Proposed federal electoral divisions for Victoria released

The Redistribution Committee for Victoria today published its report proposing names and boundaries for the state’s federal electoral divisions.

The Chair of the Committee and Electoral Commissioner, Tom Rogers, said the Victorian redistribution was required to enable a decrease from 39 to 38 electoral divisions.

“Under the proposal some significant changes would occur, with the boundaries of Victorian divisions being amended to accommodate the decrease,” Mr Rogers said.

“38 of the existing 39 division names would be retained with the Division of Higgins to be abolished.”

YouTube: 2024 VIC redistribution proposal

Proposed boundaries

Mr Rogers said the Redistribution Committee had been faced with a situation where a Victorian division had to be abolished and, as a consequence, 29 of the existing 39 divisions were outside the permissible numerical requirements. The proposal would see the following key changes:

• the abolition of the Division of Higgins, and distribution of its electors to the surrounding Divisions of Chisholm, Hotham, Kooyong, Macnamara and Melbourne,
• altering the boundaries of 34 electoral divisions in Victoria, which in some cases involve minimal elector movement,
• most divisions having a rural, provincial, or metropolitan focus, with future growth more evenly distributed across electoral divisions, and
• one metropolitan division crossing the Yarra River.

         Map: Some of Victoria’s proposed federal electoral divisions

Further public input

The consultative nature of the redistribution process continues, with individuals and organisations now able to submit feedback to the Redistribution Committee’s proposed divisions.

Written objections can agree or disagree with any aspect of the proposal. They must be lodged no later than 6pm AEST on Friday 28 June 2024. The best way to submit feedback is online but it can also be submitted via:

• Email – FedRedistribution-VIC@aec.gov.au
• Post – Australian Electoral Commission (Attn: Victorian Redistribution Secretariat), Locked Bag 4007, Canberra ACT 2601
• Fax – (02) 6215 9970
• In person – Level 6, 150 Lonsdale St, Melbourne (please call 03 9968 5731 in advance)

All input received by the deadline will be available for public inspection on the redistributions website and at the office of the Australian Electoral Officer for Victoria in Melbourne (by appointment and during business hours only) from Monday 1 July 2024. Further comments will then be accepted until 6pm AEST on Friday 12 July 2024.

Editor’s notes:

• For further details, including the factors considered by the Redistribution Committee for Victoria, see the full redistribution proposal report and maps of proposed electoral divisions.
• The proposed electorates for the Western Australian federal redistribution are also being released today. Information is also available about the Northern Territory redistribution and the New South Wales redistribution.
• Further information about the redistribution process and guidance on making submissions is also available.
• Members of the House of Representatives elected at the 2022 federal election, and in federal by-elections since that time, will continue to represent their respective electoral divisions until the next federal election.