Kommunal.az

City of Ballarat
City of Ballarat
Local government area
	Map of the City of Ballarat's municipal borders, urban areas and location in Victoria
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Region	Grampians
Established	6 May 1994
Council seat	Central
Government
• Mayor	Cr Tracey Hargreaves
• State electorates	Eureka; Ripon; Wendouree;
• Federal division	Ballarat;
Area
• Total	739 km2 (285 sq mi)
Population
• Total	107,325 (2018)
• Density	145.23/km2 (376.14/sq mi)
Gazetted	6 May 1994
Website	City of Ballarat
	LGAs around City of Ballarat

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 mi²) 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.

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]

History

The City of Ballarat was formed on 6 May 1994 from the amalgamation of the City of Ballaarat, Shire of Ballarat, Borough of Sebastopol and parts of the Shire of Bungaree, Shire of Buninyong, Shire of Grenville and Shire of Ripon.^[2]

Council

Current composition

2024 ward boundaries. Expand the map and click on a ward to see the ward name

The council has nine elected Councillors, each representing a municipal electoral ward.^[5] The current Council, elected in November 2024, is:^[6]

Ward		Councillor	Notes
Alfredton	Independent	Damon Saunders
Brown Hill	Independent	Ted Lapkin
Buninyong	Liberal	Ben Taylor	Deputy Mayor
Central	Liberal	Samantha McIntosh
Delacombe	Independent	Tracey Hargreaves	Mayor
Golden Point	Independent	Tess Morgan
North	Independent	Jim Rinaldi
Sebastopol	Labor	Des Hudson
Wendouree	Independent	Jay Morrison

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,^[7] 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.^[8] 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^[9]^[10]
Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independents	35,499	51.50	+21.93	4	1
	Independent Liberal	15,177	22.02	−3.37	2	1
	Independent Labor	9,955	14.44	−10.67	3	1
	Greens	8,294	12.03	−4.91	0	1
Formal votes		68,925	97.10	−0.87
Informal votes		2,057	2.90	+0.87
Total		70,982	100.00		9
Registered voters / turnout		86,108	82.43	−0.18

2020

2020 Victorian local elections: Ballarat^[11]
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

2016

2016 Victorian local elections: Ballarat^[12]
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

2012

2012 Victorian local elections: Ballarat
Party		Votes	%	Seats
	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^[13]
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^[13]
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^[13]
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^[14]

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:^[15]

Inagawa, Hyōgo, Japan
Ainaro, East Timor

References

^ ^a ^b "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.
^ ^a ^b "Order Constituting the City of Ballarat..." Victoria Government Gazette (S23). State Government of Victoria: 1. 6 May 1994. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
^ "Regional population, 2022-23 financial year | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 26 March 2024. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
^ "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.
^ City of Ballarat. "Ballarat City Council". City of Ballarat. City of Ballarat. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
^ VEC. "Ballarat City Council election results 2024". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
^ Quinlan, Kim (18 May 2010). "Ballarat City Council to commit $850k for Civic Hall site design". The Courier Regional Media. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
^ "Ballarat City Council electoral structure review Final Report" (PDF). Victorian Electoral Commission. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
^ "Ballarat". Victorian Greens. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
^ Victorian Electoral Commission. "Ballarat City Council results". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
^ "Ballarat City Council election results 2020". Victorian Electoral Commission.
^ "Ballarat City Council election results 2016". Victorian Electoral Commission.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Ballarat City Council election results 2012". Victorian Electoral Commission.
^ "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 11 January 2023.
^ "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
Interactive map of Victorian local government areas (pre-1994 vs present) - Victorian Government - Digital Twin Victoria

37°33′00″S 143°51′00″E / 37.55000°S 143.85000°E / -37.55000; 143.85000

[ABSLGA-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.

[Gazette-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.

[ABSSUA-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.

[Council-5] City of Ballarat. "Ballarat City Council". City of Ballarat. City of Ballarat. Retrieved 15 July 2025.

[VEC-6] VEC. "Ballarat City Council election results 2024". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 15 July 2025.

[7] Quinlan, Kim (18 May 2010). "Ballarat City Council to commit $850k for Civic Hall site design". The Courier Regional Media. Retrieved 10 December 2013.

[8] "Ballarat City Council electoral structure review Final Report" (PDF). Victorian Electoral Commission. 15 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.

[9] "Ballarat". Victorian Greens. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.

[10] Victorian Electoral Commission. "Ballarat City Council results". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 8 November 2024.

[Results_of_the_2020_Victorian_local_elections_in_Grampians_ballarat-11] "Ballarat City Council election results 2020". Victorian Electoral Commission.

[Results_of_the_2016_Victorian_local_elections_ballarat-12] "Ballarat City Council election results 2016". Victorian Electoral Commission.

[ballarat-13] "Ballarat City Council election results 2012". Victorian Electoral Commission.

[14] "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 11 January 2023.

[15] "Sister cities build more than a cultural bond". The Courier. 17 October 2004. Retrieved 10 December 2013.

v t e Localities in the City of Ballarat
City	Alfredton Sebastopol Wendouree
Town	Ballarat Central Ballarat East Ballarat North Black Hill Bonshaw Brown Hill Buninyong^ Bunkers Hill Burrumbeet^ Canadian Cardigan Cardigan Village Creswick^ Delacombe Durham Lead^ Eureka Golden Point Invermay Invermay Park Lake Gardens Lake Wendouree Learmonth Lucas Magpie Miners Rest Mitchell Park Mount Clear Mount Helen Mount Pleasant Mount Rowan Nerrina Newington Redan Scotsburn^ Smythes Creek^ Soldiers Hill Sulky^ Warrenheip^ Waubra^ Winter Valley
Locality	Addington Ascot Bakery Hill Bald Hills^ Blowhard Bo Peep^ Chapel Flat Coghills Creek Ercildoune^ Glen Park^ Glendaruel Glendonald Gong Gong Mount Bolton Scotchmans Lead Tourello Wattle Flat^ Weatherboard Windermere
^ - Territory divided with another LGA