IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE FORTHCOMING UMSU SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE.

The University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) conducts Annual Elections. In 2021 polling will commence on Monday September 6 and conclude on Friday September 10, 2021.

The UMSU International Elections are also conducted annually  (2021 dates TBC) in accordance with the UMSU International Electoral Regulations which can be found here: https://umsu.unimelb.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Duties-and-power.docx

The Annual Elections are regulated by the UMSU Constitution and Election Regulations both of which are available at https://umsu.unimelb.edu.au/elections.  The Electoral Regulations are subject to change, and revised Electoral Regulations can be viewed here.

Appointment of Temporary General Secretary –
Nominations Now Open

A casual vacancy has arisen for the position of the General Secretary.

In accordance with R6.12 of the UMSU Constitution, UMSU’s Students’ Council has resolved that it will appoint a temporary General Secretary at a meeting of Students’ Council on Monday May 10.  A by-election for this position will be held in conjunction with the UMSU annual election in September.

The General Secretary’s responsibilities are:

• to maintain proper records of UMSU, including up to date copies of the Constitution, the Regulations and Policy documents and to make them accessible to all Students;
• to the extent financial information is available and able to be passed on, ensure accurate and timely financial information is provided to Officers, Voting Council Representatives and Committee members of UMSU;
• to present half-yearly reports to the Students’ Council on UMSU finances, where possible;
• to act as Secretary to the Students’ Council, the Committees and all Sub-Committees of UMSU, except where other provision for this responsibility is made in, or in accordance with, the Constitution or the Regulations of UMSU;
• to be the publisher of all material published by UMSU, unless otherwise decided UMSU Regulations;
• to act as the secretary under the AIR Act, unless otherwise decided by UMSU Regulation;
• to carry out such other duties as are prescribed by the UMSU Constitution and Regulations or directed by the Students’ Council; and
• to assume the role of President, in accordance with the UMSU Constitution should that position become vacant.

Further details of the work undertaken by the UMSU General Secretary can be found here.

The UMSU General Secretary receives an honorarium in recognition of the time and commitment required to perform this role.  The UMSU General Secretary is not an employee of UMSU.

Students who wish to nominate for this position are able to do so by contacting the Returning Officer – in this case the UMSU Chief Executive Officer – via email (ceo@union.unimelb.edu.au) by no later than 12pm, Friday May 7.

If you wish to know more about this role please contact the CEO to make a time for this discussion.

To be valid your nomination must include:

• Your full name
• Your student number
• Your student email address
• A telephone number (for the purposes of confirming any relevant details)

In order to be eligible for this position you must be a member of UMSU. You can become a member of UMSU here, or to confirm your membership status you can contact the CEO via email.

For any questions about this role, or this process, please contact the CEO.

2020 UMSU General Elections

Clubs and Societies Committee has now been declared. The following candidates were elected.

Rachel Kirby (Ring of Choir)
Jordan Di Natale (Unimelbourne Love Letters Society)
Aaron Lee (Science Students Society)
Swetha Jinson (Australian South Asian Healthcare Society)
Emily Kusay (Student Liquor and Cocktail Appreciation Society)
Joshua Seddon (Biomedicine Students Society)
Surabhi Mishra (Fantasy and Science Fiction Appreciation Society)

Declaration of Results

University of Melbourne Student Union Annual Student Elections
7 – 11 September 2020

The revised provisional declaration is also available in PDF format.

The Electoral Tribunal directed the inclusion of ballots received from overseas addresses on or before 16th November 2020. These ballots have been added to the count, and the ballots for President have undergone a fresh recount. This revised provisional declaration incorporates these activities, and has no changed results compared to the provisional declaration of results.

The following are provisionally declared elected:

President
Jack Buksh (Stand Up!)

General Secretary
Ciara O’Sullivan (Community for UMSU)

Education (Academic Affairs) Officer
Jennisha Arnanta & Planning Jay Vynn Saw (Community for UMSU)

Education (Public Affairs) Officer
Hannah Krasovec & Tejas Gandhi (Stand Up!)

