29-615: The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria , Australia , located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 3,438 square kilometres (1,327 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns of Apollo Bay , Beeac , Beech Forest , Birregurra , Colac , Cressy , Forrest , Johanna , Kennett River , Lavers Hill , Warrion and Wye River . It came into existence on 23 September 1994 through
58-633: A generally non-partisan affair. Major political parties typically do not endorse candidates at the council level. This has resulted in a situation where councillors may hold political party affiliation, but instead contest the election as an independent . These nominal independents have attracted controversy, with their affiliation being branded as insufficiently transparent. As the VEC , unlike in jurisdictions such as New South Wales , provides no way for party affiliation to be listed for council elections, candidates appear without any party label on ballot papers. As
87-565: A local public holiday. In addition to the LGAs, there are also 9 small unincorporated areas within the state. These comprise both coastal islands and alpine resorts. The coastal islands are: These coastal island unincorporated areas are directly administered by the state of Victoria. Six alpine resorts are excised from the surrounding shires by declarations made under the Alpine Resorts Act 1983 and administered by Alpine Resort Victoria under
116-536: A municipal district within the Melbourne metropolitan area is 285 square kilometres (110 sq mi); the average area of the remaining municipal districts is 4,545 square kilometres (1,755 sq mi). Despite this area being comparable to the average area of a US or English county, there are no administrative subdivisions such as American towns and cities or English parishes; suburbs (a part of an urban area), towns and rural districts, although legally defined, have
145-490: A population of at least 300. Promotion to town or city status was dependent upon the gross revenue of the council. Promotion was not automatic, but it was granted often. Local government has been referred to in the Victorian constitution since 1979 (sec. II A ). It does not operate as to make Victoria a federation or protect the borders or powers of local government from amendment by executive order or act of parliament. Today,
174-472: A purely geographical existence. According to the Local Government Act 1989 , the term "city" must be used for a municipal district which is predominantly urban in character. "Rural city" must be used for a rural district which is partly urban and partly rural in character. The term "shire" must be used for a municipal district which is predominantly rural. In practice, this is understood as referring to
203-463: A result, the overwhelming majority of councillors in Victoria are independents. The prevalence of independent councillors is generally larger in regional and rural areas, with metropolitan LGAs having a greater number of party-affiliated councillors. Nonetheless, recent trends have seen greater party involvement within local government politics. This participation has been large among smaller parties such as
232-471: A shire, the road district had to be over 100 square miles (260 km ) in size and have annual rate revenue of over £1000. There were 96 road districts or shires created by 1865. The first Victorian general Act dealing with local government was the Local Government Act of 1874. The act empowered shires to be established in territories that could financially support them, and boroughs to be established in areas not exceeding 9 square miles (23 km ) with
261-481: A similar fashion, with an elected council, one of whom is the mayor (in shires the mayor may use the title "president"; the City of Melbourne has the title "lord mayor"). The City of Melbourne has a directly elected Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor, whereas other councils elect a mayor from one of their number. The City of Greater Geelong has not had a directly elected mayor since 2017. Some LGAs are divided into wards for
290-650: Is a list of former regional local government areas around Geelong and surrounding the Greater Melbourne area. These local government areas were not considered part of Greater Melbourne at the time of their dissolution. Surf Coast Shire City of Greater Dandenong City of Frankston City of Greater Dandenong Bass Coast Shire Shire of Mornington Peninsula Shire of Murrindindi City of Banyule Shire of Cardinia City of Knox Surf Coast Shire Local government in Victoria Local government in
319-496: The Greens , with the major political parties subsequently indicating a potential change to their approach to council elections. Various residents' associations , community alliances and independent groups also sporadically contest elections. The political composition of Victorian LGAs following the 2024 local elections is as follows: Thirty-one of the municipalities form the Greater Melbourne area, each being wholly, or partly, within
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#1732855463509348-483: The 79 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. Local elections are held in Victoria every four years with
377-484: The Australian state of Victoria consists of 79 local government areas (LGAs). 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
406-523: The City of Greater Geelong, which was under administration until council elections were held on 27 October 2017. In 2016, 637 local Councillors were elected in the 78 Councils contested. Casual vacancies of councilors are filled by countback of the last ballots, except for the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, which is filled by a by-election . Local government has existed in Victoria since before its separation from New South Wales in 1851. The Town of Melbourne
435-801: The Easter Maar Nation. The earliest European settlers arrived in the district in the 1830s and settled around Lake Colac. The council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality. In order of election in 2020, they are: The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Colac Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Colac, and its service centre in Apollo Bay. The 2021 census,
