Legislative Assembly · District of Berwick
Vincenzo De Paolis
Last verified 29 Sept 2026
Seat context — Berwick›
Berwick covers outer south-eastern Melbourne suburbs including Beaconsfield, Berwick and Clyde North, plus small towns south of Emerald around Cardinia Creek. The district was re-established for the 2022 election, and Liberal candidate Brad Battin won it comfortably, finishing on 50.11% two-candidate-preferred against Labor's 37.26% — a margin of roughly 12.8 points. Battin has held Berwick since the 2022 election and briefly served as Victorian Liberal Opposition Leader (December 2024–November 2025) before losing a party-room spill to Jess Wilson.
Background
Works in aged care and community services, supporting older Australians, people with disabilities, carers and vulnerable families, with case management and family support roles, per his Family First profile. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026Family First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View source
Runs a small family business with his wife; his own site names it as Limoncello Contessa, a brand promoting Italian heritage and craftsmanship. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026, DEPAOLIS-SITEFamily First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View sourceVincenzo De Paolis, "Vincenzo De Paolis — community leader"View source
His own site says he has over ten years in community services, aged care and multicultural leadership. SSelf-stated — DEPAOLIS-SITEVincenzo De Paolis, "Vincenzo De Paolis — community leader"View source
Is president of Uniti in Australia, an Italian community organisation that, per his site, is acknowledged by Regione Puglia and the Victorian Multicultural Commission. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026, DEPAOLIS-SITEFamily First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View sourceVincenzo De Paolis, "Vincenzo De Paolis — community leader"View source
His site also lists him as Vice Consultore for Regione Puglia and coordinator of Fratelli d'Italia in Australia. SSelf-stated — DEPAOLIS-SITEVincenzo De Paolis, "Vincenzo De Paolis — community leader"View source
He shared the 2020 Multicultural Award for Excellence in Community Response and Recovery, jointly with Sukhvinder Duggal, Gracie and Katrina Lolicato and other groups, for frontline bushfire and COVID-19 work. VVerified — PREMIER-2020Premier of Victoria, "Diversity heroes honoured at multicultural awards"View source
Says he also received the Jewish Care Victoria Social Responsibility award in 2024. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026, DEPAOLIS-SITEFamily First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View sourceVincenzo De Paolis, "Vincenzo De Paolis — community leader"View source
Originally from Italy, he has lived in Australia since 2014 and lives in Clyde North with his wife and young son. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026Family First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View source
Says he has watched the Berwick district's rapid expansion as a Clyde North resident. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026Family First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View source
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
"Traffic congestion, pressure on roads and infrastructure, community safety, healthcare access, housing affordability and the increasing cost of living."
Says his family business gives him practical understanding of local business challenges and cost-of-living pressures.
What Victorians say matters most
5 poll-led issuesCost of living and crime have ranked 1st or 2nd in every Victorian poll since mid‑2025, with debt and housing close behind — see schema §3 for the polling this grouping is based on (DemosAU, Ipsos Issues Monitor, Roy Morgan). The 0-10 'priorityScore' on each candidate's issue entries is NOT a measure of true importance or an independent ranking of what a candidate actually cares about. It reflects how much detail and specificity exists in what that candidate has actually said publicly on that issue -- a named policy mechanism and a verified voting record score higher than a one-line stated priority, regardless of the issue's real-world weight. Render this distinction in the UI wherever the score appears; do not label it just 'Priority' without the qualifier.
Cost of living
Names the increasing cost of living as a key local issue and cites his family business experience.
Family First's national economic policy proposes cutting the small-business company tax rate for Australian-owned businesses.
Crime and community safety
Names community safety as a key local issue, without a specific measure.
Housing affordability and supply
Names housing affordability as a key local issue.
Family First's national housing policy would release more land, cut "red and green tape", support modular housing, extend the first home buyers grant to existing houses and ban further foreign ownership where not reciprocated.
State government debt and fiscal management
Family First's national economic policy commits to "a pathway towards fiscal responsibility by tackling government debt"; nothing is attributed to De Paolis personally.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Names traffic congestion and pressure on roads and infrastructure as key local issues in the fast-growing Berwick district.
Also on the record
6 substance issuesThese don't top “biggest issue” polling, but carry real 2026 policy weight and genuine differences between parties.
Education and training
Family First's national education policy would return the curriculum to reading, writing and arithmetic and encourage faith-based schools; nothing is attributed to De Paolis personally.
Health and healthcare access
Names healthcare access as a key local issue, and works in aged care and community services.
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
Family First's national energy policy would end Net Zero targets, abolish renewable subsidies, keep coal-fired power stations open and green-light nuclear power; nothing is attributed to De Paolis personally.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Regional and rural Victoria
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Local & party context
2 fieldsNot scored the way the eleven issues above are — these are fixed facts about the seat and the party, not positions with more or less emphasis behind them.
De Paolis's listed priorities (roads, safety, healthcare, housing, cost of living) sit within Family First's national platform, though his profile leans on local and community themes rather than the party's social-policy planks. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026, FF-POLICY-ECONFamily First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View sourceFamily First Party Australia, "Economic Policy"View source
No point of divergence was found. His site is focused on the Italian community rather than policy, so most positions above are party policy, not his.
Track record & prior candidacies
Shared the 2020 Victorian Multicultural Award for Excellence in Community Response and Recovery. VVerified — PREMIER-2020Premier of Victoria, "Diversity heroes honoured at multicultural awards"View source
Says he serves 25,000+ community members Australia-wide through Uniti in Australia, with 1,000+ cultural programs. SSelf-stated — DEPAOLIS-SITEVincenzo De Paolis, "Vincenzo De Paolis — community leader"View source
His Family First profile mentions no prior campaign. SSelf-stated — FF-PAOLIS-2026Family First Party Australia, "Vincenzo De Paolis, Candidate for Berwick"View source
He is not among the candidates in the 2022 Berwick result, where Family First's candidate was Joel van der Horst (3.4%). VVerified — WIKI-BERWICK-RESULTSWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Berwick"View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Per the Victorian Electoral Commission's funding guidance (vec.vic.gov.au, accessed 2026-09-29 via search snippets of its independent-candidate and registered-party funding pages), a candidate is eligible for public election funding if they receive at least 4% of first-preference votes in their contest, or are elected. Funding is reimbursed against an audited statement of campaign expenditure, and advance funding must be repaid in full if the threshold is missed.
De Paolis has not previously contested an election, so he has no funding entitlement from an earlier contest. Family First's 2022 Berwick candidate polled 3.4%, just under the 4% mark.