Welfare Officer
Allen Xiao & Hue Man Dang (Community for UMSU)

Women’s Officer
Mickhaella Ermita & Srishti Chatterjee (Community for UMSU)

Creative Arts Officer
Merryn Hughes & Vaishnavi Ravikrishna (Community for UMSU)

Activities Officer
Christos Preovolos & Phoebe Chen (Community for UMSU)

Queer Officer
Amy Bright & Laura Ehrensperger (Community for UMSU)

Environment Officer
Ann Nguyen & James Park (Community for UMSU)

Media Officers
Ailish Hallinan, Elmira Cheung, Lauren Berry & Pavani Ambagahawattha (Independent Media) [unopposed]

Clubs & Societies Officer
Kalyana Vania & Muskaan Hakhu (Community for UMSU)

Indigenous Officer
Hope Kuchel & Shanysa McConville [unopposed]

Disabilities Officer
Brigit Doyle & Lindsay Tupper-Creed (Community for UMSU)

People of Colour Officer
Emily AlRamadhan & Mohamed Hadi (Community for UMSU)

Students’ Council – General Representatives (in order of election)
Raymond Wu (Community for UMSU)
Charlotte Macpherson (Stand Up!)
Andoni Fischer (Community for UMSU)
Ethan Alex Georgeou (Stand Up!)
Devindee Nugawela (Community for UMSU)
Lachlan Hinds (Stand Up!)
Zill-e Rahim (Community for UMSU)
Sian Tjia Hennessy (Stand Up!)
Jennifer Lui (Community for UMSU)
Xinling Lu (Community for UMSU)
Xavier Dupe (Student Resistance)
Alex Wood (Stand Up!)
Catriona Smith (Just Clubs. Just Activities.)
Joanna Guelas (Independent Media)
Rubina Smith (Community for UMSU)

Students’ Council — Queer Representative
Georgia McCourt (Community for UMSU)

Students’ Council — Indigenous Representative
Brittney Henderson

Students’ Council — International Representative
Janise Qian Yee Sam (Community for UMSU)

Students’ Council — Graduate Representative
Shreya Bhutani (Community for UMSU)

Students’ Council — Students with Disabilities Representative
Clea Porteous Borthwick (Community for UMSU)

Students’ Council — Students of Colour Representative
Kevin Mao (Community for UMSU)

Activities Committee (in order of election)
Joshua Seddon (Community for UMSU)
Charlotte Brownlee (Stand Up!)
Lingbo (Tanya) Ma (Community for UMSU)
Jake Krohn (Stand Up!)
Tejasvi Madan (Community for UMSU)
Lucia Pafumi (Just Clubs. Just Activities.)
Henry Glaspole (Stand Up!)

Creative Arts Committee (in order of election)
Sonia Li (Community for UMSU)
Atticus Corr (Stand Up!)
Jo Chen (Community for UMSU)
Edie Bush (Stand Up!)
Torsten Strokirch (Community for UMSU)
Georgia Walton Briggs (Stand Up!)
Charlie Zhang (Community for UMSU)

Disabilities Committee (in order of election)
Mittraphab (Poom) Sangruang (Community for UMSU)
Matthew Harper-Gomm (Stand Up!)
Surabhi Mishra (Community for UMSU)
Alex Chung (Stand Up!)
Sarina Narula (Community for UMSU)
Rachel Kirby (Community for UMSU)
Naomi Grace Smith (Stand Up!)

Education Committee (in order of election)
Huiting (Whitney) Chen (Community for UMSU)
Sami Zehir (Stand Up!)
Nishank Jain (Community for UMSU)
Luka Michalczak (Stand Up!)
Jessica Blain (Community for UMSU)
Anna Olivia Smith Burnett (Stand Up!)
Sunny Yuqing Lu (Community for UMSU)

Environment Committee (in order of election)
Rubina Smith (Community for UMSU)
Harry Syson (Stand Up!)
Aashi Agarwal (Community for UMSU)
Jaslyn Potter (Stand Up!)
Laura Cardamone (Community for UMSU)
Vishal Chopra (Stand Up!)
Jeremy Lorenzo Larsen (Community for UMSU)

Indigenous Committee [unopposed]
Brittney Henderson
Kiara Davies
Lauren Scott
Lillian Ryan

People of Colour Committee (in order of election)
Mayank Gurnani (Community for UMSU)
Sian Tjia Hennessy (Stand Up!)
Hibatallah (Hiba) Adam (Community for UMSU)
Emily Kaji (Stand Up!)
Myo Mon San (Community for UMSU)
Vishal Chopra (Stand Up!)
Vignesh Krishnan (Community for UMSU)

Queer Committee (in order of election)
Raymond Wu (Community for UMSU)
Benjamin Jarick (Stand Up!)
Kameron Lai (Community for UMSU)
Ethan Alex Georgeou (Stand Up!)
Lauren Gabriella Mendes (Community for UMSU)
Saskia Peachey (Stand Up!)
Chenchen (Kat) Zhang (Community for UMSU)

Welfare Committee (in order of election)
Thomas Coulter (Community for UMSU)
Sophie Nguyen (Stand Up!)
Zahra Ataie (Community for UMSU)
Jordan Di Natale (Stand Up!)
Caroline Nguyen (Community for UMSU)
Harry Syson (Stand Up!)
Yashna Rohit Malhotra (Community for UMSU)

Women’s Committee (in order of election)
Minh Giao (Veronica) Chu (Community for UMSU)
Anna Olivia Smith Burnett (Stand Up!)
Tahlia Crossley (Community for UMSU)
Charlotte Macpherson (Stand Up!)
Emily Crawford (Community for UMSU)
Ananya Agarwal (Community for UMSU)
Aria Sunga (Stand Up!)

