← Surf Coast Shire Council
Mayor & councillors

Mayor & councillors

Surf Coast Shire has 9 councillors: three each for Otway Range, Torquay and Winchelsea wards. They were elected in October 2024 for the 2024–2028 term. Voters don't elect the Mayor directly; the councillors choose one of themselves each year. In November 2025 they elected Cr Libby Stapleton as Mayor, and Cr Tony Phelps as Deputy Mayor, for the second year of the term.

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 Libby Stapleton (Otway Range Ward)Elected Mayor in November 2025 for 12 months, the second year of the council's four-year term. The council says it is her third term as Mayor. The Mayor from November 2024 to November 2025 was Cr Mike Bodsworth.
Deputy Mayor
Cr Tony Phelps (Winchelsea Ward)Elected Deputy Mayor in November 2025 for the same 12-month period.
Councillors
9 — three per wardMatches the Victorian Electoral Commission's list of current councillors (checked Sep 2026).
Next mayoral election
Due in November 2026, when the 12-month term endsThe pages we checked (Sep 2026) don't give the date of the vote. The council's November meeting is listed for Tuesday 24 November 2026. This page will be updated after the vote.
Changes since the 2024 election
Torquay Ward: Cr Phoebe Crockett replaced Rebecca Bourke (countback, Nov 2025)Rebecca Bourke resigned in late September 2025 (the VEC gives the vacancy date as 25 September 2025). The VEC held a countback on 5 November 2025, and Phoebe Crockett was elected for the rest of the term, to 2028.VEC countback result →

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 holds office, with their council email addresses, and link to the election results. Each ward elects three councillors by proportional representation, so a vacancy is filled by a countback of the votes from the last election, not by a by-election. For the latest list, see the council's page or the VEC.

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.