Council Elections

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Voting entitlements are changing for the 2024 Council election due to the legislation within the Local Government Act 2020, and some ratepayers may need to apply to enrol.

Please read the information below, or visit the VEC website's Local Council Elections page

In a Victorian local council election there are two types of voters:

  1. State-enrolled
  2. Council-enrolled.

You have one vote in Yarriambiack Shire Council. If you are a state-enrolled voter, that is the enrolment you use to vote.

State-enrolled voters

You must enrol and vote if you:

  • are 18 years or older
  • are an Australian citizen
  • have lived at your address in Yarriambiack Shire Council for longer than one month.

For more information visit the VEC website

Council-enrolled voters (ratepayers)

Some ratepayers can apply to become council-enrolled voters in Yarriambiack Shire Council if they are:

  • a property owner, occupier or represent a corporation
  • 18 or older
  • not a State-enrolled voter within the Yarriambiack Shire Council

These are known as council-enrolled voters.

The rules for council-enrolled voters have changed ahead of the 2024 council elections. These changes are explained below.

Owner ratepayers

You can apply to enrol in Yarriambiack Shire Council if you:

  • own property and pay rates in the council area
  • are 18 or older
  • are not a state-enrolled voter who lives inYarriambiack Shire Council.

This includes:

  • Australian citizens who own a property in Yarriambiack Shire Council but do not live in the area (for example an investment or a holiday home)
  • non-citizens over 18 who own a property and live in Yarriambiack Shire Council.

Up to 2 ratepayers can apply to enrol per property, but each person only gets one vote.

Occupier ratepayers

You can apply to enrol in Yarriambiack Shire Council if you:

  • pay rates for a property that you occupy but do not own
  • are 18 or older
  • are not a state-enrolled voter.

Up to 2 people per property can apply to enrol, but each person only gets one vote.

Corporations

You can apply to enrol to vote on behalf of a corporation if you:

  • are a director or company secretary of a corporation that pays rates (either as an owner or an occupier) in the council area
  • have consented to being appointed as the corporation’s representative
  • are not already a state-enrolled voter or council-enrolled voter for the same council.

Only one person can apply to enrol as the corporation’s representative.

If you meet the criteria

If you meet any of these criteria, you can complete the appropriate application form, links at the bottom of this page, or contact Council via email at  info@yarriambiack.vic.gov.au or by phone 03 5398 0100 to obtain an application form.  

Once you are enrolled, you must vote for the October 2024 elections and onwards. If you don’t vote, you may get a fine.

Resigning your enrolment

If you don’t want to vote for that property anymore, you can apply to resign your enrolment.

Expiry of enrolment

Occupier ratepayers’ and corporations’ enrolment expires before the next local government general election.

If you want to continue to vote, you must apply to enrol again before the next local council general election (2028).

Yarriambiack Shire Council will send you an invitation when it is time to renew your enrolment.

Owner ratepayers’ enrolment does not expire, however they can resign their enrolment if they no longer wish to vote. If you sell your property, your council enrolment will automatically become invalid and you will have to apply to enrol again if you have a valid entitlement.

For information about Victorian elections, visit the VEC website.

Election Campaign Donation Returns

The Local Government Act 2020 s306 requires all candidates in a Council election to submit an election campaign donation return to the Chief Executive Officer within 40 days after election day.

The Chief Executive Officer must then submit a written report to the Minister for Local Government within 14 days advising the names of the candidates in the election and whether or not they submitted a return.

A summary of each election campaign donation return must be made available on Council’s website and include the name of the candidate and, if a gift is included in the return, the name of the person who made the gift and the total value of the gift received from that person.

View a summary of the election campaign donation returns below.

Election campaign donation returns are available for inspection at Council’s office, 34 Lyle Street, Warracknabeal during office hours for a period of 4 years from the date that is given under section 306.

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