Representation Review
South Australian councils are required to periodically undertake a Representation Review to determine whether the community would benefit from an alteration to the council’s composition or ward structure.
The City of Victor Harbor was required to undertake such a review between April 2024 and April 2025.
About Representation Reviews
All Representation Reviews must take the principles specified in the Local Government Act 1999 into account so that:
- any changes made are to benefit ratepayers;
- arrangements should reflect communities of interest and should avoid separations of such communities;
- voters should be afforded effective participation in decisions on local matters; and
- Council is able to cooperate with other councils and govern effectively.
After taking into consideration a range of elements along with the considerations listed above, the Council is proposing to retain its current representation structure / composition, as detailed below:
- The name of the council be retained as ‘City of Victor Harbor’;
- The Council’s composition includes a Mayor and nine (9) Area Councillors;
- The Council has a ‘no-Ward’ structure.
This proposal is outlined within a draft Representation Review Report and released for public consultation.
Rationale for proposal within the draft Representation Review Report
During Council’s review of the responses received during an initial consultation in September 2024, prior to the preparation of the draft Representation Review Report, it became clear that many of the community’s concerns about the current Council structure would not be remedied by the introduction of wards at this time.
There the Council prepared its draft Representation Review Report based on the City of Victor Harbor's current composition and structure. Retaining the current structure:
- Promotes a holistic approach to decision making, ensuring that the needs of the entire community are considered when making decisions;
- Provides voters with the opportunity to choose from a greater choice of candidates;
- Facilitates diverse representation from various backgrounds, interests and locations, ensuring a broad range of perspectives are considered in decision making;
- Is most suitable for the City of Victor Harbor, noting that the small size of the Council area coupled with the lack of distinct townships makes the division of wards impractical at this stage.
Public Consultation
The community and interested stakeholders were invited to provide Council with their feedback on the draft Representation Review Report from Thursday, 28 November 2024 until Friday, 10 January 2025.
Listening posts were also held in Victor Central Shopping Centre on Tuesday, 17 December 2024 and Tuesday, 7 January 2025. These listening posts were an opportunity to promote the consultation and answer questions about the Representation Review.
The opportunity for interested persons to provide feedback on the draft Representation Review was promoted widely via a range of platforms. Council received 24 submissions from interested persons during this consultation.
At the Special Council meeting held on Monday, 10 February 2025, Council reviewed and considered the submissions received during the public consultation.
Final Representation Review Report
The Final Representation Review Report was adopted by the City of Victor Harbor on Monday, 24 February 2025. Subsequently, the Report has been lodged with the Electoral Commission of SA for certification.