2024 Election
It's an election year!
The 2024 Council elections will take place on Saturday 26 October 2024. The election will be held by postal vote, and all voters will receive a ballot pack by mail earlier in October. When you receive a ballot pack, you must complete it and post it back before the election day. Voting is compulsory.
The election will be conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission.
Our new wards
On 15 February 2024, the Minister for Local Government announced the electoral structure and ward boundaries to apply from the 2024 election. At the election, Yarra's voters will be asked to elect nine Councillors from nine separate wards across the municipality. These ward boundaries have been designed to ensure that each ward contains approximately the same number of voters.
The new ward names are:
- Boulevard Ward
- Curtain Ward
- Hoddle Ward
- Langridge Ward
- Lennox Ward
- MacKillop Ward
- Melba Ward
- Nicholls Ward
- Yarra Bend Ward
Details of the ward boundaries can be found in the Victoria Government Gazette
Enrolling to vote
In a council election there are two types of enrolment:
- state-enrolled
- council-enrolled
You have one vote per council. If you are a state-enrolled voter, that is the enrolment you use to vote.
State enrolled voters
If you are enrolled to vote in state elections, you are automatically enrolled to vote in council elections and will receive a ballot pack at your enrolled address. There is nothing further that you need to do. The following links will take you some helpful pages on the Victorian Electoral Commission website:
- If you are not sure if you are enrolled, you can check your enrolment
- If you have moved or your details have changed, you can update your enrolment
- If you have never enrolled, you can enrol for the first time
Council enrolled voters
Note: Online enrolment for Council enrolled voters will be available soon. Check back here later for a link to the form you will need to complete.
Council-enrolled voters include ratepayers who are property owners, occupiers or corporations. Enrollment in this category is not automatic, you will need to apply to become a council-enrolled voter or you won't receive a ballot pack. There are three different types of Council enrolled voter.
Owner Ratepayers
You can apply to enrol as an owner ratepayer if you:
- own property and pay rates in the City of Yarra
- are 18 or over
- are not a state-enrolled voter who lives in the City of Yarra
A maximum of two owners can apply to enrol for any one property.
Occupier Ratepayers
You can apply to enrol as an occupier ratepayer if you:
- pay rates for a property in the City of Yarra that you occupy but do not own
- are 18 or over
- are not a state-enrolled voter who lives in the City of Yarra
A maximum of two occupiers can apply to enrol for any one property.
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 City of Yarra
- have consented to being appointed as the corporation’s representative
- are not already a state-enrolled voter or council-enrolled voter for the City of Yarra
A corporation can only appoint one person to represent it at an election, regardless of how many properties the corporation owns or occupies in the council area.
Previous elections
Results of previous elections and countbacks are available on the Victorian Electoral Commission website.
If you have received an infringement notice for failing to vote at a previous election, you will need to contact the Victorian Electoral Commission. Council is unable to assist or get involved in this process. More information about what happens if you didn't vote can be found on the VEC website