City of Ballarat

This article is about a local government area. For the urban centre, see Ballarat. For other uses, see Ballarat (disambiguation).

The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of 739 square kilometres (285 sq mi) and, in June 2023, had a population of 118,137.^[3] It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Ballarat urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include Buninyong, Waubra, Learmonth and Addington. It was formed on 6 May 1994 from the amalgamation of the City of Ballarat, Shire of Ballarat, Borough of Sebastopol and parts of the Shire of Bungaree, Shire of Buninyong, Shire of Grenville and Shire of Ripon.^[2]

City of Ballarat Victoria
Map of the City of Ballarat's municipal borders, urban areas and location in Victoria
Population	107,325 (2018)[1]
• Density	145.23/km2 (376.14/sq mi)
Established	6 May 1994
Gazetted	6 May 1994[2]
Area	739 km2 (285.3 sq mi)[1]
Mayor	Cr Des Hudson
Council seat	Central
Region	Grampians
State electorate(s)	Eureka Ripon Wendouree
Federal division(s)	Ballarat
Website	City of Ballarat
LGAs around City of Ballarat: Pyrenees Hepburn Hepburn Pyrenees City of Ballarat Moorabool Golden Plains Golden Plains Moorabool

The city is governed and administered by the Ballarat City Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Ballarat, it also has a service centre located in Buninyong. The city is named after the main urban settlement lying in the centre-south of the LGA, Ballarat, which is also the LGA's most populous urban area with a population of 105,471.^[4]

Council

Current composition

Ballarat City Council
Type
Type	Council of the City of Ballarat
Structure
Council political groups	Labor: 2 seats   Greens: 1 seat   Independent: 3 seats   Liberal: 3 seats

The council is composed of three wards and nine councillors, with three councillors per ward elected to represent each ward.^[5] The current Council, elected in 2020, in order of election by ward, is:^[6]

Ward	Party		Councillor	Notes
Central		Independent	Mark Harris
		Liberal	Samantha McIntosh[7]
		Greens	Belinda Coates[8]
North		Liberal	Amy Johnson[7]
		Independent	Peter Eddy	Deputy Mayor, Former CEO of Basketball Ballarat
		Labor	Daniel Moloney
South		Labor	Des Hudson[7]	Mayor
		Liberal	Ben Taylor
		Independent	Tracey Hargreaves	Yoga instructor and anti-vaccination advocate[9]

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Ballarat Town Hall Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Ballarat, and its service centre in Buninyong.

The council's main offices are in a modern extension behind the Town Hall called The Phoenix. In 2009 the council voted to move to a new headquarters at Civic Hall on Mair Street,^[10] which would turn the heritage listed Town Hall building into a public general purpose venue.

2023 Council Review

Prior to the 2024 Election, The Victorian Electoral Commission conducted a review into the electoral structure of multiple Victorian Councils including the City of Ballarat^[11] As part of this review it was deemed that from the 2024 Election, the council would take up nine single-councillor wards, namely:

• Alfredton Ward
• Brown Hill Ward
• Buninyong Ward
• Central Ward
• Delacombe Ward
• Golden Point Ward
• North Ward
• Sebastopol Ward
• Wendouree Ward

Election results

2024

2024 Victorian local elections: Ballarat^[12][13]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independents		35,499	51.50	+21.93
	Independent Liberal		15,177	22.02	-3.37
	Independent Labor		9,955	14.44	-10.67
	Greens		8,294	12.03	-4.91
Formal votes			68,925	97.10	-0.87
Informal votes			2,057	2.90	+0.87
Total			70,982	100.00
Registered voters / turnout			86,108	82.43	-0.18

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Victorian local elections in Grampians § Ballarat results.[edit]

2020

2020 Victorian local elections: Ballarat^[14]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independent		20,266	29.57	−17.82	3	1
	Independent Liberal		17,403	25.39	−1.92	3	1
	Labor		17,213	25.11	+11.62	2
	Greens		11,614	16.94	+4.13	1
	Australia First		1,391	2.03	+2.03	0
	Animal Justice		659	0.96	+0.96	0
Formal votes			68,546	97.97
Informal votes			1,420	2.03
Total			69,966	100.0
Registered voters / turnout			84,694	82.61

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2020 Victorian local elections in Grampians § Ballarat.[edit]

2016

2016 Victorian local elections: Ballarat^[15]

Party			Votes	%	Seats	Change
	Independent		27,257	46.39	2	1
	Independent Liberal		16,043	27.31	4	1
	Labor		7,925	13.49	2
	Greens		7,527	12.81	1
Formal votes			58,752	100.0

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2016 Victorian local elections § Ballarat.[edit]

2012

2012 Victorian local elections: Ballarat

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independents		20,676	37.70		2
	Independent Liberal		19,849	36.19		5
	Independent Labor		9,829	17.92		1
	Greens		4,489	8.19		1
Formal votes			54,843	97.30
Informal votes			1,524	2.70
Total			56,367	100
Registered voters / turnout			72,725	77.51

