The department will be closed from Monday 23 December 2024 and will reopen on Thursday 2 January 2025. We will respond to queries in the new year. Best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.
Information on nominating to be a council member.
To stand for election as a councillor, or a mayor or president elected by the people of a local government district, you must:
You are not eligible to nominate for council if you:
Find out more about what it takes to become an elected council member by watching one of our webinars. We are currently reviewing the video captions for these videos.
In partnership with the WA Local Government Association and WAEC
Please be advised the WALGA State President Karen Chappel did express an Acknowledgement of Country at the start of the webinar, but due to early technical difficulties it was not broadcast live.
Youth representation in Local Government
Hosted by the Youth Affairs Council of WA
With Cr Claire Anderson, Cr Melissa Northcott and Keith Hayes
A free forum for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) backgrounds considering standing for council.
You must complete an online induction course before you submit your nomination. The course provides information on the role and responsibilities of being a council member, and the rules related to election campaigns. When you register your completion of the course, you will receive an confirmation email with a reference number and date of completion. You must include the reference number and completion date on your nomination form. The DLGSC strongly recommends that you show a digital or print copy of the confirmation email to the returning officer when you submit your nomination.
This course must be completed by all candidates, including existing councillors running for re-election.
For a nomination to stand for council to be effective:
Key concept: for an effective nomination, you must have a nomination form, candidate profile, deposit (and authorisation if using an agent to lodge).
The earlier you lodge your nomination, the easier it will be for the returning officer to notify you of any errors or irregularities. The full election timetable includes the nomination period for this year’s elections.
The name to be printed on the ballot paper for a local government election must be your surname and one or more of your given names (or an initial or a commonly accepted variation). You must use the same name on your candidate profile. To ensure fairness between candidates, the returning officer may rule that a name is inappropriate for inclusion on the ballot paper. If so, they may ask you to nominate another name or choose one they consider appropriate. Talk to the returning officer if you are uncertain about whether you can use a certain variation.
A nomination can be:
An electronic nomination is deemed to be received when a hard copy is printed. The receipt of your nomination does not mean that it has been accepted as an effective nomination. The $100 deposit must also be paid before a nomination can be accepted.
Tip: if faxing or emailing your nomination, phone your local government’s returning officer to check if they have received and made a hard copy of it before the close of nominations.
The $100 deposit can be paid by cash, bank draft or postal order made out to the local government. It can also be paid in other ways such as by bank cheque or electronic funds transfer, subject to the approval of the returning officer. Deposits are required to discourage frivolous nominations.
Nomination deposits are to be returned to any successful candidate, and any candidate who receives at least 5% of the first preference votes in the count.
Deposits are also to be returned if a candidate withdraws before the close of nominations, or if a candidate nominating for both councillor and mayor or president is elected as mayor or president.
When you nominate for council, your candidate profile is to:
The purpose of the profile is to provide information to electors about your policies and beliefs so that they can make an informed choice when voting.
You may wish to tell them what you think are important services and facilities for your community and what you would like your local government to consider providing. You could highlight new areas where council could develop policies; and tell them what you would work towards on their behalf should you be elected.
Statements could be worded:
A candidate who has not been an elected member previously could relate their beliefs or policies to positions, decisions or outcomes they would encourage the council adopt. They could indicate their involvement with community groups that may have aims or agendas with which the candidate agrees.
Take care to avoid negative comments about other candidates or anyone else. Such comments could be viewed as defamatory. Make sure that the statements you make are practical and will not mislead.
The returning officer can amend your profile if it does not meet these requirements. Preferably, this will be done in consultation with you. This can be done before or after nominations close. If a profile is changed, the returning officer will promptly provide you with written notice of the change and the reason for it.
Where there is a ‘voting in person’ election, the returning officer will arrange for the display of your profile at each polling place as well as the local government’s public notice board. For this purpose, the returning officer may reproduce it in the same form or another form.
In a postal voting election or where a postal voting package is sent to a person in a ‘voting in person’ election, the profile will be included in the package. Again, it may be reproduced in the form in which you submitted it, or it may be reformatted.
