Electoral structure and ward boundaries

What are wards? 

Wards are smaller areas within the municipality. Each ward will have one councillor who represents the people who live there.

Victoria’s Local Government Act 2020 (the Act) requires electoral structures to provide fair and equitable representation and facilitate good governance.

Each ward must have an approximately equal number of voters per councillor (within +/-10% of the average).

Why are we changing to wards? 

An independent electoral structure review panel appointed by the Victorian Minister for Local Government has reviewed the electoral structure of Greater Shepparton City Council. 

Under the Act, Greater Shepparton City Council must now have a single-councillor ward electoral structure. The panel looked at:

• the appropriate number of councillors and wards for the council;
• the location of ward boundaries; and 
• appropriate ward names.

How will the new wards work?

The electoral representation advisory panel recommended that Greater Shepparton City Council adopt a nine single-councillor ward structure – nine wards with one councillor per ward. This proposal was accepted by the Minister for Local Government, and will take effect from the 2024 General Election.

The names for the nine wards under the new electoral structure will be:

• Balaclava Ward
• Goulburn River Ward
• Kialla Ward
• Lower Goulburn Ward
• McEwen Ward
• Midland Ward
• Pine Lodge Ward
• Poplar Ward
• Yanha Gurtji Ward

Click the map thumbnails below to view an enlargement or see below to download detailed PDF maps of the individual ward boundaries. 

• Greater Shepparton Towns and Wards

  Download the above maps of Greater Shepparton towns and wards in PDF format to zoom in for a close look.

  PDF, 850 KB

• Detailed Map of Lower Goulburn Ward

  PDF, 719 KB

• Detailed Map of Midland Ward

  PDF, 718 KB

• Detailed Map of Goulburn River Ward

  PDF, 718 KB

• Detailed Map of Pine Lodge Ward

  PDF, 771 KB

• Detailed Map of McEwen Ward

  PDF, 800 KB

• Detailed Map of Balaclava Ward

  PDF, 881 KB

• Detailed Map of Poplar Ward

  PDF, 802 KB

• Detailed Map of Kialla Ward

  PDF, 685 KB

• Detailed Map of Yanha Gurtji Ward

  PDF, 917 KB

Residents will only be able to vote for candidates who have nominated for the ward their voting entitlement relates to. For most voters, this will be the ward they live in.

Candidates will also only be able to nominate for a councillor position in one specific ward.

If no candidates nominate for a ward by the closing date, a special by-election will be held later to fill the position.

What can I do now?

• Find out which ward you live in by looking at the ward map on our website above.
• In the lead up to the election, you can learn more about the candidates who will be running in your ward.

We will continue to provide more information about the upcoming election and the new wards over the coming months.