City of Boroondara

The City of Boroondara () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn.

It has an area of . In the 2021 Census the city had a population of 167,903.

City of Boroondara participates in the Victorian Government's state-wide, Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey. This is conducted annually by an independent research company, JWS Research. In 2022 City of Boroondara achieved an index score of 71 on ‘Overall Performance’. This is significantly higher than the average ratings for metropolitan councils (index score of 65) and the state-wide average (index score of 59) and places Boroondara in the top-performing councils metro and state-wide.

History This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation.

In 1837, John Gardiner (after whom Gardiners Creek was named) and his family were the first Europeans to settle in the area. Robert Hoddle surveyed the area in 1837 and declared it the "Parish of Boroondara". The area was densely wooded, so he took a word from the Woiwurrung language (as spoken by the Wurundjeri), meaning "where the ground is thickly shaded".

The first Local Government body was the Boroondara District Road Board, formed on 11 July 1854 and incorporating the areas which were to become the City of Hawthorn, City of Kew and City of Camberwell. Hawthorn and Kew were created as separate municipalities in 1860 and the remaining area of the Road Board became the Shire of Boroondara on 17 November 1871, which later became the City of Camberwell. Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.

In the 1990s, the City of Hawthorn, the City of Kew and the western part of the City of Camberwell were originally planned to be amalgamated to form the "City of Riversdale". The three municipalities, including the whole of the City of Camberwell, were eventually amalgamated in June 1994 to create the City of Boroondara. Existing councillors from the three municipalities were replaced initially by three commissioners - David Glanville (chair), David Thomas and Marion Macleod. The commissioners were in turn replaced by ten councillors following elections in 1996.

Council Boroondara City Council is the third tier of government and deals with services such as waste and recycling collection, leisure centres, building and planning permits and approvals, roads, drainage, health services, youth services, children's services, food safety, parks and gardens, library services, pets, street parking permits and the collection of rates and charges.

Current composition and election method

Boroondara City Council is composed of eleven councillors, each representing one of eleven wards. On Thursday 9 July 2020, the Minister for Local Government formally announced a change to Boroondara's electoral structure. This change follows a review by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), which was completed in June 2019. This change included an increase in ward and councillor numbers from 10 to 11. The new 11th ward is named Riversdale Ward, and is located to the south-west where it shares a boundary with Glenferrie, Junction and Gardiner Wards. This addition resulted in a number of boundary changes across the municipality.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to disrupt the local elections, with some arguing that the inability to campaign in-person would benefit incumbents with name-recognition, or resource rich candidates who could invest in letter box campaigns with leaflets. A decision was made, on public health grounds, that it was safe to proceed with the elections and voters were only able to return their ballots via postal voting.

All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office, with the most recent election being held in October 2024. Councillors were sworn in at a Special Meeting of Council on Monday 11 November 2024. On the 17th of November 2025, Wes Gault was elected Mayor, and Shima Ibuki his Deputy, by the Council.

PartyCouncillors Independent 8 Independent Liberal 1 Greens 2Total 11

Ward Party Name Years as Councillor Roles Bellevue Independent Michael Nolan 2024-present Cotham Independent Liberal Felicity Sinfield 2012-present Gardiner Independent Victor Franco 2020-presentChair of the Urban Planning Delegated Committee Glenferrie Greens Wes Gault 2020-present Mayor Junction Independent Mal Osborne-Smith 2024-present Lynden Independent Lisa Hollingsworth 2016-present Maling Independent Shima Ibuki 2024-presentDeputy Mayor Maranoa Independent Chris Pattas 1996-2004, 2024-present Riversdale Independent Rob Baillieu 2024-presentChair of the Services Delegated Committee Solway Greens John Friend-Pereira 2024-present Studley Independent Sophie Torney 2024-present

Mayors PartyMayorTerm LiberalGeoff Hayes1996–1997 IndependentKeith Walter1997–1998 IndependentLoreto Davey1998–2000 IndependentChris Pattas2000–2001 LiberalMeredith Butler2001–2003 IndependentJudith Voce2003–2004 IndependentJack Wegman2004–2006 LiberalPhillip Healey2006–2007 IndependentCoral Ross2007–2008 IndependentJack Wegman2008–2010 LiberalNicholas Tragas2010–2011 IndependentHeinz Kreutz2011–2012 IndependentJack Wegman2012–2013 IndependentCoral Ross2013–2015 IndependentJim Parke2015–2016 LiberalPhillip Healey2016–2017 IndependentJim Parke2017–2018 IndependentJane Addis2018–2019 LiberalCynthia Watson2019–2020 IndependentGarry Thompson2020–2021 IndependentJane Addis2021–2022 LiberalFelicity Sinfield2022–2023 IndependentLisa Hollingsworth2023–2024 IndependentSophie Torney2024–2025 GreensWes Gault2025–present

