Darebin City Council, North West Ward by-election
We are holding a by-election in North West Ward in Darebin City Council this August after the passing of Councillor Gaetano Greco.
Enrolment
The deadline to update your enrolment for this by-election is 4 pm on Wednesday 21 May.
If you are enrolled, you must vote. If you don’t vote, you may get a fine. You must be correctly enrolled if you:
- are an Australian citizen
- are 18 years or older and
- have lived in North West Ward for at least one month.
Other ways to enrol
If you don’t meet these criteria, you may still be able to enrol as a council-enrolled voter if you:
- are 18 years or older and
- are an owner ratepayer, occupier ratepayer or represent a corporation.
You don’t have to be an Australian citizen to become a council-enrolled voter.
Contact Darebin City Council on 03 8470 8888 to check your council-enrolled status or apply.
If you own multiple properties in this ward
You are enrolled once and get one vote in this election.
If you are enrolled at one property and pay rates on another in this area, you will vote for your enrolled address.
Candidates
Nominations:
- open on Monday 16 June
- close at 12 noon on Tuesday 24 June.
Information session
Join our online information session at 6 pm on Thursday 12 June to learn more about becoming a candidate in this election. We will hold this session using Microsoft Teams.
We will share the link to register for the information session on Friday 6 June.
What devices can you use to participate?
- any PC or Mac computer
- any smartphone
- any tablet device
Joining the information session
You can join a Microsoft Teams meeting from any device, without a Microsoft account. For help, visit Microsoft support.
How to nominate
To nominate, you must:
- complete the Victorian Government's free Local government candidate training. You'll need to show that you've completed it within 2 years of Saturday 2 August 2025 when you nominate
- complete a nomination form
- submit your completed nomination form in person at the election office. You can make an appointment from Monday 16 June
By law, candidates must disclose donations and gifts they receive in the lead up to a by-election. For more information, visit the Local Government Inspectorate.
Candidate Helper
Candidate Helper is our online tool to help you prepare your nomination forms, candidate statement and questionnaire.
Candidate Helper will be available online from Monday 2 June.
Candidate statement and questionnaire
To tell voters about your background, qualifications and what you stand for, you can submit:
- a candidate statement of up to 200 words
- answers to the candidate questionnaire
- a photo of yourself.
This information will be publicly available on this website until the election result is declared.
You must submit your statement, photo and questionnaires before 12 noon on Tuesday 24 June.
Who can be a candidate?
Read our Becoming a local council candidate page for the rules on who can be a candidate.
Campaign donations
By law, candidates must disclose donations and gifts they receive in the lead up to a by-election. For more information, visit the Local Government Inspectorate.
More information
To learn about the nominations process you can:
- read about becoming a local council candidate
- download a candidate handbook.
Voting
Voting in this by-election is by post. We will mail ballot packs to all enrolled voters from Monday 14 July.
Your ballot pack will have:
- a ballot paper
- candidate statements
- a ballot paper envelope (for your vote to go in)
- a reply-paid envelope (for your ballot paper envelope to go in)
- a multi-language leaflet.
How to vote
Follow the instructions in your ballot pack to complete your vote.
Make sure you post it or drop it off at the election office before 6 pm on Friday 1 August.
If you don’t vote, you may get a fine.
To check if you're eligible to vote, read the 'enrolment' section of this page or call us on 131 832.
Who will vote?
You must vote if you are enrolled in Darebin City Council, North West Ward at 4 pm on Wednesday 21 May.
Large print or braille ballot packs
If you are blind or have low vision, you can register to get your ballot pack in large print or braille.
You only need to register once. If you've registered for past elections, you don’t need to register again.
Registrations will open shortly. Please check back later.