Back Local Government Areas in Victoria BAR Local Government Areas in Victoria German Luettelo Victorian paikallishallintoalueista Finnish Zone d'administration locale de Victoria French Victoria szövetségi állam közigazgatási egységei Hungarian Local government area del Victoria Italian Виктория штатынын жергиликтүү өз алдынча башкаруу райондору Kirghiz Lokale bestuurlijke gebieden van Victoria Dutch Liste over lokalstyrer i Victoria NB Podział administracyjny Wiktorii Polish
| Part of a series on the |
| Politics and government of Victoria |
|---|
 |
 Politics portal |
Local government in the Australian state of Victoria consists of 79 local government areas (LGAs).[1] Also referred to as municipalities, Victorian LGAs are classified as cities (34), shires (38), rural cities (6) and boroughs (1). In general, an urban or suburban LGA is called a city and is governed by a City Council, while a rural LGA covering a larger rural area is usually called a shire and is governed by a Shire Council. Local councils have the same administrative functions and similar political structures, regardless of their classification.[2]
They will typically have an elected council and usually a mayor or shire president responsible for chairing meetings of the council. The City of Melbourne has a Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor, who are directly elected, and in the other councils a mayor and deputy mayor are elected by fellow Councillors from among their own number. Since 2017, the mayor of the City of Greater Geelong has not been directly elected. There are also unincorporated areas, consisting of small islands or ski resorts, which are administered either by the state government or management boards.[2]
Council elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday in October.[3] The last council elections were held on 26 October 2024.[4] An election was not held for the Moira Shire Council, which was dismissed by an Act of Parliament in March 2023.[5] In 2016, 637 local Councillors were elected in the 78 Councils contested.[6] Casual vacancies of councillors are filled by countback of the last ballots,[7] except for the position of Lord Mayor of Melbourne, which is filled by a by-election.
- ^ Local Government Act 1989 (Vic)
- ^ a b "Local Government Areas and Statistical Local Areas – Alphabetic". Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), Jul 2008. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
- ^ Local Government Act 1989 (Vic.), s.31
- ^ "2024 local council elections". Victorian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ Ritchie, Rosa; Moore, Ali; Walker, Alice (8 March 2023). "'Extraordinary' step to sack Moira Shire Council 'not taken lightly', says Victorian government minister". ABC. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ "2016 local government election result trends" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ "Victorian Electoral Commission v Municipal Electoral Tribunal (No 2) (Review and Regulation) [2017] VCAT 375 (14 March 2017)" (PDF). VCAT. 16 March 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2017.