Political advertising

Political advertising is not permitted on Council land or road reserves. The Hume Planning Scheme (HPS) outlines that a planning permit is not required on private property if political advertising meets the following criteria outlined in HPS 52.05-10:

• A sign with an advertisement area not exceeding 5 square metres publicising a local educational, cultural, political, religious, social or recreational event not held for commercial purposes.
• Only one sign may be displayed on the land, it must not be an animated or internally-illuminated sign and it must not be displayed longer than 14 days after the event is held or 3 months, whichever is sooner.
• A sign publicising a local political event may include information about a candidate for an election.

Signage outside this criteria may require a planning permit which will be required before the signage is displayed. The above applies to private land only (approval of private land holders would be required).

Failure to comply with the above will result in a Planning Infringement Notice being issued to both the owner of the land and the candidate to the amount of between $908.70 and $1,817.40 per sign.

For further information please contact Council’s Statutory Planning Investigations Unit on 9205 2200. 

Many signs do require a Building Permit. The Building Act 1993, Section 16 and the Building Regulations 2018 require that a Building Permit is required for any sign that exceeds 1.0m in height if located within 3.0m of any street alignment (property) boundary of the allotment on which it is proposed to be erected.

If a sign is to be located or set back on an allotment a distance further than 3.0m from any street alignment (property) boundary, a Building Permit will be required if the sign exceeds 8.0m in height or if the sign has a display area exceeding 6m2.

Building Permits must be issued prior to the erection of a sign. The penalties for non-compliance are up to 500 penalty units ($90,870) in the case of an individual and 2500 penalty units ($454,350) in the case of a company.

For further information about the construction of signs, please contact Council’s Building Control Services Unit on 9205 2200. 

Any signage found to be situated on Council property will be removed and any political advertising signage on Council’s road reserves will be removed in accordance with the Road Management Act 2004 (Section 66) (1) (b).

Please note that under the Road Management Act 2004 (Section 66) (1) (b) The penalty is 3 penalty units ($545) noting that 10 penalty units is the maximum that can be awarded by the Court.

The Road Register lists all road within Hume City. 

For further information please contact Council’s Technical Services Department on 9205 2200. 

VicRoads is required to meet obligations with respect to road safety within the arterial road network. VicRoads should be contacted prior to any installation of any signage on the road reserve where VicRoads is the coordinating authority.

VicRoads have power under the Road Management Act 2004 to remove anything placed unlawfully without prior consent on the arterial road network.

See the Register of Public Roads within Hume with VicRoads as the coordinating road authority.

For further information regarding the VicRoads road reserves please contact the VicRoads on 13 11 70. 

Candidates are advised that you must apply for and be in receipt of any relevant permits to display any A-board, hold a street stall or distribute any handbills within Council road reserves (which includes footpaths).

Council’s General Local Law will apply and any advertising signage (including political signage) found placed on a road reserve or in a municipal place may attract a penalty of $200 per offence or a maximum that can be awarded by the Court of $2,000. 

To apply to display an A-board sign on Council land, fill out the Application for Advertising A-board sign and return it Council. 

A-board Application Form(PDF, 188KB) 

For more information regarding conditions for the placement of signs, refer to the following A-board Conditions and Information(PDF, 117KB).