Electoral Boundaries Commission releases proposed State electoral boundaries

30 June 2021

Victoria’s Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC) today released proposed new State electoral boundaries for public comment.

The EBC has been conducting a redivision of electoral boundaries for both Houses of State Parliament to ensure that each vote in Victorian State elections has an equal value and that each elector is represented equally in the Victorian Parliament.

Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately, one of the three members of the EBC, was pleased with the level of community engagement in the initial consultation period and issued a further call for Victorians to have their say.

‘The EBC in December 2020 invited submissions from the public, and received 58 submissions – five from political parties, 15 from organisations and community groups and 38 from individuals,’ Mr Gately said.

‘Anyone interested in providing comment on the proposed boundaries should lodge a written submission before 5 pm Friday 30 July 2021.’

The proposed boundaries can be downloaded from the EBC website. Written submissions can also be lodged via the website.

The EBC will take account of suggestions and objections, and prepare final boundaries by late October 2021. These boundaries will take effect at the 2022 State election.

Media enquiries

Paul Thornton-Smith
Secretary, Electoral Boundaries Commission
Email: info@ebc.vic.gov.au
Phone: 03 8620 1187

Media information

Why is the redivision taking place now?

The Electoral Boundaries Commission Act 1982 requires a review of electoral boundaries (called a redivision in Victorian law) when there have been two general elections since the last redivision. A redivision begins in the period 24 to 18 months before the next scheduled State election.

What does a redivision do?

A redivision reviews the boundaries of all 88 Legislative Assembly (Lower House) electoral districts and all 8 Legislative Council (Upper House) electoral regions.

Under Victorian law, electorates should contain approximately equal numbers of electors, not varying by more than 10% from the State average. This ensures, as nearly as practicable, equality of representation for Victorian electors, based on the democratic principle of ‘one vote, one value’.

Over time, electorates may get out of balance because of demographic changes. Redivisions are necessary to restore the electorates to approximate equality.

As at 30 November 2020 (the starting point for this redivision), 28 of the 88 electoral districts and one of the eight regions were more than 10% outside the average — which is 48,625 for the districts and 534,877 for the regions. Current district enrolments range from 41.32% above average (Cranbourne) to 19.58% below average (Mount Waverley).

Who conducts redivisions?

The Electoral Boundaries Commission (EBC) conducts redivisions. The EBC is an independent statutory agency made up of the Chief Judge of the County Court (who is the chair), the Electoral Commissioner and the Surveyor-General. The Victorian Electoral Commission provides administrative and technical support to the EBC.

How are the boundaries decided?

The EBC must ensure that enrolments for all the districts and regions are within 10% of the average.

As well, the EBC must give due consideration to:

  • area and physical features of terrain
  • means of travel, traffic arteries and communications
  • community or diversity of interests
  • the likelihood of changes in the number of electors in the various localities.

The EBC invited submissions from the public in December 2020, and received 58 submissions – five from political parties (the Australian Labor Party, Liberal Party, The Nationals, Australian Greens and One Nation), 15 from organisations and community groups (including four councils) and 38 from individuals. All submissions can be viewed at: View submissions page

Public hearings on 29-30 March 2021 were another opportunity for public input. The EBC took submissions into account in preparing the proposed boundaries.

What changes are proposed?

The EBC is proposing changes in most parts of the State in order to restore the electorates to approximate equality. Eleven districts, mostly in regional Victoria, have been left unchanged — Bendigo East, Bendigo West, Gippsland East, Lara, Macedon, Mornington, Morwell, Murray Plains, Northcote, Preston and Shepparton. The EBC proposes to abolish ten districts and create ten new districts, listed alphabetically below.

Abolished existing districts

  • Altona
  • Burwood
  • Ferntree Gully
  • Forest Hill
  • Gembrook
  • Keysborough
  • Mill Park
  • Mount Waverley
  • Wendouree
  • Yuroke

Proposed new districts

  • Ashwood
  • Berwick
  • Eureka
  • Glen Waverley
  • Greenvale
  • Kalkallo
  • Laverton
  • Morang
  • Pakenham
  • Point Cook

In some of these cases, the proposal is effectively a renaming of the districts. For instance, the proposed Morang district incorporates most of the existing Mill Park district. However, the EBC proposes to abolish three districts in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs (Ferntree Gully, Keysborough and Mount Waverley) that do not correspond with proposed new districts, while creating three new districts in the western, northern and south-eastern high-growth areas (Berwick, Greenvale and Laverton).

Under the proposed boundaries, 975,772 electors (22.8% of the total enrolment) would be transferred to different districts.

There are fewer proposed changes to the electoral regions. Each region must be made up of 11 contiguous electoral districts. The EBC proposes to retain the existing configuration of five metropolitan and three regional regions, while renaming Eastern Metropolitan Region to North-Eastern Metropolitan Region. Under the proposed boundaries, 285,889 electors (6.68% of the total) would be transferred to different regions.

What happens now?

The EBC welcomes public feedback on the proposed boundaries. Maps of each electorate (region and district) can be downloaded in pdf format (see links below). An interactive map application based on Google Maps allows a closer look at boundaries in specific areas as well as a comparison of existing and proposed boundaries. Spatial data files (Map Info) of the boundaries are available, as well as a KML version that can be viewed on Google Earth.

Any person or organisation may lodge a written submission about the proposed boundaries with the EBC, up to 5 pm on Friday 30 July 2021. Written submissions become public documents available for inspection on the EBC website.

The EBC will receive submissions in the following ways:

The EBC may also hold one or more public hearings in August 2021.

After taking account of public feedback, the EBC will release final boundaries in late October 2021. These boundaries will come into effect at the State election on 26 November 2022.

Is the redivision connected with the Federal redistribution?

No. The Federal boundary redistribution is a separate process conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). The AEC announced new Federal electoral boundaries for Victoria on Tuesday 29 June. For information about the Federal redistribution, visit the Australian Electoral Commission’s website.

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