WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Non-citizens can run for council in most states.
OUR VERDICT
Misleading. With the exception of a small cohort of non-citizen British subjects, Tasmania is the only state that permits non-citizens to stand for council.
AAP FACTCHECK - The claim that non-citizens can run for council in most states is misleading.
Only Tasmania allows non-Australian citizens to stand for council.
NSW, Victoria, Western Australia (WA) and the Northern Territory (NT) retain a provision for British subjects to stand; however, they must have been on the Australian electoral roll for more than 42 years.
This cohort is estimated to number around 100,000 people nationwide.
The claim is made in a Facebook post that begins with the question, "CAN NON-CITIZENS RUN FOR COUNCIL?
"Surprisingly: yes - in most states," the post reads.
"Local councils are not parliaments. They're created under state law, and in many jurisdictions Australian citizenship is not required to be a councillor.
"Instead, the test is usually this: Are you entitled to be enrolled (or eligible to be enrolled) as a council voter?"
The post claims non-citizens in South Australia and Victoria and NSW may be eligible to stand through qualifying as a "resident voter" or "ratepayer voter".
AAP FactCheck approached the Facebook user for evidence to support the claim that in most states non-citizens are eligible to run.
The user provided a link to a Victorian Electoral Commission webpage, claiming it shows that a person can enrol to vote without being an Australian citizen and, once enrolled, can run for council.
This is incorrect. Only in Tasmania can non-citizens stand for council.
In all other states and territories, you must be an Australian citizen.
In NSW, Victoria, WA and the NT, a narrow cohort of British subjects may stand, but only if they were enrolled to vote before January 25, 1984.
This reflects the historical evolution of Australia's citizenship laws.
Before January 26, 1949, Australians were legally classified as British subjects.
When Australian citizenship was introduced, British subjects could still vote in federal elections if they met a six-month Australian residency requirement.
In 1984, Australian citizenship became a requirement for enrolment.
However, it was considered unfair to remove voting rights from British subjects already enrolled, so Section 93 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 allowed them to remain enrolled and continue voting, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.
This cohort numbered just over 105,000 in 2023 and will have declined further since.
In NSW, the NSW Electoral Commission told AAP FactCheck that the Local Government Act 1993 ties council candidacy to voting eligibility.
Section 30 of the NSW Electoral Act 2017 provides that only Australian citizens and the pre-1984 British subjects can vote - and therefore stand as candidates.
The Victorian Electoral Commission told AAP FactCheck that non-citizen residents and property owners can become a "council-enrolled voter" in local government elections.
However, all candidates must be either a citizen or in the British subject cohort, under Section 34 of the Local Government Act 2020.
In Western Australia, candidacy is tied to voting rights. To qualify to stand, a person must be an elector of the district, as per the Local Government Act 1995, Section 2.19.
To be an elector, you must be enrolled to vote for the Legislative Assembly (Section 4.29) and to be enrolled to vote for the Legislative Assembly, you must be a citizen or in the British subjects cohort (WA Electoral Act 1907, Section 17).
The NT Electoral Commission confirmed candidates must be enrolled as electors to stand (Local Government Act 2019, Section 47).
The NT ultimately defers to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, Section 93, which specifies that citizenship or being part of the subjects cohort is required to vote and therefore stand.
Both South Australia (SA) and Queensland do not allow the British subject cohort to stand.
Electoral Commission SA said that under Section 17 of the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999, candidates must be Australian citizens.
The Electoral Commission of Queensland pointed to Section 152 of the Local Government Act 2009, which also states candidates must be citizens, among other requirements.
The ACT has no local government.
The exception is Tasmania, with the state's electoral commission telling AAP FactCheck that citizenship does not determine a person's eligibility to run in local elections.
Non-citizens who own or occupy land in Tasmania can enrol for local elections under Section 254 of the Local Government Act 1993.
Once enrolled, they are eligible, provided they meet other criteria, to stand as candidates for local government under Section 270.
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