Past Councillors 1996−present YearBellevueCothamGardinerGlenferrieJunctionLyndenMalingMaranoaRiversdaleSolwayStudleyCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillorCouncillor 1996 Eric Risstrom (Ind.) Geoff Hayes (Liberal) Will Charlton (Ind.) Nigel Kirby (Ind.) Lilian Weinberg (Ind.) Ian Wallace (Ind.) Loreto Davey (Ind.) Chris Pattas (Ind.)10 wards (1996−2020) Keith Walter (Ind.) Paula Davey (Liberal) 1999 Meredith Butler (Liberal) Martina Hayes (Ind.) Judith Voce (Ind.) 2002 Coral Ross (Ind.) Jack Wegman (Ind.) Heinz Kreutz (Ind.) Dennis Whelan (Ind.) 2003 Gina Goldsmith (Ind.) 2004 Gina Goldsmith (Liberal) Lachlan Williams (Liberal) Dick Menting (Ind.) Nicholas Tragas (Liberal) Mary Halikias-Byrnes (Labor) Phillip Healey (Liberal) 2007 Phil Meggs (Ind.) 2008 Brad Miles (Ind.) David Bloom (Liberal) Phil Meggs (Ind.) Kevin Chow (Labor) 2012 Jim Parke (Ind.) Felicity Sinfield (Liberal) Steve Hurd (Ind. Labor) Jane Addis (Ind.) Philip Mallis (Ind.) 2016 Lisa Hollingsworth (Liberal/Ind.) Cynthia Watson (Liberal) Garry Thompson (Liberal/Ind.) 2020 Victor Franco (Ind.) Wes Gault (Greens) Di Gillies (Ind.) Susan Biggar (Ind.) Nick Stavrou (Liberal) 2021 2024 Michael Nolan (Ind.) Mal Osborne-Smith (Ind.) Shima Ibuki (Ind.) Chris Pattas (Ind.) Rob Baillieu (Ind.) John Friend-Pereira (Greens) Sophie Torney (Ind.)

Election results 2024

Townships and localities At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 167,900, down from 167,231 in the 2016 census. Population Locality 2016 2021 7,751 7,952 13,312 13,495 ^ 20,406 21,302 22,081 21,965 8,056 7,800 2,035 2,101 ^ 25,268 26,131 23,511 22,322 14,321 14,834 24,605 24,499 6,635 6,620 ^ 4,840 4,948 ^ 13,605 13,655

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

Infrastructure The council is responsible for the management of stormwater collection and removal. The water supply authority is Yarra Valley Water.

Libraries The City of Boroondara has five libraries at Camberwell, Ashburton, Balwyn, Kew and Hawthorn, and in 2018 opened a 'library lounge' at the Greythorn Community Hub in Balwyn North.

Local area

Schools

Boroondara has one of the highest concentrations of students in Australia and contains many private schools, including Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College (MLC), Strathcona Baptist Girls' Grammar School, Camberwell Grammar School, Trinity Grammar School, Ruyton Girls' School, Rossbourne School, Carey Baptist Grammar School, Scotch College, Fintona Girls' School, Genazzano FCJ College, Preshil, and Alia College. It contains Catholic schools such as St Michael's Parish School (Ashburton) Our Lady of Good Counsel (Deepdene) and St Bede's School (Balwyn North) and a number of public schools, including Canterbury Girls' Secondary College, Balwyn High School, Kew High School, Auburn High School and Camberwell High School.

Heritage controversy In 2023, Boroondara implemented a "community heritage nomination process", allowing residents to lodge nominations for properties to be heritage listed, limiting the ability for the owners of those properties to renovate or demolish their property. The community nominated eight properties to heritage list, seven of which were listed without the consent of the owner. This was a highly controversial change, and some residents were concerned that the process would be weaponised by community members to heritage list properties owned by people in ethnic minorities. The council rejected a proposal to pause the process until the next council election.

City of Boroondara

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