Allowances for Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Councillors 2026 Determination

Following a request from the Minister for Local Government, the Tribunal will be making a new comprehensive Determination of allowances for mayors, deputy mayors and councillors in 2026.

The Determination will include a comprehensive review of the existing allowances (including the remote area travel allowance) and allowance categories, taking into account allowances for councillors in other jurisdictions and allowances for persons elected to voluntary part-time community bodies.

The Tribunal must make its Determination by 19 August 2026. Once made, it will supersede the Allowance payable to Mayors, Deputy Mayors and Councillors (Victoria) Determination No. 01/2022 (as varied by annual adjustments in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025).

The Tribunal invites submissions from interested persons or bodies in relation to the Determination, and will consult the local government sector.

Further information about the Determination, including the matters being considered by the Tribunal and how to make a submission, is set out below.

What will the determination cover?

The Determination will set the values of the allowances payable to councillors, including mayors and deputy mayors, in all 79 local governments in Victoria. It must also provide for allowance categories, which allow the Tribunal to set different allowance values for different councils.

Consistent with its previous practice, the Tribunal will not consider the performance of individual councillors or councils in setting the value of allowances. As elected representatives, councillors are ultimately held accountable for their performance by voters at council elections, which are held every four years.

The Tribunal does not have the power to determine or vary arrangements for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by councillors in the performance of their role, nor the provision of facilities and resources. However, the letter of request from the Minister for Local Government stated that the Tribunal may wish to consider providing guidance to support consistent council arrangements for the expenses, resources and facilities reasonably necessary for councillors to perform their roles.

The Minister also stated that the Tribunal may wish to consider whether access to a councillor assist program should be included in the available allowances for councillors.

Why is the Tribunal making a new determination?

Under section 23A of the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal and Improving Parliamentary Standards Act 2019 (Vic) (VIRTIPS Act), the Tribunal is required to make a new comprehensive determination within six months after every second council elections, or when requested to do so by the Minister for Local Government. This means that, absent a request from the Minister for Local Government, the Tribunal must make a new comprehensive determination approximately every eight years, with the next one due in mid-2029.

On 5 June 2025, the Tribunal Chair wrote to the Minister suggesting that a new comprehensive determination be undertaken by the Tribunal in 2026 — that is, outside of the usual cycle. This was in response to stakeholder feedback — including through consultation on successive annual adjustment determinations — that raised substantive issues that, in the Tribunal’s view, are best examined as part of a new comprehensive determination. Some of the issues raised with the Tribunal relate to the nature of the role of a councillor, and the structure of allowances and allowance categories.

The Minister wrote to the Tribunal Chair on 19 February 2026 formally requesting that the Tribunal make a new comprehensive determination outside of the usual cycle, which it must do by 19 August 2026. This will enable any changes to allowances and/or allowance categories to be implemented ahead of the next council elections, which are scheduled for October 2028.

The letter of request from the Minister for Local Government, and the Tribunal Chair’s initial letter, are available here:

How can I make a submission?

The Tribunal invites submissions from any person or body in relation to the Determination.

Submissions should be emailed to the Tribunal Secretariat at enquiries@remunerationtribunal.vic.gov.au by 5pm on Thursday 2 April 2026.

Those wishing to make an oral submission must advise the Tribunal Secretariat via email by 5pm on Friday 20 March 2026.

The Tribunal will also undertake broader consultation with the local government sector, including by inviting councillors to complete an anonymous online questionnaire seeking their views on the role and the existing allowances and allowance categories, among other matters.

Consultation questions

Without limiting the matters that submitters may wish to raise, the Tribunal is particularly interested in receiving responses to the following questions.

Role of mayors, deputy mayors and councillors

1. How has the role of a councillor evolved since the Tribunal last reviewed it in 2022, including in terms of responsibilities, workload and complexity?

Relevant factors to consider may include, but need not be limited to, the impact of governance and integrity reforms (e.g. mandatory training and professional development) and changes to the electoral representation framework (i.e. the transition to single member wards for metropolitan councils).

2. Similarly, how have the roles of mayor, deputy mayor and acting mayor evolved since the Tribunal last reviewed them in 2022?

Allowance values

3. How much weight should the Tribunal give to each of the following considerations in setting the value of allowances, and why?

