The 2002 Victorian local elections were held on 16 March 2002 to elect the councils of 17 of the 78

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The ph ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. Until

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, local elections in Victoria were conducted periodically, meaning 53 councils were not up for election in 2002. The

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the Melbourne central business district, central city area of Melbourne. In 2021, the city has an area of and had a populati ...

was initially scheduled to hold its election in 2002, but it was instead brought forward to 22 July 2001 following a change to its electoral structure. All elections were conducted by the

Victorian Electoral Commission The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), formerly the State Electoral Office, is the statutory body responsible for the running of state, municipal and various non-government elections in Victoria, Australia. Independence It is an independen ...

with the exception of the City of Moreland, which conducted its own election. 27 candidates were elected

unopposed An uncontested election is an election in which the winning candidate did not face a serious challenger. This often entails the number of candidates being the same as or fewer than the number of places available for election, meaning that all cand ...

across the state, 24 of which were independents.

Results

Council votes

Council control

Aftermath

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

retained control of the

City of Darebin The City of Darebin () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and in June 2018 Darebin had a population of 161,609. Municipal offices are located at 350 High Street, Preston. ...

and gained control of the City of Moreland, but lost control of the

City of Yarra The City of Yarra is a local government area (LGA) in Victoria, Australia in the inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. It is the second smallest LGA in the state (after the Borough of Queenscliffe) with an area of , and in June 2021 ...

as a result of Greens, Independent Labor and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

gains. In addition to retaining two wards in

Boroondara The City of Boroondara () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn. It has an area of ...

, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

gained two seats in Greater Bendigo − Greg Williams (

Eppalock Eppalock is a locality in the City of Greater Bendigo in the Australian state of Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Austra ...

) and Kevin Gibbins (

Whipstick Whipstick is a locality in the City of Greater Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. At the , Whipstick had a population of 10. The Whipstick is an area of conservation significance and has long been of interest to local naturalists, particularly member ...

). A fifth Liberal councillor (Geoff White in Glenelg) was re-elected unopposed. Following the elections, the amount of LGAs expanded from 78 to 79 when the

Shire of Delatite The Shire of Delatite was a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covered an area of and, at the , had a population of 21,553. It included the towns of Benalla and Mansfield, and was formed ...

was split into the

Rural City of Benalla The Rural City of Benalla is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and, in August 2021, had a population of 14,528. It includes the towns of Badd ...

and the

Shire of Mansfield The Shire of Mansfield is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in Augus ...

Notes

References

{{Victorian elections Local elections in Victoria 2002 elections in Australia