Central Ward

2012 Victorian local elections: Central Ward^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	Samantha McIntosh	4,355	26.10
	Greens	Belinda Coates	3,197	19.16
	Independent Liberal	John Burt	3,006	18.02
	Independent	Mark Harris	2,379	14.16
	Independent	Glen Crompton	1,337	8.01
	Independent	Jenny Overington	1,051	6.30
	Independent	Matthew Freeman	836	5.01
	Independent	Gary Fitzgerald	523	3.13
Turnout			17,163	75.22

North

2012 Victorian local elections: North Ward^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	Vicki Coltman	4,963	28.38
	Independent	John Philips	4,046	21.02
	Independent Liberal	Amy Johnson	3,908	20.30
	Labor	Daniel Moloney	2,901	15.07
	Labor	Scott Hebbard	1,894	9.84
	Independent	Allan Carter	1,535	7.98
Turnout			19,735	79.57

South

2012 Victorian local elections: South Ward^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Des Hudson	5,034	26.62
	Independent Liberal	Joshua Morris	3,617	19.13
	Independent	Peter Innes	3,075	16.26
	Independent	Jim Rinaldi	2,930	15.49
	Independent	Stephen Pelchen	1,726	9.13
	Greens	David Eldridge	1,292	6.83
	Independent	Sundram Sivamalai	849	4.49
	Independent	Matt Mattson	889	4.80
Turnout			19,469	77.55

Townships and localities

The 2021 census, the city had a population of 113,763 up from 101,686 in the 2016 census^[17]

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Addington	71	65
Alfredton	9,220	11,822
Ascot	96	93
Bakery Hill	164	180
Bald Hills^	107	114
Ballarat Central	5,328	5,378
Ballarat East	5,623	5,937
Ballarat North	3,925	4,041
Black Hill	2,126	2,124
Blowhard	84	82
Bo Peep^	21	25
Bonshaw	210	949
Brown Hill	3,582	4,489
Buninyong^	3,714	3,797
Bunkers Hill	261	270
Burrumbeet^	232	249

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Canadian	3,609	4,098
Cardigan	754	1,064
Cardigan Village	667	957
Chapel Flat	0	0
Coghills Creek	71	80
Creswick^	3,170	3,279
Delacombe	6,297	5,408
Durham Lead^	392	408
Ercildoune^	70	90
Eureka	626	633
Glen Park^	103	110
Glendaruel	52	49
Glendonald	11	12
Golden Point	2,107	2,217
Gong Gong	9	6
Invermay	835	900

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Invermay Park	1,814	1,692
Lake Gardens	1,695	1,801
Lake Wendouree	2,882	2,878
Learmonth	438	396
Lucas	1,014	2,994
Magpie	371	368
Miners Rest	3,095	3,829
Mitchell Park	868	887
Mount Bolton	29	29
Mount Clear	3,390	3,671
Mount Helen	2,975	3,011
Mount Pleasant	2,203	2,225
Mount Rowan	294	295
Nerrina	962	970
Newington	1,900	1,844

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Redan	2,889	3,000
Scotchmans Lead	97	105
Scotsburn^	258	244
Sebastopol	10,032	10,194
Smythes Creek^	1,467	1,762
Soldiers Hill	2,803	2,813
Sulky^	232	234
Tourello	39	46
Warrenheip^	669	721
Wattle Flat^	97	104
Waubra^	275	308
Weatherboard	51	52
Wendouree	10,445	10,376
Windermere	97	96
Winter Valley	*	3,440

^ – Territory divided with another LGA
* – Not noted in 2016 Census

Sister cities

The City of Ballarat's sister cities are:^[18]

Inagawa, Hyōgo, Japan Ainaro, East Timor

See also

• List of localities in Victoria
• Ballarat

References

1. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
2. "Order Constituting the City of Ballarat..." Victoria Government Gazette (S23). State Government of Victoria: 1. 6 May 1994. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
3. "Regional population, 2022-23 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
4. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Significant Urban Area, 2008 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
5. Local Government in Victoria. "Ballarat City Council". Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. State Government of Victoria. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
6. VEC. "Ballarat City Council election results 2016". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
7. Oliver, Jordan (19 May 2014). "Timeline of party politics in Ballarat City Council". The Courier.
8. "Your Representatives". Australian Greens Victoria.
9. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/hyperlocal/protesters-march-through-ballarat-demand-premier-be-jailed/news-story/3e53f41d883682423ad7dab335d4f3f3 ^{[bare URL]}
10. Quinlan, Kim (18 May 2010). "Ballarat City Council to commit $850k for Civic Hall site design". The Courier Regional Media. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
11. "Ballarat City Council electoral structure review Final Report" (PDF). Victorian Electoral Commission. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
12. "Ballarat". Victorian Greens. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
13. Victorian Electoral Commission. "Ballarat City Council results". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
14. "Ballarat City Council election results 2020". Victorian Electoral Commission.
15. "Ballarat City Council election results 2016". Victorian Electoral Commission.
16. "Ballarat City Council election results 2012". Victorian Electoral Commission.
17. "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 11 January 2023.
18. "Sister cities build more than a cultural bond". The Courier. 17 October 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2013.

External links

• Ballarat City Council official website
• Metlink local public transport map
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps Archived 24 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine

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