City of Boroondara
The City of Boroondara is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn.
It has an area of. In the 2021 Census the city had a population of 167,903.
City of Boroondara participates in the Victorian Government's state-wide, Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey. This is conducted annually by an independent research company, JWS Research. In 2022 City of Boroondara achieved an index score of 71 on ‘Overall Performance’. This is significantly higher than the average ratings for metropolitan councils and the state-wide average and places Boroondara in the top-performing councils metro and state-wide.
History
This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation.In 1837, John Gardiner and his family were the first Europeans to settle in the area. Robert Hoddle surveyed the area in 1837 and declared it the "Parish of Boroondara". The area was densely wooded, so he took a word from the Woiwurrung language, meaning "where the ground is thickly shaded".
The first Local Government body was the Boroondara District Road Board, formed on 11 July 1854 and incorporating the areas which were to become the City of Hawthorn, City of Kew and City of Camberwell. Hawthorn and Kew were created as separate municipalities in 1860 and the remaining area of the Road Board became the Shire of Boroondara on 17 November 1871, which later became the City of Camberwell.
In the 1990s, the City of Hawthorn, the City of Kew and the western part of the City of Camberwell were originally planned to be amalgamated to form the "City of Riversdale". The three municipalities, including the whole of the City of Camberwell, were eventually amalgamated in June 1994 to create the City of Boroondara. Existing councillors from the three municipalities were replaced initially by three commissioners - David Glanville, David Thomas and Marion Macleod. The commissioners were in turn replaced by ten councillors following elections in 1996.
Council
Boroondara City Council is the third tier of government and deals with services such as waste and recycling collection, leisure centres, building and planning permits and approvals, roads, drainage, health services, youth services, children's services, food safety, parks and gardens, library services, pets, street parking permits and the collection of rates and charges.Current composition and election method
Boroondara City Council is composed of eleven councillors, each representing one of eleven wards. On Thursday 9 July 2020, the Minister for Local Government formally announced a change to Boroondara's electoral structure. This change follows a review by the Victorian Electoral Commission, which was completed in June 2019. This change included an increase in ward and councillor numbers from 10 to 11. The new 11th ward is named Riversdale Ward, and is located to the south-west where it shares a boundary with Glenferrie, Junction and Gardiner Wards. This addition resulted in a number of boundary changes across the municipality.In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to disrupt the local elections, with some arguing that the inability to campaign in-person would benefit incumbents with name-recognition, or resource rich candidates who could invest in letter box campaigns with leaflets. A decision was made, on public health grounds, that it was safe to proceed with the elections and voters were only able to return their ballots via postal voting.
All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office, with the most recent election being held in October 2024. Councillors were sworn in at a Special Meeting of Council on Monday 11 November 2024. On the 17th of November 2025, Wes Gault was elected Mayor, and Shima Ibuki his Deputy, by the Council.
| Ward | Party | Name | Years as Councillor | Roles | |
| Bellevue | Independent | Michael Nolan | 2024-present | ||
| Cotham | Liberal | Felicity Sinfield | 2012-present | ||
| Gardiner | Independent | Victor Franco | 2020-present | Chair of the Urban Planning Delegated Committee | |
| Glenferrie | Greens | Wes Gault | 2020-present | Mayor | |
| Junction | Independent | Mal Osborne-Smith | 2024-present | ||
| Lynden | Independent | Lisa Hollingsworth | 2016-present | ||
| Maling | Independent | Shima Ibuki | 2024-present | Deputy Mayor | |
| Maranoa | Independent | Chris Pattas | 1996-2004, 2024-present | ||
| Riversdale | Independent | Rob Baillieu | 2024-present | Chair of the Services Delegated Committee | |
| Solway | Greens | John Friend-Pereira | 2024-present | ||
| Studley | Independent | Sophie Torney | 2024-present | - |
Mayors
Past Councillors
1996−present
Election results
2024
Townships and localities
At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 167,900, down from 167,231 in the 2016 census.^ - ''Territory divided with another LGA''