Mayor & councillors
Murrindindi has 7 wards, each with one councillor, elected in October 2024 for the 2024–2028 term. One seat, Kinglake Ward, is vacant: Councillor Jodi Adams resigned with effect from 12 August 2026, and the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) is running a by-election for the seat, by post, in December 2026. Voters don't elect the Mayor directly: the councillors choose one of themselves each year.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- How the mayor is chosen
- Either elected directly by voters, or chosen by the councillors.
- Ward
- A subdivision of a council area that elects its own councillors.
- Local Government Area (LGA)
- The official area a council governs.
Who represents you
- Mayor
- Cr Damien Gallagher (Red Gate Ward)Elected unopposed by the councillors on 19 November 2025 for a one-year term. He was first elected Mayor on 20 November 2024.Meeting minutes →
- Deputy Mayor
- Cr Anita Carr (Eildon Ward)Elected at the same meeting, for a term aligned with the Mayor's.
- Councillors
- 6 in office, 1 vacancy (Kinglake Ward)Matches the VEC's list of current councillors and the council's Councillors page (checked Sep 2026).
- Kinglake Ward by-election
- Voting closes 6pm Friday 4 December 2026; the council gives Friday 18 December 2026 as the indicative date for declaring the resultCandidate nominations open on Monday 19 October and close at 12 noon on Tuesday 27 October 2026, so no candidates had been announced when we checked (Sep 2026). The VEC will publish the candidates in ballot-paper order and declare the result. This page will be updated when it does.VEC by-election page →
- Next mayoral election
- Wednesday 18 November 2026Listed as 'Election of the Mayor, Alexandra Council Chamber' (6pm) in the council's 2026 meeting schedule.Meeting schedule →
Your representatives
Damien Gallagher
Mayor / Councillor · Red Gate Ward
Anita Carr
Deputy Mayor / Councillor · Eildon Ward
Sue Carpenter
Councillor · Cheviot Ward
Paul Hildebrand
Councillor · Koriella Ward
Eric Lording
Councillor · King Parrot Ward
Sandice McAulay
Councillor · Cathedral Ward
Want to raise something? Contacting your ward councillor or the mayor is one of the most direct ways to be heard between elections.
Victorian council ballot papers and results don't show party affiliation, so we don't label councillors. We list who holds office, with the council email address the council publishes for each, and link to the election results. While the Kinglake Ward seat is vacant, the council asks Kinglake Ward residents to contact it about services and local matters on (03) 5772 0333 or customer@murrindindi.vic.gov.au. In a single-councillor ward, a vacancy with more than 6 months of the term left is filled by a by-election, not a countback. The council's Councillors page has a map showing which ward your address is in. For the latest list, see the council's page or the VEC.
Sources — check it yourself
- Murrindindi Shire Council — Councillors · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Murrindindi Shire Council (current councillors) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Murrindindi Shire Council Kinglake Ward by-election · Sep 2026
- Murrindindi Shire Council — Kinglake Ward by-election 2026 · Sep 2026
- Murrindindi Shire Council — Voting in the Kinglake Ward by-election (key dates) · Sep 2026
- Murrindindi Shire Council — Cr Jodi Adams resigns from Murrindindi Shire Council (13 Aug 2026) · Aug 2026
- Murrindindi Shire Council — Special Meeting of Council 19 November 2025, minutes (items 4.1–4.3) · Nov 2025
- Murrindindi Shire Council — Council Meeting Schedule 2026 · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — 2024 Murrindindi Shire Council election results · Nov 2024
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.