In the lead up to the Geelong Citizens’ Jury, local residents and businesses will get to have their say on how they want their future council to work through a Vote Compass tool.
As part of the process underway in Geelong, residents can now vote on a range of issues which will be provided to the Citizens’ Jury for consideration.
Vote Democracy Geelong has been launched today and will remain open until October 24, just before the first meeting of the Citizens’ Jury on October 29.
It will provide a valuable insight into the thoughts of Geelong residents on issues that will decide on the future of their local government.
The Jury has been chosen by independent group newDemocracy Foundation, who used Census data to invite 15,000 random and representative residents of Greater Geelong to register an interest in participating.
From those, 100 will be chosen to form the Citizens’ Jury, which is being asked to consider:
- how the Mayor is elected
- if a Deputy Mayor is needed and how they are elected
- the number of councillors
- how wards are structured and how many representatives are needed in each ward.
The Jury will consider the views of the Geelong community and provide recommendations to government.
Vote Democracy Geelong can be accessed at and hard copy forms will be available at public libraries across Greater Geelong and the Geelong Council's customer service centre on Brougham Street.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Local Government Natalie Hutchins
“This is another great opportunity for the people of Geelong to contribute to the process that is re-shaping their local government.”
"Just like at Federal Election time, this type of survey will help residents pick the type of local government representation they want in the future."
Reviewed 19 August 2020