City of Greater Bendigo

The City of Greater Bendigo is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of Template:Convert and, in August 2021, had a population of 121,470.<ref name=ABSLGA/> It includes the city of Bendigo and the towns of Axedale, Elmore, Heathcote, Marong, Raywood and Strathfieldsaye. It is the state's third largest economy base and is considered a service and infrastructure centre for north central Victoria. The city is surrounded by 40,000 hectares of regional, state and national parkland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The city is governed and administered by the Greater Bendigo City Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Bendigo, it also has service centres located in Heathcote, Huntly, Marong and a couple of other locations within Bendigo. The city is named after the main urban settlement lying in the centre-west of the LGA, that is Bendigo, which is also the LGA's most populous urban area with a population of 99,122.<ref name=ABSSUA>Template:Cite web Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.</ref>

History

The City of Greater Bendigo was formed on 7 April 1994, initially from the amalgamation of the former City of Bendigo with the Borough of Eaglehawk, Shire of Strathfieldsaye, Shire of Huntly, and the Rural City of Marong.<ref name="Gazette" />

In November 1994, the City gained the Heathcote district and the Lake Eppalock hinterland from the Shire of McIvor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 1995, the rural western flank of the City (part of the former Rural City of Marong) was moved into the new Shire of Loddon, while the City gained the Redesdale district from the Shire of Metcalfe.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Gazette2">Template:Cite web</ref>

The City's predecessor LGAs (green) as they were in 1994. The administrative centres of the former LGAs are marked by green dots.

Council

Bendigo Town Hall

Current composition

The council is composed of nine single member wards.<ref name=Council>Template:Cite web</ref> The most recent election was held in October 2024.

Lockwood Ward has been vacant since 17 November 2025 when John McIlrath, who was elected at the 2024 election, resigned. He will be replaced in a bye-election to be held sometime in the future, possibly months away.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The current council (elected in 2024)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ward	Party		Councillor	Notes
Axedale	Template:Australian party style|	Independent Liberal	Shivali Chatley
Eppalock	Template:Australian party style|	Independent	Aaron Spong
Epsom	Template:Australian party style |	Independent	Andrea Metcalf	Mayor
Golden Square	Template:Australian party style |	Independent	Karen Corr
Kennington	Template:Australian party style |	Independent Labor	Abhishek Awasthi	Deputy Mayor
Lake Weeroona	Template:Australian party style |	Independent	Thomas Prince
Lockwood	Template:Australian party style |	N/A	Vacant	Resigned
Ravenswood	Template:Australian party style |	Independent Labor	Damien Hurrell
Whipstick	Template:Australian party style |	Victorian Socialists	Owen Cosgriff

List of mayors

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Bendigo Town Hall offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its administrative centre on Lyttleton Terrace in Bendigo and its service centres in Heathcote, Huntly and Marong and also on Hopetoun Street and St Andrews Avenue in Bendigo.

2023 Council Election Review

In the lead up to the 2024 Victorian local elections, The Victorian Electoral Commission conducted a review into the electoral structure of multiple Victorian councils, including the City of Greater Bendigo, The review found that the city should adopt nine single-councillor wards at the election, namely:

• Axedale Ward
• Eppalock Ward
• Epsom Ward
• Golden Square Ward
• Kennington Ward
• Lake Weeroona Ward
• Lockwood Ward
• Ravenswood Ward
• Whipstick Ward

Towns, Suburbs and localities

At the 2021 census, the city had a population of 121,470 up from 110,477 in the 2016 census<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	215	272
Ascot	1,968	2,571
Template:VICcity	43	42
Template:VICcity	352	452
Template:VICcity	802	984
Template:VICcity	288	355
Bagshot North	30	39
Template:VICcity	17	12
Bendigo	5,512	5,652
Big Hill	261	281
Template:VICcity	4,363	4,476
Template:VICcity	75	70
Derrinal	49	99
Template:VICcity	38	42
Template:VICcity	5,691	5,538
Template:VICcity	5	13
Template:VICcity	2,092	2,246
Template:VICcity	776	847
Template:VICcity	359	376

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Eppalock	685	746
Template:VICcity	4,325	5,014
Template:VICcity	3,955	3,989
Template:VICcity	63	57
Template:VICcity	211	213
Template:VICcity	8,820	9,220
Template:VICcity	654	718
Template:VICcity^	265	291
Template:VICcity	2,793	2,962
Template:VICcity	44	23
Template:VICcity	2,379	3,585
Template:VICcity	43	46
Template:VICcity	1,095	1,163
Template:VICcity	1,141	1,907
Template:VICcity	3,201	3,862
Template:VICcity^	92	89
Template:VICcity	10,394	11,328
Template:VICcity	5,649	5,880
Template:VICcity	73	96

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	160	168
Ladys Pass	111	118
Template:VICcity^	125	167
Template:VICcity	754	806
Template:VICcity^	961	1,052
Template:VICcity	3,383	3,420
Template:VICcity	506	570
Template:VICcity	4,992	5,407
Mandurang	641	753
Template:VICcity	247	280
Template:VICcity^	1,416	2,005
Template:VICcity^	178	213
Template:VICcity	106	136
Template:VICcity	459	545
Template:VICcity^	67	68
Template:VICcity	290	379
Template:VICcity	4,059	4,277

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	2,339	2,365
Template:VICcity^	436	443
Template:VICcity^	318	329
Template:VICcity^	68	67
Template:VICcity^	240	299
Template:VICcity	711	743
Template:VICcity^	217	251
Template:VICcity	546	614
Template:VICcity^	452	423
Template:VICcity	3,000	3,092
Template:VICcity	5,663	5,756
Template:VICcity	5,428	6,850
Template:VICcity^	182	221
Template:VICcity	126	144
Template:VICcity	375	378
Whipstick	10	18
Template:VICcity	3,219	3,620
Wilsons Hill	77	88
Template:VICcity	449	556

Template:Columns-end ^ – Territory divided with another LGA

See also

• List of localities in Victoria

External links

• Template:Commons category-inline
• Greater Bendigo City Council official website
• Bendigo information and community site
• Metlink local public transport profile
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps Template:Webarchive
• Template:Victorian local government areas pre-1994 vs present map link