Eligibility requirements for candidates
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Candidate for councillor in an undivided council area
To be eligible for election as a Councillor in an area that does not have wards, a person must be enrolled either on the residential roll or the non-residential roll/roll of occupiers and ratepaying lessees in that council area by 6pm on the day of the close of rolls.
Candidate for councillor in a council area with wards
Where a council has wards, a candidate for election as Councillor must be enrolled in that council area, (but not necessarily in the ward in which they are nominating as a candidate) either on the residential roll or the non-resident roll/roll of occupiers and ratepaying lessees by 6pm on the day of the close of rolls. For example, a person may be enrolled in ‘B’ ward of the council area but may decide to nominate as a candidate in ‘C’ ward.
A person cannot be a candidate for Councillor in more than one ward in a council area. A person can nominate for more than one ward in the same council area but must withdraw all but one Councillor nomination before the close of nominations at 12noon, nomination day, otherwise all their nominations for Councillor in that council area will be rejected.
A person may, if eligible, be a candidate for Councillor in more than one council area and can be elected as a Councillor in more than one council area.
Candidate for ‘popularly elected’ mayor
To be eligible for election as a Mayor in a council area, a person must be enrolled either on the residential roll or the non-residential roll/roll of occupiers and ratepaying lessees in that council area by 6pm on the day of the close of rolls.
A person may be a candidate for Mayor and Councillor, but cannot be elected to both offices. If elected as Mayor (the mayoral election is counted and declared first) the person must accept that office and cannot be elected as a Councillor. However, the preferences on each councillor ballot paper for the candidate elected as Mayor are not disregarded.
The first preferences on the councillor ballot paper for the person elected as Mayor are reallocated at the commencement of the councillor count to the candidate who has the number 2 preference on those ballot papers. Throughout the Distribution of Preferences those ballot papers are distributed according to the next preference on those ballot papers to continuing candidates in the count.
In the City of Sydney, a candidate for Lord Mayor must also nominate as a candidate for Councillor. If elected as Lord Mayor the person must accept that office and cannot be elected as a Councillor.
A person may, if eligible, be a candidate for Mayor in more than one council area where the Mayor is popularly elected, and can be elected as Mayor in more than one council area.
Disqualification from holding civic office
A candidate for Mayor or Councillor must be qualified to hold that office in order to be nominated for election.
The Local Government Act explains who may be elected and who is disqualified from holding civic office as a local councillor or mayor. The relevant sections are 274, 275 and 276. The Local Government Act is available on the NSW Legislation website.
Learn more about eligibility and disqualification for local government elections.
A person elected to civic office can be dismissed if it is subsequently determined that the person was disqualified from holding civic office. An application for dismissal is made to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and can be made by any person.