City of Bayside

History

City of Brighton

In 1858, after receiving two petitions, the Government proclaimed the Municipality of Brighton. Brighton was proclaimed a borough in 1863, a town in 1887, and a city in 1919.

City of Sandringham

The Moorabbin Road District was created in 1862 and became the Shire of Moorabbin in 1871. In 1917, parts of the West and South ridings were severed to create the Borough of Sandringham and three years later parts of the South and Cheltenham ridings were severed to create the Borough of Mentone and Mordialloc. The two boroughs became the Town of Sandringham and the Town of Mentone and Mordialloc in 1919 and 1923 respectively and Sandringham the City of Sandringham in 1923.

City of Moorabbin

Created a road district on 16 May 1862 and later proclaimed a shire in January 1871. A portion of Moorabbin Shire severed and annexed to Brighton Town in 1912 and a portion severed in 1917. The Borough of Mentone and Mordialloc was established in 1920 and re-subdivided in 1929 and later proclaimed a city in 1934.

City of Mordialloc

Created as the Borough of Mentone and Mordialloc by severance from Moorabbin Shire in May 1920. Redefined as a portion of Moorabbin Shire being severed and annexed in 1921. Declared a town in April 1923 and its name changed to Town of Mordialloc in April 1923 and later gazetted a city on 5 May 1926.

City of Bayside

On 15 December 1994 a new municipality was created to form Bayside City Council which comprises the former City of Brighton, the former City of Sandringham and part of the former City of Mordialloc west of Charman Road and part of the City of Moorabbin between the railway and Charman Road.

Under the initial proposal for the LGA, it was to be named "City of Warrain", warrain being a Boon wurrung word for "by the sea" (and also an earlier name for North Road), but the City of Sandringham proposed that the name "Bayside" be used instead.

Bayside was rated eighth of 590 Australian Local Government Areas in the Bankwest Quality of Life Index 2008.

Council

Past councillors

Election results

Townships and localities

The 2021 census, the city had a population of 101,306 up from 97,087 in the 2016 census

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

Controversies

Fence signs in 2022 Federal Election campaign

Prompted by one of the candidates for the Goldstein federal electorate, the council warned residents against erecting candidate fence signs too early in the 2022 Federal Election campaign period.

This was challenged in the Victorian Supreme Court by representatives of another candidate, which ruled that the signs were legal.

The Age called the ruling a "humiliating result" for Bayside Council.

Suppression of accolades for volunteer award winner

Zaina Amro (16 y.o. at the time) was presented with Bayside's 2025 Julian Gurrieri Memorial Award for Bayside Youth Participation .

This was celebrated in online forums of council

and the recipient's school .

An article celebrating the award was published in "Let's Talk Bayside", the city's newsletter for residents, with a photograph on the front cover featuring the award recipient.

Following delivery of a fraction of the physical newsletter to residents, letters of complaint were received by council from seven people, objecting to a small Palestine emblem on the necklace worn by the recipient.

This prompted Bayside to destroy the remaining printed copies of the newsletter and reissue it without the article and with a different cover image.

No record of the Julian Gurrieri award remains on the City of Bayside website, for 2025 or any previous year.

The suppression of the accolades for Ms. Amro has been noted publicly in the Australian Parliament,

and in the media.