The Victorian Government has announced outcomes of electoral representation reviews for local councils across the state. In line with requirements under the Victorian Local Government Act 2020, Merri-bek City Council will change from having multi-member wards to single-member wards at this year's council election.
The change means that from the October 2024 election Council will have 11 councillors, elected from 11 single member wards. Currently Merri-bek has 11 Councillors elected from three multi-member wards, (two wards with four Councillors and one ward with three Councillors).
The change, gazetted by the Victorian Government last week, will take effect for the October 2024 elections.
Merri-bek is one of 39 councils across Victoria to have changes announced to their ward structure, following reviews conducted by Electoral Representation Advisory Panels (ERAPs). All metropolitan councils except City of Melbourne will be made up of single member wards from the October 2024 elections onwards.
For the October 2024 Council Election, Merri-bek's new eleven wards will be as shown in this map:
For Merri-bek in the meantime, until the October 2024 election, the current three ward system applies and current Councillors continue to represent the community.
You can find out more about the changes to council electoral boundaries, including the formal final report by the Election Representation Advisory Panel on the Local Government Victoria website.
