Published on Friday, 8 September 2023 at 9:00:00 AM

Dear Resident

As the new Local Government Minister, I am honoured to oversee the implementation of the Government’s major reforms of the local government sector, the most significant in 25 years.

At the heart of these reforms is our aim of increasing the transparency, accountability and efficiency of local government in WA. Some changes will be introduced at the upcoming October local government elections which will give ratepayers a greater say on who they elect to represent them on council. All electors will need to be aware of these changes when casting their vote.

One important change is the switch to Optional Preferential Voting (OPV). This will bring local government elections in line with state and federal government elections. Under OPV you will be able to choose one or more candidates by numbering them in order of your preference. For many smaller councils, reforms will also see changes to council representation, with the removal of wards and standardisation of the number of councillors aligned to the population of the districts they serve. These changes will strengthen local democracy and give ratepayers a greater choice of candidates.

As a result, the reforms will increase community confidence in local government and make councils more representative and responsive to ratepayers’ needs. For 12 years, I served as a councillor and later as Deputy Mayor at the City of Stirling so I have first-hand experience and an appreciation of the importance of local government and how it impacts the lives of residents in many ways.

So it is vital that people get involved in their local government, either by nominating to be a community representative or by voting to have a say on who represents you on council. You can find more information on the reforms to the local government sector on the DLGSC website at www.dlgsc.wa.gov.au/lg-act-reform

David Michael
Local Government Minister

WA Local Government Elections

The WA Electoral Commission will open Candidate Nominations for one week on 31 August, 2023 so now might be a good time to consider serving your community as a Dardanup Shire Councillor.

There will be six Council Seats available for nomination.

You can read more about standing for council on THIS PAGE of our website.

Back to All News