It is a statutory requirement for local governments to periodically review representation arrangements under the Local Government Act 1995.

The State Government has established a formal review process requiring public consultation before any changes can be considered by the Local Government Advisory Board.

The Town last reviewed its representation arrangements in 2018. At that stage, Council reaffirmed its structure of the Mayor with eight Councillors. Council consisted of 4 wards, each with two Councillors. In 2022, as part of the Local Government Reform, the Town was required to remove its previous ward structure, and therefore all Councillors were elected by and represented the entire area of the municipality.

Following a number of governance reforms across Western Australia and increasing interest in council effectiveness and efficiency, the Town is now considering whether its current council size remains appropriate.

All feedback submissions will be reviewed and assessed by Council against the statutory review criteria:

• community of interest
• physical and topographic features
• demographic trends
• economic factors
• ratio of councillors to electors

Council will then determine a preferred option which will be recommended to the Local Government Advisory Board (LGAB).

The Local Government Advisory Board (LGAB) assesses and makes recommendations to the Minister on:

• Changes to local government boundaries.
• Local government amalgamations and boundary adjustments.
• Ward structures and representation reviews, including whether a local government should have wards, how many wards, ward boundaries, and councillor representation.
• Changes to Councillor numbers and council representation arrangements.

The LGAB does not make the final decision. Instead, it: 

1. Receive and assess proposals.
2. Consider community submissions and relevant statutory factors.
3. Makes a recommendation to the Minister to either accept or reject a proposal.
4. The Minister then decides whether to support the recommendation, with final implementation occurring through the formal statutory process.