Enrolment Information

Enrolling as a ratepayer in Council Elections

In a Victorian local council election there are 2 types of voters:

state-enrolled.
council-enrolled.

State-enrolled voters

You must enrol and vote if you:

are 18 years or older.
are an Australian citizen.
have lived at your address in South Gippsland for longer than one month.

For more information visit the VEC website

Council-enrolled voters (ratepayers)

Some ratepayers can apply to become council-enrolled voters in South Gippsland if they are:

a property owner, occupier or represent a corporation.
18 or older.
not a state-enrolled voter within the South Gippsland area.

These are known as council-enrolled voters and they fall into 3 categories.

Owner ratepayers

You can apply to enrolled in South Gippsland if you:

own property and pay rates in the council area.
are 18 or older.
are not a state-enrolled voter who lives in South Gippsland.

This includes:

Australian citizens who own a property in South Gippsland but do not live in the area (for example an investment or a holiday home)
non-citizens over 18 who own a property and live in South Gippsland.

Up to 2 ratepayers can apply to enrol per property.

Owner ratepayers’ enrolment does not expire, but they can apply to resign their enrolment.

Occupier ratepayers

You can apply to enrol in South Gippsland if you:

pay rates for a property that you occupy but do not own
are 18 or older
are not a state-enrolled voter within the South Gippsland area.

Up to 2 people per property can apply to enrol.

Occupier ratepayers’ enrolment expires before the next local government general election.

If you want to continue to vote, you must apply to enrol again before the next local council general election (2028).

South Gippsland will send you an invitation when it is time to renew your enrolment.

If you were enrolled for the local council general elections in 2024, you will remain enrolled for any council by-elections up until 2028. It will be compulsory for you to vote.

Corporations

You can apply to enrol to vote on behalf of a corporation if you:

are a director or company secretary of a corporation that pays rates (either as an owner or an occupier) in the council area.
have consented to being appointed as the corporation’s representative.
are not already a state-enrolled voter or council-enrolled voter within the South Gippsland area.

Only one person can apply to enrol as the corporation’s representative.

Corporation representatives’ enrolment expires before the next local government general election.

If you want to continue to vote, you must apply to enrol again before the next local council general election (2028).

South Gippsland will send you an invitation when it is time to renew your enrolment.

If you were enrolled for the local council general elections in 2024, you will remain enrolled for any council by-elections up until 2028. It will be compulsory for you to vote.

If you meet the criteria

If you fall into any of these categories, you can contact us Council to apply to enrol.

Once you are enrolled, you must vote in future elections. If you don’t vote, you may get a fine.

Resigning your enrolment

If you don’t want to vote as a council-enrolled voter for that property any more, you can apply to resign your enrolment by contacting Council.

More information

To apply to become or check if you are a council-enrolled voter in South Gippsland contact Council’s Rates Team on Phone: (03) 5662 9200 or Email: council@southgippsland.vic.gov.au

For information about Victorian elections, visit the VEC website.