Setting allowance values that—

• Reflect the responsibilities and accountabilities of elected councillors, and the skills and capabilities required to perform these.
• Account for relevant similarities and differences in elected council roles (e.g. mayor, deputy mayor, councillor) within and across local councils.
• Reflect a community service dimension to the role of elected councillors.
• Facilitate the participation of candidates for local government elections that reflect the diversity of their communities.
• Support the effective operation and governance of councils.

4. What other considerations, in addition to those listed above, should the Tribunal take into account in setting the value of allowances?

5. Taking into account the considerations listed above (including any identified in response to question 4), do you consider the existing allowance values to be appropriate? Why or why not?

Allowance categories

6. When it made its first comprehensive determination in 2022, the Tribunal assigned councils to allowance categories using a formula that took into account population and revenue, while Melbourne City Council was assigned to a separate category. Is this an appropriate framework for determining allowance categories? Why or why not?

7. If not, what specific changes should the Tribunal consider (e.g. adding/removing categories and/or criteria), and how should they be implemented?

For example, some stakeholders have suggested the creation of a new category for councils experiencing rapid population growth.

Comparators

8. The Tribunal’s legislation requires it to consider similar allowances for councillors in other jurisdictions and allowances for persons elected to other voluntary part-time community bodies. Which organisations or roles do you think the Tribunal should give particular weight to when setting allowance values, if any?

Expenses, facilities and resources

9. Reflecting on either your council or councils in general, as appropriate, to what extent do you think there is consistency, clarity and fairness in relation to:

• the kinds of expenses that are able to be reimbursed, and the facilities and resources that are provided?
• the value of expenses able to be claimed by councillors?
• eligibility criteria for claiming reimbursement or accessing particular facilities/resources?
• accountability, oversight and procedures in relation to reimbursements and access to facilities/resources?

10. In addition to those listed in the previous question, are there any other aspects of the arrangements for expenses, facilities and resources that the Tribunal should consider or include as part of its guidance?

Publication and use of submissions

To promote transparency, submissions will be published on the Tribunal’s website in full or in summary form as appropriate. If the submitter seeks confidentiality or the submission contains information that is identified as commercially sensitive, the Tribunal will work with the submitter to publish the submission in a form which protects the confidentiality or commercial sensitivity.

Submissions that contain offensive or defamatory material, or that are outside the scope of the Determination, will not be published.

The Tribunal may use information provided in submissions in its Determination.

The Tribunal may receive a request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic). Any such request will be determined in accordance with that Act, which contains provisions designed to protect personal information and information given in confidence. Further information can be found on the website of the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner.

How will the Tribunal make its Determination?

The VIRTIPS Act sets out the matters the Tribunal is required to consider in making its Determination.

The Determination must include a comprehensive review of the existing allowances and allowance categories, taking into account allowances for councillors in other jurisdictions and allowances for persons elected to voluntary part-time community bodies.

In addition, the Tribunal is required to consider:

• current and projected economic conditions and trends
• the financial position and fiscal strategy of the State of Victoria
• any statement or policy issued by the Victorian Government which is in force with respect to its wages policy (or equivalent)
• submissions received in relation to the proposed Determination.

The Tribunal will publish a statement of reasons alongside the Determination, which will detail its consideration of the above factors.

Ref: BMIN-251200076

Mr Warren McCann
Chair
Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal
By email: enquiries@remunerationtribunal.vic.gov.au

Dear Mr McCann,

Thank you for your letter of 5 June 2025 seeking my agreement to bring forward the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal's (the Tribunal) next comprehensive determination of mayoral, deputy mayoral and councillor allowances (council allowances).

Following consultation with the Minister for Finance, the Hon Danny Pearson MP, I am writing to formally request that the Tribunal make a new determination of council allowances under section 23A(6) of the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal and Improving Parliamentary Standards Act 2019.

In addition to the matters raised in your letter of 5 June 2025, the Tribunal may wish to consider the following matters:

• any relationship between council allowances and the diversity and representation of council members (in particular, the representation of women)
• the alignment of allowances for mayors, deputy mayors and acting mayors to the roles, responsibilities and capabilities under the Local Government Act 2020 (LGA 2020)
• any guidance the Tribunal may provide to support consistent council arrangements for the expenses, resources and facilities reasonably necessary for council members to perform their roles
• whether access to a councillor assist program should be included in the available allowances to councillors
• any recent events that may be relevant to the Tribunal's view of the purpose of council allowances, including the State of Disaster declared from 10 January 2026 and changes to the electoral representation framework under the LGA 2020.