464-518: The Melbourne metropolitan or urban area. All Melbourne suburbs lie within these municipalities. The outer of these municipalities such as Cardinia Shire and Yarra Ranges Shire have much of their area outside Melbourne's urban area. Greater Melbourne and regional municipalities are sometimes treated differently by state government legislation, for instance the Public Holidays Act permits non-metropolitan councils to replace Melbourne Cup Day with
493-809: The State Government. Democratically elected councils returned in 1996. The 79th LGA was created in 2002 when the Shire of Delatite was split into the Rural City of Benalla and the Shire of Mansfield . A new City of Sunbury was proposed to be created from part of the City of Hume after the 2016 council elections, but this was abandoned by the Victorian Government in October 2015. All local government areas (i.e. cities, rural cities, shires and boroughs) are governed in
522-479: The amalgamation of the local government areas of City of Colac , Shire of Colac , part of the Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury . The Shire is governed and administered by the Colac Otway Shire Council ; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Colac, it also has a service centre located in Apollo Bay. The Shire is named after
551-836: The category of rural city and removed the possibility of declaring any further boroughs or towns (existing boroughs and towns were retained, although only one, the Borough of Queenscliffe , remains today, the others being abolished with the 1994 restructure). Five shires became rural cities but were dissolved with the 1994 restructure. In 1992, there were 65 cities in Victoria. In 1994, the Jeff Kennett government restructured local government in Victoria. His reforms dissolved 210 councils and sacked 1600 elected councillors, and created 78 new councils through amalgamations. In suburban Melbourne 53 municipalities were reduced to 26. The new local government areas (LGAs) were headed by commissioners appointed by
580-487: The combination of the names for the former City of Colac , and Shires of Colac and Otway , from which the majority of the LGA was formed. The name Colac is used for both the main urban settlement and the lake, Lake Colac , which are located in the north-centre of the LGA. Colac is also the most populous urban centre in the LGA with a population of almost 12,000. The name Otways is used for the major geographical features located in
609-555: The constitution recognises it "a distinct and essential tier of government" and prohibits a council being dismissed by executive order, but grants significant powers to the state parliament in respect of local government. The clauses have been amended many times by parliament, but since 2006 the Constitution Act has required a referendum to further alter them. The current Local Government Act dates to 1989 and eliminated administrative distinctions between cities and shires, introduced
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#1732855463509638-402: 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. Council elections are held every four years on the fourth Saturday in October. The last council elections were held on 22 October 2016. An election was not held for
667-854: The most recent elections held in 2024. (2021) This is a list of former local government areas in Victoria. Many of these existed from the 19th century until the 1994 statewite local government amalgamations . This is a list of former Greater Melbourne local government areas. These local government areas were considered part of Greater Melbourne at the time of their dissolution. City of Merri-bek City of Darebin Shire of Nillumbik City of Darebin City of Hobsons Bay Shire of Mornington Peninsula City of Darebin City of Moonee Valley City of Hume City of Bayside City of Kingston City of Bayside City of Darebin City of Kingston City of Port Phillip City of Kingston City of Maribyrnong This
696-576: The population distribution between urban centres and rural areas. The term "borough", used in the Borough of Queenscliffe , is not defined by the Act but has been retained for the single borough which survived the reforms of the 1990s. Under the repealed Local Government Act 1958, boroughs, towns and cities were defined on the basis of area, population and rateable property. In practice, boroughs were and are small towns. In contrast to ones at federal and state levels, local government elections in Victoria are
725-507: The purpose of electing Councillors. Where a ward elects a single councillor, it is by preferential voting. Where it elects multiple councillors, it is by proportional voting using the Single Transferable Vote . Voting is in all cases compulsory for enrolled voters. Elections for all councils now happen on the same day every four years—on the fourth Saturday in October two years after state parliamentary elections. The average area of
754-457: The same administrative functions and similar political structures, regardless of their classification. 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,
783-483: The shire had a population of 22,423 up from 20,972 in the 2016 census ^ - Territory divided with another LGA [REDACTED] Media related to Shire of Colac Otway at Wikimedia Commons 38°20′00″S 143°35′00″E / 38.33333°S 143.58333°E / -38.33333; 143.58333 Local government areas of Victoria This is a list of local government areas (LGAs) in Victoria , sorted by region. Also referred to as municipalities,
812-679: The south of the LGA, which are The Otways and Cape Otway . Cape Otway was originally named by Lieutenant James Grant who was the commander of the vessel, the Lady Nelson. He named it after Captain William Otway who was one of the commissioners of the Transport Board, on 7 December 1800. The Colac district is the traditional land for the Gulidjan people and was known as “Kolak” or “Kolakgnat” which means ‘belonging to sand’. The Gulidjan people are of
841-527: Was established by an Act of the NSW Governor and Legislative Council in 1842 and the Borough of Geelong was established in 1849. Both bodies continued after the creation of Victoria as a separate colony, and both later became cities. Road districts were established under legislation passed in 1853. From 1862 many road districts became shires pursuant to the District Councils Bill 1862 . To become
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