Enrolling To Vote

City of Port Phillip Council elections will be held via postal vote throughout October. Council elections are your opportunity to have your say on the things that matter to you in our City.

If you are enrolled to vote in the City of Port Phillip, you will receive your postal vote forms via regular mail in early October, with instructions on how to vote, and a date in which that vote is due back.

Once enrolled, it is mandatory to vote in council elections.

If you are not sure if you are enrolled, you can use our handy tool to check your enrolment status, and ensure you enrol correctly.

Who is eligible to vote?

If you are aged 18 or over on election day (26 October 2024), you can vote if you:

• Rent a house or apartment in the City of Port Phillip – – you need a signed rental agreement and to have lived there for a month or more.
• Own a house or apartment in the City of Port Phillip and live in it.
• Own a house or apartment in the City of Port Phillip and live somewhere else in Australia.
• Are a business owner, who owns or leases a commercial property in the city. You could be sharing the property with another business.
• Represent a company or corporation that owns or leases a property in the city.

How do I enrol to vote?

The eligible voters above fall into two types of voters in council elections:

These are:

• State-enrolled voters: Australian citizens who are 18 years of age or over and live in the City of Port Phillip.
• Council-enrolled voters: ratepayers such as property owners, occupiers or corporations.

You have one vote per council area. If you are a state-enrolled voter, that is the enrolment you use to vote.

State-enrolled voters

If you enrolled to vote in state elections, live in the City of Port Phillip and are an Australian Citizen who is 18 years of age or over, you are automatically enrolled as a state-enrolled voter in council elections. You will receive your ballot pack to vote in October.

If you are not sure if you are enrolled, wish to update your enrolment details or you wish to enrol to vote for the first time, you can check your enrolment on the VEC website.

Council-enrolled voters

If you are a property owner, occupier or representatives of companies within the City of Port Phillip who are not state-enrolled voters for the municipality of Port Phillip, you can enrol as a council-enrolled voter.

Council-enrolled voters fall into the following categories:

• Owner ratepayers

  You can apply to enrol in Port Phillip Council if you:

  • own property and pay rates in the council area
  • are 18 or older
  • are not a state-enrolled voter who lives in Port Phillip Council.

  This includes:

  • Australian citizens who own a property in Port Phillip Council 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 the City of Port Phillip.

  Up to two ratepayers can apply to enrol per property, but each person only gets one vote.

  Download the form to enrol as an owner/rate payer here.

• Occupier ratepayers

  You can apply to enrol in Port Phillip Council if you:

  • pay rates for a property that you occupy but do not own
  • are aged 18 or older
  • are not a state-enrolled voter.

  Up to two people per property can apply to enrol, but each person only gets one vote.

  Download the form to enrol as an occupier rater payer here.

• 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 City of Port Phillip
  • have consented to being appointed as the corporation’s representative
  • are not already a state-enrolled voter or council-enrolled voter for the City of Port Phillip.

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

  Download the form to enrol as a corporations representative here.

Ensuring you are enrolled to vote means that you can have your say on the future of the City of Port Phillip.