Tribunal secretariat officers may contact Dan Harper, Acting Executive Director, Local Government Victoria ... for further information.

Thank you for undertaking this important task for the Victorian local government sector. I look forward to the Tribunal's next determination of council allowances.

Sincerely,

The Hon Nick Staikos MP
Minister for Consumer Affairs
Minister for Local Government

Date: 18/02/2026

The Hon Nick Staikos
Minster for Local Government
2 Treasury Place
EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002
By email: minister.staikos@dgs.vic.gov.au

Dear Minister

PROPOSED COMPREHENSIVE DETERMINATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT ALLOWANCES

The Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal made its first local government comprehensive determination in 2022, which implemented a new allowance structure for elected local government representatives and re-set the values of those allowances.

The Tribunal considered that an increase to allowances values was justified at the time for several reasons, including the changes to the scope and complexity of councillor roles, the high level of community expectation on councillors and that allowance values had not kept pace with broader wages and prices.

The Tribunal has made annual adjustment determinations in each subsequent year, which have sought to broadly maintain the value of allowances. However, annual adjustment determinations do not provide a vehicle to consider broader issues, including a thorough review of the structure or value of allowances.

Feedback to the Tribunal through consultation on successive annual adjustments and other stakeholder engagement has raised the following substantive issues with the current allowance framework:

• further changes to the nature, complexity and workload of councillor roles since 2022
• updated data on the time commitment for councillors to perform their role, which appears to have increased (based on the recent census undertaken by the Victorian Local Governance Association)
• suggested changes to the structure of allowances and the allocation of councils to different allowance categories (which are based on the population and revenue of a council)
• challenges in attracting the retaining councillors with the skills and capabilities to perform their role and represent the diversity of our communities.

While there are diverse views on some of these issues, the Tribunal considers that it would be timely to undertake a new comprehensive determination to review the roles of councillors and implications for the structure and value of allowances.

However, under the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal and Improving Parliamentary Standards Act 2019 (VIRTIPS Act), the next comprehensive determination is not due until 2029 - which is over seven years since the Tribunal's first comprehensive determination. The Tribunal considers that this timeframe is too long to address the substantive issues raised by stakeholders, support a capable and representative councillor cohort and ensure councillors are treated fairly.

The Tribunal therefore proposes that the next local government comprehensive determination be undertaken in 2026.

There are several advantages to undertaking a comprehensive determination in 2026, including that:

• substantive issues raised by stakeholders - which are likely to be raised again via an annual adjustment determination - would be carefully considered through a transparent and independent process
• the implications of recent state government reforms (including to improve governance and accountability arrangements for local government) would also be considered
• any changes to the structure or value of local government allowances would be implemented well ahead of the 2028 local government elections
• it would broadly align with the four-year period between comprehensive determinations for other groups covered by the Tribunal (including Members of Parliament).

This timeframe would complement the Tribunal's existing work program and the determiniation can be undertaken within existing resources. The Tribunal notes that the proposed comprehensive determination in 2026 would effectively replace the annual adjustment determination that would otherwise be required by the VIRTIPS Act.

Under the VIRTIPS Act, the Minister for Local Government can, in consultation with the Minister for Finance, request that the Tribunal make a new comprehensive determination, which would need to be completed within six months of a request from the Minister.

The Tribunal proposes that it makes a comprehensive determination in mid-2026 to align with the usual timing for an annual adjustment determination. In this scenario, the Tribunal would appreciate an early indication of your views on this proposal, which would enable early planning for a determination in its forward work program; a formal request could then be provided in Decemer 2025 for the Tribunal to make the determination in June 2026. The Tribunal would be happy to accommodate an alternative timeline - noting that a comprehensive determination would in practice need to be made no later than 31 December 2026.

The Tribunal has had preliminary discussions with Local Government Victoria on this proposal and would be pleased to discuss it with you directly.

I have copied this letter to the Minister for Finance.

Yours sincerely

Warren McCann
Chair
Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal
Date: 05/06/2025

cc: The Hon Danny Pearson, Minister for Finance