This includes details of all the candidates we know of so far. We will add details when we receive more information. Candidates have until September 22 to nominate.
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The descriptions are written in-house by The Courier staff. This list is alphabetical and the biographies will be limited to 100 words for each candidate, excluding any links to further information.
Bridget Aitchison
The dean of the Australian Catholic University's Ballarat Campus, Bridget Aitchison was raised in Hollywood, then moved to Australia where she has spent most of the past three decades.
Widowed at the age of 26, she cites the most important role she has played in life as being a mother to her two daughters.
Prior to her arrival at ACU, Professor Aitchison held a number of senior academic roles, including as Vice Chancellor for Asia-Pacific at Indiana Wesleyan University.
She currently chairs the Committee for Ballarat's Livability Project Team.
She is running as an endorsed Labor Party candidate.
Tracey Hargreaves
A yoga instructor who has run her own company - Absolute Yoga and Pilates - for the past 11 years, Ms Hargreaves has been vocal on council issues in the past. She said she decided to stop complaining and do something - hence nominating for the council elections this time.
Ms Hargreaves has lived in Ballarat most of her life and is now a resident of Delacombe, where she lives with her husband and two young children.
One of her priorities, if elected, would be to breathe new life back into the CBD.
Ms Hargreaves is running as an independent candidate.
Des Hudson
An ever-present on Ballarat Council since 2002, Des Hudson served as mayor in 2015/16, and has had three years as deputy mayor.
He works on the police force as a Leading Senior Constable, where he has a particular focus on youth engagement.
He is also known as an advocate for mental health.
Married with two daughters, he was born and raised in Sebastopol, where he attended St James Primary School then Sebastopol Technical School / Sebastopol College.
This is the sixth time he has run for council.
He is an endorsed Labor Party candidate.
Susan Jakobi
A far-right candidate, Ms Jakobi is standing for election in Ballarat council for the first time.
She also stood for election in the Lalor electorate in the federal elections of 2016 and 2019.
Nominally an independent candidate, she has a long association with the Australia First party.
Rachel Muir
Formerly a member of the Koorie Engagement Action Group, Ms Muir is standing for election to council her whole life.
She is Yorta Yorta woman born and raised on Wadawurrung land in Ballarat, and has lived in the city all her life.
If elected, she would be the first indigenous councillor in Ballarat. She has promised to represent ordinary people.
She is running as an independent candidate.
Jim Rinaldi
Mr Rinaldi first served on council from February 2015, installed by an electoral commission countback following the resignation of a previous councillor.
He was re-elected in 2016 and served as deputy mayor in 2018/19.
Self employed, Mr Rinaldi has worked in several small businesses and is a keen advocate for the sector, serving on the board of Commerce Ballarat.
He was brought up locally on a Warrenheip farm, which Mr Rinaldi says gives him an understanding of rural issues.
Mr Rinaldi is a keen runner, coach and sportsman. He is running as an independent.
Jackson Snep
The endorsed Greens Party candidate for the South Ward, Jackson Snep comes from a family wine-making business.
Along with his father, he manages the Welshmans Reef Vineyard, which lies between Bendigo and Ballarat.
A member of Ballarat environmental group BREAZE, Mr Snep has said that seeing the damage done by bushfires this year was a catalyst for him to put himself forward for council.
A graduate of Deakin University, where he studied management and marketing at Deakin University, he currently lives with his partner in Black Hill.
Ben Taylor
A South Ward councillor for two separate councils from 2008 to 2012 and since 2016, Ben Taylor was elected Ballarat mayor in October 2019 for the final year of this current council.
The married father-of-four, who lives in Durham Lead near Buninyong, is well-known in the local business community and currently works as a business development manager for a software company. He studied at the University of Ballarat.
Mr Taylor is a long-standing member of the Liberal Party, and has twice stood as an endorsed candidate for the state elections.
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