The Local Government Act 2020 was a significant statute in Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, notable for its impact on the

electoral systems An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, nonprofit organizations and inf ...

of local councils in Victoria. The Act, which the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

described as the "most ambitious and comprehensive reform of local government in Victoria for 30 years," saw a large number of multi-member wards replaced with single-member wards. Reviews were undertaken for the number of councillors, number of councillors per ward and the exact boundaries of those wards for 39 of Victoria's 79 councils. The Act was introduced on 17 June 2019 by the then- Minister for Local Government,

Adem Somyurek Adem Kubilay Somyurek (born 25 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has served as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council currently representing the Northern Metropolitan Region. Somyurek was a member of the Australian Labor P ...

. It passed

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on 17 March 2020, and received

Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

days later on 24 March. The Act has been criticised for its removal of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

for most councils, and the consequential likely negative impact on the ability for women and

minority groups The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

to be elected.

Councils affected

All metropolitan councils with multi-member wards were affected by the changes. Rural councils have the options of being unsubdivided, or having equal-sized multi-member wards. 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 ...

, which is unsubdivided and does not have wards, was not impacted. Although most changes were set to come into effect before the 2024 local elections, eight councils moved to single-member wards ahead of the 2020 local elections: * Bayside City Council * Cardinia Shire Council * Darebin City Council * Greater Dandenong City Council * Kingston City Council * Manningham City Council * Maroondah City Council * Whitehorse City Council Additionally,

Swan Hill Swan Hill is a List of cities in Australia, city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River, Victoria, Loddon River. At the , ...

and

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

moved to an unsubdivided structure.

References

{{reflist 2020 Victorian local elections 2024 Victorian local elections 2020 in Australian law Victoria (state) legislation History of local government in Australia Local government legislation in Australia