COUNCILLORS across Victoria have been handed a three percent pay rise. On 30 June the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal announced it would increase base allowances for councillors by three percent, with the changes effective from the following day.
The Mornington Peninsula Shire, Frankston Council, and Kingston Council are each designated “category three” councils. From 1 July 2025 category three mayors will be paid $142,661, which will rise further to $146,319 on 18 December this year. Deputy mayors are now paid $71,329, rising to $73,159 on 18 December. Category three councillors will be paid $41,992 during the 2025/2026 financial year.
Beginning on July 1 2024 category three mayors were paid $134,954, deputy mayors were paid $67,477, and councillors were paid $40,769. On 18 December last year pay for mayors rose to $138,506, and rose to $69,252 for deputy mayors.
The Tribunal received 16 submissions before deciding on the pay rise, although most were de-identified after publication. In its “statement of reasons” for the pay rise, the Tribunal wrote “a common theme among submissions was that remuneration for local councillors was not commensurate with the responsibilities of the position.
“In line with this broad theme, submissions suggested that the role of a local councillor had increased in complexity in recent years and that remuneration levels for councillors did not reflect this change, the current definition of allowances mean that councillors are not receiving certain benefits that may be available to others working in part-time roles, such as leave entitlements, remuneration levels for councillors may be a barrier to attracting more capable and diverse councillors, particularly young people, people with disabilities, women and those with caring responsibilities, [and] the current allowance categories and the allocation of councils to specific categories should be revised to better reflect the responsibilities of councils. “This adjustment is broadly in line with movements in prices, wages and adjustments to allowances in other jurisdictions.”
First published in the Frankston Times – 8 July 2025