Tip: read the notes on the back of your nomination form before you fill it out and before you write your profile. Adhere to the conditions set down for candidate profiles as your nomination could be rejected if it does not conform to the requirements.
Should you wish to submit a photo, it is suggested that you use one with a light background as this provides better quality reproduction. The photo is included in the overall size limitation of the profile (single-sided, A4).
Key concept: the purpose of the candidate profile is to enable electors to make an informed choice when voting.
Below are 2 examples of how a candidate profile could be used to promote a candidate within the community:
Your candidate for Oxford
A vote for Peter is a vote for independence and integrity.
31 years of age, married to Simone with three children, Tim 5, Jane 3 and James 1.
31 years resident of Oxford who enjoys and values the unique hills lifestyle.
Loves and wants to keep our forest environment.
Will ensure strong support for our volunteer organisations (SES, Bush Fire Brigade, Scouts).
Keen to support open and accountable government.
Keen to see the implementation of the district conservation strategy in the Shire’s new planning scheme.
Keen to support council’s investment policy and plan.
Keen to see continuation of discounts for early payment of rates.
Contactable on tel: 123 4567 (H), 987 6543 (W), and at 16A Valley Road, Oxford.
I am married with two children and live in Tuart Street, Smithdale.
I am a small businessperson and am therefore very aware of the problems faced by small business people in the community. I am also supportive of living in a healthy and safe environment.
I believe that a local government should be open and accountable in the way it conducts its business and that people in the community should have every opportunity to participate in their local government.
I am therefore keen to promote steady and careful growth in our community and to promote the principles and aims of the new local government legislation.
My contact details are:
Address: 21 Tuart Street, Smithdale
Telephone: 9999 9999
When nominating for council, you can also provide a written statement for publication on the local government’s website.
The written statement can contain information that you believe to be relevant to your campaign, in addition to your candidate profile. It must be written in English, accompany your nomination paper and contain no more than 2000 characters, inclusive of spaces.
A nomination can be accepted or rejected. It can only be rejected the candidate is not eligible or if the nomination does not meet the requirements for an effective nomination. This could include nomination papers not being properly completed, parts of the nomination requirements not being provided or the deposit fee not being received by the close of nominations.
When a nomination is rejected, the returning officer must give you written notice of the decision and the reasons for it, without delay. This is another reason for lodging your nomination early.
When a nomination has been accepted, the returning officer will arrange for your nomination details (but not your nomination form), and your profile to be published on the local government's official website. Nomination details include the candidate’s name, the name to appear on the ballot paper, the ward (if any), mayor, president or councillor position, and the type of election (for instance, ordinary or extraordinary).
The details and profile will stay on the website either until the result is declared if no election is required or until 6.00pm on election day.
Depending on the type of election, a copy of the profile will also be displayed in a prominent position in each polling place and/or will accompany each set of postal voting papers.
A nomination is cancelled if you withdraw it before nominations close. Nominations can only be withdrawn by a written notice to the returning officer. If the notice is from your agent, it must be accompanied by, or be followed by, a letter of authorisation from you before the close of nominations. A withdrawal notice or letter of authorisation can be transmitted in the same way as a nomination paper (see forwarding of a nomination.)
When a nomination is cancelled, nomination details and profiles will be removed from display and replaced by a notice of the cancellation until nominations close.
If you withdraw after 4.00pm on the day before nominations close, you will forfeit your deposit. The withdrawal of nominations can only occur up to the close of nominations. Your nomination cannot be withdrawn after the close of nominations.
The full election timetable includes the nomination period for this year’s elections.
If the number of candidates equals the number of vacancies to be filled at the election, the candidates are declared elected unopposed and no formal election is held.
If the number of candidates is less than the number of vacancies to be filled at the election, the candidates are also elected unopposed and an extraordinary election will be held later to fill the remaining vacancies.
If there are more candidates than vacancies to be filled, an election will be held.
The returning officer will draw lots to determine the order in which the names of the candidates will appear on the ballot paper.