Local government elections

In New South Wales, local government elections (or Council elections) are normally held every four years.

At these elections, you have the opportunity to vote for local candidates to become Councillors and the Mayor.

The elected Councillors then normally serve Kempsey Shire Council for a four-year term.

Voting

Voting in local government elections is compulsory for anyone registered on the electoral roll, and to vote you must be registered.

If you're a resident in the Kempsey Shire Council area, you can check if your enrolment details are up to date with the Australian Electoral Commission.

The 2024 NSW Local Government elections will be held on Saturday, 14 September.

For specific information relating to the 2024 Local Government elections please see this page on the NSW Electoral Commission website.

Lodgement of postal vote applications opened on Tuesday 6 August and closes Monday 9 September.

Pre-poll voting will open on Saturday 7 September.

Non-Residential rolls

There are two non-residential rolls:

the roll of non-resident owners of rateable land, and
the roll of occupiers and rate-paying lessees.

These two rolls are combined with the residential roll to form the roll of electors for a council area, which is used during an election. The residential roll is the list of people who live in the council area and are eligible to vote in elections

To be on the roll of non-resident owners of rateable land you must be:

the sole owner of the rateable land, or
nominated as the elector by the joint or several owners of the rateable land, or
nominated as the elector by the corporation or trustees who own the rateable land, or
the lessee of the land from the Crown and the land is rateable Crown land.

To be on the roll of occupiers and rate-paying lessees you must be:

the sole occupier or ratepaying lessee of rateable land, or
nominated as the elector by the joint or several occupiers or ratepaying lessees of the rateable land, or
nominated as the elector by the corporation or trustees who occupy or are the ratepaying lessee of the rateable land,

and have the legal right to occupy the land or be responsible for paying all or part of the rates on the land for 3 years following the date you apply to be on the roll.

Each of the forms required to apply to be on the Non-Residential Roll are available here and must be submitted no later than 6pm Monday 5 August 2024 (attached). Further information can be found here.

Candidate helpdesk

The NSW Electoral Commission provides a helpdesk for candidates to answer questions in relation to their candidature or election processes.

The Candidate helpdesk is operational Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and can be contacted by phone on 1300 022 011 or via email at candidates@elections.nsw.gov.au.

Becoming a Councillor

Kempsey Shire Council’s Mayor and eight Councillors are elected by their local community.

As democratically elected representatives, Councillors work together to make decisions about what Council will do to meet community needs and how to spend money in the best interests of the shire - see How Council works.

If you are passionate about your local community then you already have what it takes to become a Councillor. Being a Councillor is a rewarding opportunity to:

make well-informed decisions in the interests of your local community
influence the long-term vision and direction of your community
facilitate communication between Council and community members
work with diverse and passionate people on a range of issues
uphold and represent the policies and decisions of Council
learn new skills, such as public speaking and advocacy

The NSW Office of Local Government has resources on becoming a Councillor.

Past election results

Past election results are available on the NSW Electoral Commission’s website.