Become a local council candidate

To become a candidate in a local council election, you must:

• have completed the mandatory Local Government candidate training before nominating
• be an Australian citizen
• be 18 years or older
• be enrolled in the council you're contesting
• not be disqualified from being a councillor.

You cannot be a candidate if any of the following apply to you:

• you are an undischarged bankrupt
• you have property that is subject to control under the law relating to bankruptcy
• you are employed by the council you're contesting (you can take leave from your role to nominate)
• you have been convicted of any criminal offences referred to in the Local Government Act 2020
• you are a councillor of another council, including interstate councils (for general elections, councillors can nominate if they will be out of office on election day)
• you are member of any Australian state or federal parliament
• you are employed by a federal or state member of parliament as a ministerial officer, a parliamentary adviser, or an electorate officer. You can take leave from your role to nominate
• you are otherwise incapable of becoming or continuing to be a councillor.

Further details are outlined in the Local Government Act 2020.

Seek independent legal advice if you're unsure about your eligibility to nominate.

We recommend you use Candidate Helper to fill out your nomination paperwork.

This online tool guides you through the process and saves you time at the election office when you’re finalising your nomination.

Candidate Helper is available during the nominations period of an election.

If you are sharing something that is considered 'electoral campaign material', you must authorise it.

These requirements apply to everyone at all times, not just candidates or during elections.

Learn how to authorise electoral campaign material.

The Local Government Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing these rules and investigating breaches. Visit lgi.vic.gov.au for more information.

Candidates must disclose donations and gifts they receive in the lead up to an election or provide a statement that no gifts were received.

The Local Government Inspectorate is responsible for enforcing these rules and investigating breaches. Visit lgi.vic.gov.au for more information.

There is no public funding available for local council candidates.

The position of each candidate on the ballot paper for a local council election is determined by a single computerised random draw. We do this random draw for each ward or unsubdivided council after the nominations period ends.

The ballot draw is a public event that anyone can attend, including candidates.

Melbourne City Council elections have different requirements and take place once team name and group registration have closed for a general election. The order of teams for the leadership team election is determined by a single computerised random draw. The order of candidates and groups in the councillor election is drawn randomly in 2 parts:

• the order of groups above the line
• the order of ungrouped candidates.

Our computerised draw software has been independently audited and certified. It includes a random number generator (RNG) which uses a cryptographically secure algorithm to produce a sequence of numbers that cannot be predicted.

The RNG has passed several statistical tests including:

• Empirical tests
• Diehard tests
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) tests.

View the software component that generates the random order for the ballot.

Download the audit report for the ballot draw software.

In the unlikely event we cannot hold the computerised ballot draw, we can do a manual ballot draw instead. This involves randomly drawing sequential numbered balls from a lottery barrel to determine each candidate’s position on the ballot paper.

After nominations close, you can request a free electronic copy of the roll for the election you are contesting to help your campaigning.

We do not give out:

• email addresses
• phone numbers
• details of silent electors.

You must declare that you will only use roll data for campaigning. You must also destroy or return your copy of the roll within 30 days of election day. Strict penalties apply for misusing roll data.

If the number of candidates in an election is the same as the number of vacancies, those candidates are elected without the need for a vote. This is called being elected unopposed, or an uncontested election.

If there are fewer candidates than vacancies, the candidates who nominated are declared elected. A by-election is held at a future date to fill the remaining vacancies.

If nobody nominates as a candidate, no voting takes place and another election is held as soon as possible.

The Candidate Handbook has all the information you need to know about how elections work and how to nominate.

The Scrutineer Handbook describes what activities a scrutineer can observe and gives instructions on how to appoint a scrutineer.

Our Counting votes in a local council election page explains the counting and declaration process in detail.

We recommend anyone who wants to become a candidate watch our candidate information series.

The rules that govern local council elections are set out in:

• Local Government Act 2020
• Local Government (Electoral) Regulations 2020
• City of Melbourne Act 2001
• City of Melbourne (Electoral) Regulations 2022
• Local Government Amendment (Governance and Integrity) Act 2024