Supplementary Council Election Overview

Council Members are elected every four years, with the next General Election due to be held in November 2026.

A vacancy occurred following the resignation of a former Goodwood Ward Councillor in September 2024. A supplementary election was necessary to fill that vacancy.

Council Elections are broken up into three main phases being Enrol, Nominate and Vote. 

This election gave eligable voters in the Goodwood Ward an opportunity to vote for the candidate they believe will best represent their community. Anybody on the voters roll within the City of Unley was eligible to nominate as a candidate.

The candidates who ran in this supplementary election are listed below: 

Unlike State and Federal elections, it is not compulsory to vote in South Australian council elections and all voting was done by post. Enrolled voters received a voting package through the mail and returned their votes either via a reply paid envelope, or to the ballot box in the Civic Centre.

The rules for elections are set out in the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 - an act of the South Australian Parliament.

Results

The scrutiny and count for this Supplementary Election occurred between 1:30pm and 4:39pm on Tuesday 4 March 2025.

After the distribution of preferences, Tony Roach was provisionally declared elected at 4:39PM on Tuesday 4 March 2025.

Count summary, first preference votes, distribution of preferences can be found on ECSA's website here: https://ecsa.sa.gov.au/2024-unley-goodwood-ward

Key Dates

Supplementary Council Election Process

Council Elections are broken up into three main phases being Enrol, Nominate and Vote.

ENROL (closed)

Anybody residing or owning property in the Goodwood Ward, who is correctly enrolled for the state elections in South Australia are automatically included on Council’s voters roll and will be eligible to vote. Anybody eligible to act as a nominated party (e.g. on behalf of a business) were required to ‘enrol’ to vote prior to Friday 29 November 2024. The Voters Roll has now been finalised and is available for inspection upon request at the Council Civic Centre.

NOMINATE (closed)

Anybody on the Voters Roll within the City of Unley was eligible to nominate to run for the vacancy.  

Nominations opened on Thursday, 9 January 2025 and closed at 12 noon Thursday, 23 January 2025. Candidates nominated directly through the Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA) portal with the submission of a profile of not more than 1,000 characters, and may also provide a photograph, predominantly head and shoulders, taken within the previous 12 months.

An in-person candidate information session was held on Tuesday, 14 January 2025 at 6:00pm at the Unley Council Chambers, 181 Unley Road, Unley.

More information relating to the process and considerations for candidates can be found on ECSA’s website.

Following the close of nominations, ECSA will be organised a ballot draw which determined the order in which candidates appear on voting papers.

VOTE (closed) 

Voting materials were distributed to eligible voters from Tuesday 4 February 2025. Voting in a Council election is NOT compulsory, therefore there are no voting booths. Voters may follow enclosed instructions to correctly complete their ballot papers, and return post them directly to ECSA using the reply-paid envelope provided.

ECSA are responsible for issuing and/or reissuing of ballot materials (not Council).

Voting closed at 12pm Monday 3 March 2025. The scrutiny and count process will occur from 1:30pm on Tuesday 4 March 2025 at the Electoral Commission offices (Adelaide CBD). Results will be announced as soon as practicable following this process.

For further information relating to the nomination or voting process of the 2025 Supplementary Election, please contact Council or the Electoral Commission of SA (ECSA) on 1300 655 232.