Hannah Hammoud
The structure of Brimbank council’s wards will soon be changed, with a preliminary report due to be released this week following an electoral structure review.
The review follows on from requirements introduced by the Local Government Act 2020 which detailed several changes, including that all metropolitan, interface and regional city councils must now have single-councillor ward electoral structures.
Brimbank council must transition to a single councillor ward structure prior to the 2024 council elections.
Thirty-nine Victorian local councils, including Brimbank, are in the process of undergoing these reviews.
The reviews have been conducted by two electoral representation advisory panels appointed by the Local Government Minister Melissa Horne to make a recommendation to the Minister on electoral structures.
The panels are considering the appropriate number of councillors and wards for each council, the location of ward boundaries, and ward names.
To help explain the review process and answer any questions, the Victorian Electoral Commission is hosting an online public information session at 6pm, on Tuesday, October 17.
The preliminary report will be published on Wednesday, October 18, with the period for submissions opening on the same day.
People interested in making a response submission to the preliminary report can map the ward boundaries for their proposed electoral structure online using the public submission tool available on the VEC website as part of their submission.
Response submissions will close at 5pm, on Wednesday, November 8.
At the end of the review, the panel will make a final recommendation to the Local Government Minister. It is then up to the minister to review the recommendation and decide what is best for Brimbank council.
Once the minister has made her decision, any changes will apply at the next local council elections.
The final report will be provided to Ms Horne on December 13.
Details: shorturl.at/AFIMN
