days after the Report is released to make 'response submissions'.
- A public hearing is held. People may speak in support of their submissions if they state their intention in response submissions to the Preliminary Report.
- The VEC prepares a Final Report making recommendations to the Minister for Local Government. The Report is publicly available from this website.
- The Minister for Local Government considers the VEC's recommendations and may make a determination. Any determination applies at the following Council election.
Section 219D of the Local Government Act 1989 specifies that the purpose of a representation review is to achieve 'fair and equitable representation for the persons who are entitled to vote at a general election of the Council'. The VEC achieves this by following three main principles:
- Ensuring the number of voters represented by each councillor is within 10 per cent of the average number of voters per councillor for that municipality.
Populations are continually changing. Over time these changes can lead to some wards having larger or smaller numbers of voters. As part of the review, the VEC corrects any imbalances and also takes into account likely population changes to ensure these boundaries provide equitable representation until the next review.
- Taking a consistent, State-wide approach to the total number of councillors.
The VEC is guided by its comparisons of municipalities of a similar size and category to the council under review. The VEC also considers any special circumstances that may warrant the municipality to have more or fewer councillors than similar municipalities.
- Ensuring communities of interest are as fairly represented as possible.
Each municipality contains a number of communities of interest and, where practicable, the electoral structure should be designed to take these into account. This allows elected councillors to be more effective representatives of the people in their particular municipality or ward.
A representation review cannot:
- change the external boundaries of the municipality
- divide the municipality into two separate municipalities
- amalgamate it with another municipality.
These changes can only be made by the
Governor in Council on the recommendation of the Minister for Local Government.
The VEC bases its recommendations on a number of factors, including:
- conducting research
- drawing on its experience in conducting electoral representation reviews across Victoria and assisting the Electoral Boundaries Commission (external link) in establishing State electorate boundaries
- drawing on its experience in mapping and boundary modelling and also engages consults with experience in local government to provide advice on specific local representation
- carefully considering all input from the public.
Public submissions are an important part of the process, but are not the only consideration during the review. The VEC seeks to combine the information gathered through public submissions with its own research and analysis of other factors, such as the need to give representation to communities of interest. The recommendation is not based on a 'straw poll' of the number of submissions supporting a particular option.
When a municipality is to be reviewed, a 'guide for submissions' for that municipality is made available on this website (and in hard copy by contacting VEC). These guides contain all the necessary information, dates, locations for public hearings and paperwork that may be required.
Interested groups or individuals can make 'preliminary submissions' prior to the release of the VEC's preliminary report.
Once a preliminary report has been produced, interested groups or individuals can submit a response for consideration. These responses are considered by the VEC prior to the development of the final report, which is submitted to Minister for Local Government.
During the review process, the preliminary report will be available for download from the council's representation review page once it has been produced.
When a review is complete, the final report will be available from the past representation reviews page or you can contact our office to have a copy sent to you.
