The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of and, in June 2026, had a population of 127,066. It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Ballarat urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include Buninyong, Waubra, Learmonth and Addington.
The city is governed and administered by the Ballarat City Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Ballarat, it also has a service centre located in Buninyong. The city is named after the main urban settlement lying in the centre-south of the LGA, Ballarat, which is also the LGA's most populous urban area with a population of 122,691. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
History The City of Ballarat was formed on 6 May 1994 from the amalgamation of the City of Ballaarat, Shire of Ballarat, Borough of Sebastopol and parts of the Shire of Bungaree, Shire of Buninyong, Shire of Grenville and Shire of Ripon.
Council
Current composition
The council has nine elected councillors, each representing a municipal electoral ward. The current council, elected in November 2024, is:
WardPartyCouncillorNotes Alfredton Independent Damon Saunders Brown Hill Independent Ted Lapkin Buninyong Liberal Ben Taylor Deputy mayor Central Liberal Samantha McIntosh Delacombe Independent Tracey Hargreaves MayorGolden Point Independent Tess Morgan North Independent Jim Rinaldi Sebastopol Labor Des Hudson Wendouree Independent Jay Morrison
Administration and governance The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Ballarat Town Hall Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Ballarat, and its service centre in Buninyong.
The council's main offices are in a modern extension behind the Town Hall called The Phoenix. In 2009 the council voted to move to a new headquarters at Civic Hall on Mair Street, which would turn the heritage listed Town Hall building into a public general purpose venue.
2023 Council review Prior to the 2024 election, The Victorian Electoral Commission conducted a review into the electoral structure of multiple Victorian councils, including the City of Ballarat. As part of this review it was deemed that from the 2024 election, the council would take up nine single-councillor wards, namely:
Alfredton Ward Brown Hill Ward Buninyong Ward Central Ward Delacombe Ward Golden Point Ward North Ward Sebastopol Ward Wendouree Ward
Election results 2024
2020
2016
2012 +2012 Victorian local elections: Ballarat Party Votes % Swing Seats Change Independents 20,676 37.70 2 Independent Liberal 19,849 36.19 5 Independent Labor 9,829 17.92 1 Greens 4,489 8.19 1 Formal votes 54,843 97.30 Informal votes 1,524 2.70 Total 56,367 100 Registered voters / turnout 72,725 77.51
Central Ward
North
South
Townships and localities The 2021 census, the city had a population of 113,763 up from 101,686 in the 2016 census
Population Locality 2016 2021 71 65 9,220 11,822 Ascot 96 93 164 180 ^ 107 114 5,328 5,378 5,623 5,937 3,925 4,041 2,126 2,124 84 82 ^ 21 25 210 949 3,582 4,489 ^ 3,714 3,797 261 270 ^ 232 249 3,609 4,098 754 1,064 667 957 0 0 71 80 ^ 3,170 3,279 6,297 5,408 ^ 392 408 ^ 70 90 626 633 ^ 103 110 52 49 11 12 2,107 2,217 9 6 835 900 1,814 1,692 1,695 1,801 2,882 2,878 438 396 1,014 2,994 371 368 3,095 3,829 868 887 29 29 3,390 3,671 2,975 3,011 2,203 2,225 294 295 962 970 1,900 1,844 2,889 3,000 97 105 ^ 258 244 10,032 10,194 ^ 1,467 1,762 2,803 2,813 ^ 232 234 39 46 ^ 669 721 ^ 97 104 ^ 275 308 51 52 10,445 10,376 97 96 * 3,440 ^ – Territory divided with another LGA * – Not noted in 2016 Census
Sister cities The City of Ballarat's sister cities are:
Inagawa, Hyōgo, Japan Ainaro, East Timor
See also List of localities in Victoria Ballarat
References
External links Ballarat City Council official website Metlink local public transport map Link to Land Victoria interactive maps