Burnley – Campus Coordinator
Kaitlyn Hammond [unopposed]

Southbank – Campus Coordinator
Will Hall (Community for UMSU)

Southbank – Activities and Events Coordinator
Jungwoo Kim (Community for UMSU)

Southbank – Campaigns Coordinator
Leyla Moxham (Community for UMSU) [unopposed]

Southbank Committee – General Representatives (in order of election)
Nicola Ingram (Community for UMSU)
Hannah Gill Bowles (Stand Up!)
Annalyce Wiebenga (Community for UMSU)
Jenny Le (Community for UMSU)
Nicholas Currie (Community for UMSU)
Max Bowyer (Stand Up!)
Mia Brittain (Community for UMSU)

By-election – Education (Public Affairs) Officer
Charlie Joyce & Noni Bridger (Stand Up!)

By-election – Indigenous Committee
Brittney Henderson [unopposed]

By-election – Southbank Committee
Annalyce Wiebenga [unopposed]

National Union of Students Delegates (in order of election)
Devindee Nugawela (Community for UMSU)
Max Dowell (Stand Up!)
Phoebe Chen (Community for UMSU)
Lachlan Hinds (Stand Up!)
Eleanor McMurtry (Community for UMSU)
Thonya Deverall (Stand Up!)
Andie Moore (Community for UMSU)

University Council – Student Representative
Desiree Cai (Stand Up!)
(Election for this position was run on behalf of the University Secretary, and the declaration of this position is a matter for the separate returning officer appointed in accordance with the University Council Regulation.)

Positions remaining vacant after the election

Indigenous Committee (three seats)
Burnley Committee (seven seats)

Election for members of the Clubs & Societies committee

The election for members of the Clubs & Societies Committee is ongoing, and will be subject of a separate provisional declaration.

Recounts and appeals

Prior to the original provisional declaration, requests were received for recounts of President and Education (Public Affairs) Officer. These recounts were undertaken before the original provisional declaration, and did not change the result.

One matter was appealed to the Electoral Tribunal. While that appeal was withdrawn prior to the original provisional declaration, it was subsequently reinstated, and the Electoral Tribunal considered the matter on 16th and 17th November. The effect of their decision was to set the deadline for ballots received from overseas addresses to 16th November, and those ballots were incorporated into the count. The Returning Officer also determined to conduct a recount of President, which did not change the result.

Any requests for further recounts (to positions affected, or potentially affected, by the revised provisional declaration) must be made within three academic days of this notice, that is, by close of business Monday 23rd November 2020. They must be made in writing, addressed to returningofficer@union.unimelb.edu.au.

Appeals against the result of the election must be made within three academic days of this notice (or, if a recount is conducted, within three academic days of that recount). They must be made in writing and addressed to the Electoral Tribunal. Appeals lodged with the Returning Officer will be passed on to the Tribunal.

Full details of counting will be published in the Returning Officer’s final report.

18th November 2020

Jaimie Adam
Returning Officer
Above Quota Elections

Note: The original provisional declaration is available in PDF format.

Count update

Live updates are available from the Above Quota Elections Virtual Tally Room.

The count was observed by scrutineers appointed by candidates and tickets.

Policy statements and other information

Policy statements and photographs from Office Bearer Candidates, candidates for council and committees and teams are available through the links.

We have produced instructions on completing and returning a vote that also addresses common questions about the process.

Stephen Luntz
Deputy Returning Officer
Above Quota Elections.

*Note that the UMSU Constitution does not allow for online elections.
**The UMSU Constitution specifies elections are to be held September 7–11.

UMSU Electoral Regulations July 17, 2020

Updated Nominations in Ballot Paper Order

Postal vote application numbers

Cumulative number of postal vote applications by day. Note, these figures are approximate and havn’t been adjusted for duplicate submissions, incomplete applications or ineligible voters.

• August 17 — 1610
• August 20 — 2242
• August 24 — 2814
• August 27 — 3137 (Note, this is after most duplicates, of which there were more than anticipated, have been removed. Previous numbers had duplicates in).
• September 1 — 3683 (Note there are still a small number of applications that do not appear to be eligible we are checking up on, in case they are in fact allowed to vote, so this number may grow slightly).

Notice of Election

Past Election Reports

Rulings