Majority support return to single-councillor divisions

Published on 30 October 2026

Most respondents to Ipswich City Council’s community engagement on divisional arrangements support a return to single-councillor divisions.

Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the community engagement report titled Changes Proposed to Divisional Arrangements October 2026 showed 53 per cent of the 812 respondents supported a move back to single-councillor divisions.

Thirty-five per cent were opposed, with a further 10 per cent indicating they required additional information before making up their minds.

Council had written to the State Government last month requesting urgent consideration of how the growing city’s divisions will look at the March 2028 Local Government Elections.

“Returning to 10 single-councillor divisions would return Ipswich to a level and structure of representation more consistent with other South East Queensland councils,” Mayor Harding said.

“The current four-division model with two councillors in each division was established by the Local Government Change Commission in 2019 following the dismissal of the former council and commenced at the 2020 local government elections.

“Practical experience since that time has shown this structure has caused confusion for residents about which councillor to contact, blurred responsibility for local issues, and duplication of work.”

Community engagement between 1 to 18 October 2026 received 812 responses from residents from 68 suburbs and localities across Ipswich. Respondents were made up of 53 per cent female and 46 per cent male, representing 34 countries of birth.

On the question of how many divisions respondents preferred, the model of 10 (39 per cent) outweighed alternatives such as eight (22 per cent) and four (25 per cent).

Community preferences were most strongly influenced by considerations of accountability (51 per cent), governance (44 per cent), cost considerations (40 per cent), and local representation (38 per cent).

“Based on the responses a majority of the Ipswich community supports a return to a make-up of the mayor and single-councillor divisions,” Mayor Harding said.

“Key considerations community have identified are opting for a model that keeps costs low, improves governance and accountability, and ensures greater local representation.”

Council will now send the community engagement report to the Minister for Local Government and Water, and Minister for Fire, Disaster Recovery and Volunteers, the Hon Ann Leahy MP, and the Local Government Change Commission as evidence of community views.

“Council’s position is that our community would be best served by electoral arrangements consisting of a mayor and 10 single-councillor divisions,” Mayor Harding said.

“This arrangement would provide each community with a clearly identifiable local representative, establish direct democratic accountability, reduce duplication, and give councillors clearer responsibility for understanding and responding to local growth, infrastructure and service pressures.”