2021 Statistics
At the conclusion of the Local Government Elections in October 2021, and the extraordinary elections held in November and December 2021, the WAWA’s compiled a list of all Local Governments to evaluate the gender balance on Councils across WA. The results are represented in the infographic below:
Regional Breakdown
For the purposes of meaningful data analysis, specified targeted areas, and as WA is an exceptionally large area to cover, the results from this research were broken down into regional areas as below:
| Region | Women Elected (%) | Dinosaurs | At Risk | Change from 2020 |
| External (Islands) | 27% | 1 | Up by 7% | |
| Gascoyne | 31% | 1 | Up by 10% | |
| Peel | 28% | 1 | Same | |
| Midwest | 36% | 1 | 3 | Up by 4% |
| Great Southern | 32% | 2 | Same | |
| Wheatbelt | 37% | 2 | Up by 1% | |
| Kimberly | 46% | Up by 2% | ||
| Goldfields | 41% | 2 | Down by 4% | |
| Perth | 43% | Down by 2% | ||
| South West | 46% | Same | ||
| Pilbara | 52% | Up by 3% |
Findings
In the Oct 2021 elections, 432 women nominated for Local Government (38%) and from those, 240 were elected (56%).
32 Local Governments now have less women on Council
69 Local Governments have the same amount of women on Council
38 Local Governments now have more women on Council
The Wins
Majority of regions have had an increase of women on Councils.
The Top 10 Councils for women are:
- City of Bunbury (77%)
- City of Rockingham (73%)
- Shire of East Pilbara (73%)
- Shire of Coolgardie (71%)
- Shire of Halls Creek (71%)
- Shire of Morowa (71%)
- Town of Bassendean (71%)
- Shire of Moora (71%)
- Shire of Exmouth (67%)
- Shire of Dundas (67%)
Women in Leadership
There are now more women as Mayors, increasing by 10%
There are now more women as Deputy Mayors, increasing by 3.8%
18 Local Governments have an all women leadership team, with both the Mayor and Deputy Mayors as women.
Opportunities
Unfortunately there are now 4 Councils that are lacking women altogether, which has increased from 3. These are:
- Shire of Woodanilling
- Shire of Meekatharra
- Shire of Carnarvon
- Shire of Broomehill-Tambellup
The 9 Councils at risk of becoming all male with only 1 woman currently elected are:
- Shire of Beverly
- Shire of Booddington
- Shire of Carnamah
- Shire of Christmas Island
- Shire of Coorow
- Shire of Menzies
- Shire of Perenjori
- Shire of Ravensthorpe
- Shire of Wandering
The Metro Councils with low female representation are:
- City of Joondalup (15%)
- City of Canning (20%)
- City of South Perth (22%)
- Town of East Fremantle (22%)
- City of Armadale (29%)
- Town of Mosman Park (29%)
Previous Statistics
Next Steps
The WAWA's seek to improve these statistics through the continuation of our 'Standing Up' program, empowering women to nominate in the Local Government Elections. To find out more about this program, click on the button below: