← Southern Grampians Shire Council
Mayor & councillors

Mayor & councillors

Southern Grampians Shire is unsubdivided: there are no wards, and all seven councillors are elected by the whole Shire, by proportional representation, at the four-yearly Victorian council elections (last held in October 2024). Each year the councillors elect the Mayor and a Deputy Mayor from among themselves at a Statutory Meeting.

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.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

Who represents you

Mayor
Cr Dennis HeslinElected Mayor unopposed by the councillors at the Statutory Meeting on 5 November 2025, for a one-year term. His council profile says he lives in Penshurst.
Deputy Mayor
Cr Helen HenryElected Deputy Mayor unopposed on 5 November 2025, for a one-year term. The councillors did not appoint a Deputy Mayor for 2024–25.
Councillors
7, elected Shire-wide (no wards)Cr Adam Campbell, Cr Katrina Rainsford, Cr Afton Barber, Cr Jayne Manning and Cr Tamasyn Ramsay-Grounds, plus the Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
Change since the 2024 election
Cr Tamasyn Ramsay-Grounds elected on countback, 11 May 2026Cr Albert Calvano resigned on 9 April 2026. The Victorian Electoral Commission filled the vacancy by a countback of the 2024 ballot papers on 11 May 2026, electing Tam Ramsay (now known as Tamasyn Ramsay-Grounds).
Next mayoral election
Statutory Meeting, 27 October 2026Victorian mayors are elected by the councillors, not by voters.
Council meetings
Second Tuesday of the month, 2pm, Council Chambers, 5 Market Place, HamiltonNo meeting in January. The public is welcome to attend, and meetings are livestreamed on the council's Facebook page. Agendas, minutes and recordings are on the council's meetings page.
Contact a councillor
Each councillor has a council email address (listed below)Or write to the council at Locked Bag 685, Hamilton VIC 3300.

Your representatives

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 is in office and link to their official profiles and the election results. The council's Councillors page also lists a phone number for each councillor. The Victorian Electoral Commission's council page lists the same seven councillors, and the 8 September 2026 meeting minutes record Cr Heslin as Mayor and Cr Henry as Deputy Mayor (checked September 2026). A council's makeup can change between elections, so the official pages have the most current list.

Sources — check it yourself

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.