The City of Ballarat is a local government area in the west of the state of Victoria, Australia. It covers an area of 739 km2 and, in June 2023, had a population of 118,137. 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. It was formed on 6 May 1994 from the amalgamation of the City of Ballarat, Shire of Ballarat, Borough of Sebastopol and parts of the Shire of Bungaree, Shire of Buninyong, Shire of Grenville and Shire of Ripon. 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 105,471.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of three wards and nine councillors, with three councillors per ward elected to represent each ward. The current Council, elected in 2020, in order of election by ward, is:

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:

Election results

2024

2020

2016

2012

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 ^ – Territory divided with another LGA ***** – Not noted in 2016 Census

Sister cities

The City of Ballarat's sister cities are: