City of Fremantle
Coastal Charm
The City of Fremantle Council elections are held every two years on the third Saturday in October.
The election is conducted via postal voting, and we encourage you to complete your package and return it via post in the reply-paid envelope.
Following the delivery of ballot paper packages to electors, a ballot box will be available on the ground floor of the Walyalup Civic Centre Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm and on election day at the Town Hall from 8am – 6pm.
Electors will receive an election package containing ballot paper(s), candidate profiles, a declaration envelope and pre-paid return envelope, approximately three weeks before the election.
To vote, complete the ballot paper(s), place them in the declaration envelope and sign the envelope. Place the signed declaration envelope in the pre-paid envelope and post the envelope in the mail.
Optional preferential voting is the voting system for local government elections.
Preferential voting is the same method used in state and federal elections. Optional preferential voting means you are not required to provide all preferences in casting your vote.
Optional preferential voting means that to be elected you need to either achieve a majority of votes in the count for a single vacancy or a quota of votes where there is more than one vacancy to be filled. As a result, the candidates elected are more representative of the majority of voters.
Yes, if you are an elector of the City of Fremantle. The next Mayoral election will be held on Saturday, 18 October 2025.
The Mayoral ballot is in addition to the ward ballot.
Yes, the City of Fremantle has four wards:
Central Ward Coastal Ward East Ward North Ward
Approximately three weeks before election day.
Please visit the WA Electoral Commission website closer to election day for information on delivery dates.
To request a replacement package (new ballot papers), please call the City’s Election team on 1300 MY FREO (1300 693 736) or visit the Walyalup Civic Centre Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm. Or complete the application form and email it to Elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au for processing.
If you are already enrolled to vote in the State and Federal elections for the area in which you live, you will be entitled to one vote.
If you have recently moved to the City of Fremantle, turned 18 years of age or become and Australian citizen, you may need to check your enrolment status
You can update your state electoral enrolment through the WA Electoral Commission website.
To vote in the 2025 election you must be enrolled to vote by 22 August 2025 at 5pm, when enrolment closes.
Persons who are on the state electoral roll for an address within the City of Fremantle are automatically enrolled to vote in a City of Fremantle election. You can update your state electoral enrolment through the WA Electoral Commission website.
People who own or occupy property within the City of Fremantle, can apply to be included on the roll as an owner or occupier, as long as they are eligible electors. A body corporate may apply to have up to two eligible electors to be included on the owner and occupier roll.
Non-resident owners remain on the roll until the property is sold, or if you are a Body Corporate nominee, you may be removed if the Body Corporate wishes to change its nominees.
Non-resident occupiers remain on the roll for 2 ordinary elections plus 6 months, or until your lease expires. If you are a Body Corporate nominee, you may also be removed if the Body Corporate wishes to change its nominees.
Contact the City at Elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au to check if you are on the City of Fremantle’s Owners and Occupiers roll or to find out more on how to update or renew your enrolment details.
If you own rateable property in the City of Fremantle but do not reside in that property, you may be eligible to vote, provided you are enrolled to vote in a State or Federal election.
To apply to enrol as a non-resident owner that is a sole owner or one of two co-owners of that property, complete this form: Form 2 – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Owner or Co-Owner.
If you own your property jointly with three or more people, complete this form alongside Form 2: Form 2B – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Nomination by Group of Owners and Occupiers.
The City will consider your claim, determine whether you are eligible and inform you of the outcome of your application in writing. You may be asked for additional information such as:
Providing evidence of your claim at the time of submitting your enrolment claim form may allow for a more rapid assessment by the City.
Send all relevant forms and supporting information to: elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au
Or by mail:
City of Fremantle PO Box 807 Fremantle WA 6959
If you occupy a property in the City of Fremantle, you may be eligible to vote provided you are already enrolled to vote in a State or Federal election.
From 1 January 2024, amendments to the Local Government Act 1995 and Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997 set out new requirements an occupier must meet to be eligible to be enrolled to vote in Local Government Elections.
To apply to enrol as a non-resident occupier that is a sole occupier or one of two occupiers of that property, you must submit this form: Form 2A – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Occupier or Co-Occupier.
If you occupy your property jointly with three or more people or businesses/body corporates, complete this form alongside Form 2A: Form 2B – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Nomination by Group of Owners and Occupiers.
To be eligible to enrol to vote you must:
More information on eligibility requirements for inclusion on the Owners and Occupiers roll can be found on the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries website.
The City will consider your claim, determine whether you are eligible and inform you of the outcome of your application in writing.
Send your completed form(s) and all supporting documents to: elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au
If your business/body corporate owns a property in the City of Fremantle, you may be eligible to nominate up to two people to vote, provided they are enrolled to vote in a State or Federal election.
Nominees that are already enrolled to vote in their relevant ward are not eligible for a second vote in the same ward. Nominees will not be accepted if they are already enrolled to vote in the same ward.
You can email Elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au to check your nominees or update the contact details of your existing nominees.
We encourage you to check your nominees a few months before the close of electoral rolls, to enable us to remove any nominees and assess new claims for alternative nominees.
To change your nominees, it is encouraged that existing nominees personally email Elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au to remove themselves from the roll so that new nominees may be considered immediately.
If your current nominees do not email personally then the City will advise them of your proposal to remove them and must, in accordance with section 4.35(2) of the Local Government Act 1995, give them 28 days to provide submissions to the City about why they should not be removed.
A new application can be submitted if the existing nominees personally email Elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au to remove themselves from the roll.
New legislation came into effect from 1 January 2024 that imposes stricter requirements on occupier claims.
Occupiers must:
To nominate electors, complete all sections of Form 2, alongside Form 2C:
Form 2 – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Owner or Co-Owner, and Form 2C – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Nomination by Body Corporate
If you own your property jointly with three or more people or businesses/body corporates, complete this form alongside Form 2 and Form 2C: Form 2B – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Nomination by Group of Owners and Occupiers.
The City will consider your claim, determine whether you are eligible and inform you of the outcome of your application in writing. You may be asked during this process for information such as:
– proof of your business’s/body corporate’s ownership and/or rateability of the property – proof of your nominee/s enrolment in a state or federal election – proof that your businesses/body corporates are registered with the relevant state or federal authority to give it legal standing as a body corporate
Providing evidence of your claim at the time of submitting your enrolment claim forms may allow for a more rapid assessment by the City.
If your business/body corporate occupies a property in the City of Fremantle, you may be eligible to nominate up to two people to vote, provided they are enrolled to vote in a State or Federal election.
To nominate electors, complete all sections of Form 2A, alongside Form 2C:
Form 2A – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Occupier or Co-Occupier, and Form 2C – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Nomination by Body Corporate
If you occupy the property jointly with three or more people or businesses/body corporates, complete this form alongside Form 2A and Form 2C: Form 2B – Enrolment Eligibility Claim – Nomination by Group of Owners and Occupiers.
To be eligible to nominate two people to vote, body corporates must:
To vote in the 2025 election your nominees must be enrolled to vote by 22 August 2025 at 5pm, when enrolment closes.
Send your completed forms and all supporting documents to: elections@fremantle.wa.gov.au
