Melbourne City Council is the local government body responsible for the Melbourne municipality. The council consists of a Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor (the leadership team) and seven councillors.
Under the provision of the City of Melbourne Act 2001 (Vic):

• Melbourne is not divided into wards
• the leadership team and councillors are elected separately by voters across the municipality
• the preferential voting system is used to elect the leadership team and proportional representation is used to elect councillors.

The previous council was sworn in on 2 December 2004. The current council was elected for a four-year term in November 2008. The next council election is scheduled for November 2012.

The Council's role

The Local Government Act 1989 (Vic) and City of Melbourne Act 2001 (Vic) set out the primary purposes and objectives of Melbourne City Council and defines its functions and powers. The council is a public statutory body incorporated under the Act. Its role is to govern the municipality of Melbourne in service of the community.
The council:

• acts as a representative government and considers community needs when making decisions
  
• establishes strategic objectives for municipal services and monitors their achievement
  
• ensures the responsible and accountable management of the organisation’s resources
  
• advocates local community interests to other communities and governments
  
• is a responsible partner in government, taking the needs of other communities into account
  
• fosters community cohesion and encourages participation in civic life.

Council decisions

Councillors make decisions at council meetings and delegated committee meetings. Committee meeting decisions are subject to a ‘referral notice process’ meaning that when fewer than five committee members vote in favour of a motion, members have the option of referring the matter to the next council meeting.

Delegations

Melbourne City Council’s powers under the Local Government Act 1989 (Vic) or any other Act may be delegated to a special committee of council, to the CEO or to a council officer via the CEO. Staff are accountable to the CEO. The council and its committees establish policy while staff make decisions in accordance with that policy. The exercise of delegations is subject to the council’s Delegations Policy.

Relationship with other tiers of government

Statutory responsibility for local government lies with each Australian state or territory. An Act of each State parliament specifies local government powers, duties and functions. In Victoria, the legal basis for councils is established under the Constitution Act 1975 (Vic) and the Local Government Act 1989 (Vic).

2008 council elections

The Melbourne City Council election results were declared on Tuesday, 2 December 2008. See the 12 months in Melbourne section for more information about the 2008 Melbourne City Council elections. For more information about council elections, see the Victorian Electoral Commission website at www.vec.vic.gov.au.

Subsidiaries and trusts

Melbourne City Council has three wholly-owned subsidiary companies: CityWide Service Solutions Pty Ltd, Queen Victoria Market Pty Ltd and Melbourne Wholesale Fish Market Pty Ltd.

Melbourne City Council also has an interest in other entities including 100 per cent ownership of the Sustainable Melbourne Fund, a 50 per cent interest in the Regent Management Company Limited and is the majority shareholder in MAPS Group Limited, trading as Strategic Purchasing.

Member, Council of Capital City Lord Mayors (CCCLM)

The Lord Mayor of Melbourne is a member of the CCCLM, which comprises the lord mayors of all capital cities and the ACT’s Minister for Territory and Municipal Services. It coordinates and represents the special interests of Australia’s state and territory capital cities in their relations with other spheres of government.

Partner, Inner Melbourne Action Plan (IMAP)

IMAP is an initiative of the cities of Melbourne, Yarra, Port Phillip and Stonnington to make the inner Melbourne region more liveable. IMAP coordinates the implementation of 11 regional strategies, which focus on priority areas including affordable housing, environmental improvements (water, waste and greenhouse), tourism and sustainable transport.