2020 Council Elections

Victorian local council elections will be held during October 2020. This year's council elections will be conducted by post across Victoria. Ballot packs will be posted to voters between 6-8 October. The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) must receive completed votes by mail or hand-delivered to election offices by 6pm, Friday 23 October.

For the City of Boroondara, there will be a new 11-ward, single councillor structure replacing the current 10-ward, single councillor structure. The additional 11th ward is the Riversdale Ward, located in the south-west of the City of Boroondara and shares a boundary with the Glenferrie, Junction and Gardiner Wards. To accommodate this new ward, boundary realignments have occurred across the council (see map).

Before the City of Boroondara was created, Glenferrie Hawthorn was located in the Municipality of Hawthorn or City of Hawthorn established in 1860. The Municipality of Hawthorn was divided into four wards in 1891 including Auburn, Glenferrie, Power and Yarra. In 1994 Hawthorn merged with the Kew and Camberwell municipalities to become the City of Boroondara.

On 19 August 2020 the Minister for Local Government announced elections would proceed as planned, despite calls to postpone the local elections this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions limiting campaigning opportunities such as door-knocking, events and other in-person strategies. The postal voting system across the state will ensure the safety of all voters during the pandemic.

There are two types of voters for the local council elections: state-enrolled voters and council-enrolled voters. Voting is compulsory for state-enrolled voters who are Australian citizens registered on the electoral roll at their main living address. Council-enrolled voters are those that: pay rates for a property in a council area they do not reside in; are not an Australian citizen and pay rates for a property and reside in that property; or are a director or company secretary of a corporation that pays rates and do not live in that council area. If a council-enrolled voter has more than one property in a council, they are only entitled to one vote per council.

Council-enrolled voting is not compulsory for the October 2020 elections (except for City of Melbourne) but with the introduction of the Local Government Act 2020, council-enrolled voting will become mandatory for the October 2024 election. Eligible voters must be enrolled by 4pm, 28 August 2020. If required, requests for mail redirection of ballot packs must be submitted to VEC by 5pm, 17 September, go to vec.vic.gov.au/enrolment for details.

Nominations to become a candidate for your council open on 17 September, close on 22 September at 12 noon and lodgement of candidate statements, photos and questionnaires must be in by 23 September at 12 noon. In order to become a candidate one must be on the state or council voters roll for the council they are wishing to stand. Candidates are able to stand for election in any ward within their council no matter which ward their enrolment address is in.