Names and boundaries of federal electoral divisions in Victoria decided

The augmented Electoral Commission for Victoria today announced the final outcome of the Victorian federal redistribution.

The Hon. Susan Kenny AM KC, the presiding member, thanked the individuals and organisations who contributed to the redistribution.

“All written objections and comments, as well as the information presented at the inquiry, have been carefully considered in deciding the final names and boundaries,” she said.

The augmented Electoral Commission has unanimously accepted the Redistribution Committee’s proposed abolition of the Division of Higgins, to retire the name of the Division of Higgins, and to modify the boundaries of 11 of the electoral divisions initially proposed in May 2024,” she said.

As a result of these modifications, there will be a very small increase in the number of electors who will change their electoral division.

Electoral division names

All seat names initially proposed in May have been adopted. This includes retiring the name ‘Higgins’ and retaining the names of the 38 remaining electoral divisions.

Electoral division boundaries

The initial redistribution proposal has been modified by placing:

• the entire Hepburn Shire in the proposed Division of Ballarat
• this means it remains in the same electoral division as it is currently
• the proposal had placed part of the Hepburn Shire in the proposed Division of Bendigo

• the entire localities of Bonn, Diggora, Fairy Dell, Rochester, Tennyson and part of the locality of Milloo in the proposed Division of Bendigo
• the proposal had not proposed any changes to these localities and they would have remained in the proposed Division of Nicholls

• a portion of the locality of Malvern East (located to the east of Belgrave Road) in the proposed Division of Chisholm
• this means the locality is united within a single electoral division

• the proposal had placed part of the locality of Malvern East in the proposed Division of Chisholm and part of the locality of Malvern East in the proposed Division of Hotham

• a portion of the locality of Mulgrave (located to the north of the Monash Freeway) in the proposed Division of Hotham
• the proposal had placed that portion of the locality of Mulgrave in the proposed Division of Chisholm, resulting in Mulgrave being divided across three divisions

• a portion of the locality of Wheelers Hill (bounded by Ferntree Gully Road and Lum Road) in the proposed Division of Hotham
• the proposal had placed that portion of the locality of Wheelers Hill in the proposed Division of Chisholm

• the entire locality of Bellbrae in the proposed Division of Corangamite
• this means the locality of Bellbrae remains in the same electoral division as it is currently
• the proposal had placed part of the locality of Bellbrae in the proposed Division of Wannon, resulting in the locality of Bellbrae being divided across two divisions

• the entire locality of Mernda in the proposed Division of McEwen
• the proposal had placed part of the locality of Mernda in the proposed Division of McEwen and part of the locality of Mernda in the proposed Division of Scullin

• the entire locality of Wollert in the proposed Division of Scullin
• the proposal had placed part of the locality of Wollert in the proposed Division of McEwen and part of the locality of Wollert in the proposed Division of Scullin

• a portion of the locality of Craigieburn (east of the Hume Highway and north of Craigieburn Road) in the proposed Division of Scullin
• the proposal had placed that portion of the locality of Craigieburn in the proposed Division of McEwen.

One minor alteration to the boundary between the proposed Divisions of Fraser and Gellibrand that involves no elector movement has also been made as a means of providing more easily recognisable electoral division boundaries.

Next steps

The names and boundaries announced today are not considered to be significantly different from the initial proposal in May. Therefore, no further input from members of the public will be sought.

Victoria’s new names and boundaries will be formally determined on 17 October 2024, when a notice of determination is published in the Commonwealth Government Notices Gazette. While members of the House of Representatives will continue to represent their current seats, a federal election with a writ issued after 17 October will be run on the new boundaries.

Overview maps will be available on the AEC website on Thursday 17 October 2024. Detailed maps and a report outlining the augmented Electoral Commission's reasons for its formal determination will be tabled in federal parliament and will subsequently be made publicly available.

Editor’s notes:

• Initial proposal for the redistribution of Victoria (Friday 31 May 2024)
• Written objections and comments on those objections are all available via the AEC website as well as a full overview of the augmented Electoral Commission's conclusions on objections.
• More information about the Victorian federal redistribution
• Western Australian federal redistribution: The announcement of the final names and boundaries of the 16 electoral divisions in Western Australia. 
• New South Wales federal redistribution: The augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales is currently deliberating on the names and boundaries of the 46 electoral divisions in New South Wales.