The Central Ward councillor said she was honoured to be elected on Tuesday night. Another former mayor Jo Beard was voted in as deputy mayor. "I think the first job is to help the other councillors get settled in and work as a fully informed, cohesive team for the shire," Cr Gstrein said.

"It will be an important 12 months in regard to the new Local Government Act and the amount of work that will go into that and setting the scene with the 10-year council vision, four-year council plan and this council's first budget.

"There will be a lot of projects completed in the next 12 months with the state and federal funding we've received for our COVID recovery and tourism is a fairly substantial part of that."

Cr Gstrein was mayor for three consecutive years from 2007.

Cr Beard praised Cr Gstrein and said her council knowledge would help the new faces at the table.

"It is my pleasure to nominate Cr Gstrein for mayor who is held in high regard in the community," Cr Beard said.

"She is a previous long-serving mayor and we're lucky to have her again."

Her first meeting in the role is scheduled for November 24.

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