Enrolling for local council elections

Do I have to enrol?

Yes. It is compulsory to enrol for local council elections if you are:

an Australian citizen (or British subject who was on an Australian electoral roll on 26 January 1984 and - for Victorian elections only - if you were a British subject enrolled between 26 October 1983 and 25 January 1984 inclusive);

aged 18 years or over; and

have lived at your current address in Victoria for at least one month.

How do I enrol?

When you enrol for State and Federal elections, you are automatically enrolled for the municipality that you live in. If you are the first or second named ratepayer on a property, you will also be automatically enrolled for that municipality.

Always remember to fill out a new enrolment form each time your details or address change.

You can check if you are already on the State and Federal roll for Victoria with the VEC's on-line enrolment look-up.

If you are not automatically enrolled, you can apply to enrol at local council elections if you:

• are a non-Australian citizen who lives and pays rates in the municipality;
• pay rates on a property you occupy and have no other voting entitlement in the municipality, e.g. you are a shop tenant, and are either named on the Council's rates records to receive the rates notice or have the written consent of the owner to vote in their place; or
• are a director or company secretary of a corporation that pays rates in a municipality and have no other voting entitlement within the municipality.

If you would like to enrol and one of the above applies to you, contact your local council (external link).