Become a councillor

If you are considering nominating for election to a council in NSW, it is vital that you have a good understanding of the role before you nominate.

Find out what being on the council involves and how you can nominate in this section. The resources below are from the Stand for Your Community campaign, created to encourage more diverse candidates to nominate for the 2024 local government elections. 

Under the Local Government Act 1993, ordinary elections of councillors are held on the second Saturday of September every four years. The next ordinary election will be in September, 2028.

Councils in NSW provide a wide range of services and activities. What often springs to mind when people think about the role of government are services such as rubbish collection, road maintenance and rates. However, councils have a much wider and more important role than many people realise.

Councils work with the community, other councils and different levels of government to deliver services and infrastructure for their communities and to achieve community goals. Councils administer services for planning for sustainable development, providing and maintaining infrastructure, protecting the environment, providing community services and development, and safeguarding public health.

Increasingly, councils are playing a role in not just delivering services to their community but also shaping its future by working with local people to develop and deliver a vision for each area.

Who can be a councillor?

Serving in the level of government closest to the community is a fulfilling experience. 

Councillors represent the needs and aspirations of their communities, making significant decisions on their behalf. If you are passionate about your local community then you already have what it takes to become a councillor.

There are no special qualifications to become a councillor other than a desire and enthusiasm to serve your community. If you are eligible to vote at an election for your council, you are eligible to stand as a candidate for election to the council. You’ll benefit from the skills you develop – and you can learn most of these on the job.

If elected, a councillor will receive benefits like training, support, equipment, expenses, fees and possibly superannuation.

Here is a short animation about the skills required to become a councillor:

Encouraging diverse candidates

NSW is one of the most diverse and inclusive societies in the world. Across the state, local communities are made up of a mix of people from a diverse range of backgrounds with different needs and interests.

People from all backgrounds are being encouraged to stand for their community to increase diversity in local government.

While we have made steps towards strengthening diversity, there is much more to do. There is an under-representation of diverse groups of people among elected representatives of many NSW councils, including women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, members of culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with disabilities, and young people.

Information and statistics on local government representation can be found in the Candidate and Councillor Diversity Report 2021-22 (PDF, 1.5 MB).

Local councils need diversity among councillors to reflect the diverse needs of community members. If a community is diverse, their councillors should be too. This will lead to better leadership and decision making to create stronger councils and better outcomes for local communities.

Workshops for women

The Office of Local Government and Women NSW jointly funded a series of candidate information workshops targeted at underrepresented groups of women ahead of the 2024 local government elections.

The Australian Local Government Women’s Association, NSW Branch and Women For Election delivered the workshops across metropolitan, regional and rural NSW.

Women with experience serving or working in local government conducted the workshops, which outlined the roles and responsibilities of elected councillors, before covering leadership skills and explaining how to run a successful campaign.

Visit the sites below for information about the organisations involved:

• Women For Election
• Australian Local Government Women’s Association, NSW

If you are passionate about your local community then you already have what it takes to become a councillor. Everything else you need to know about taking the steps and nominating for election is detailed in the Stand for your community – Candidate guide (PDF, 2.6 MB).

The guide has been prepared as an introduction to the role of a councillor and the operation of councils. It is a starting point to help you decide whether you would like to run in the next local government elections.

Guides have also been tailored for prospective candidates who are women, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, people with disabilities and young people.