Annual Elections 2023 - Information for candidates

This page contains useful information for candidates and ticket registrants.

Note to candidates who are part of a ticket: generally, we will communicate general information to the registrant of your ticket, who is responsible for that information reaching you. Usually, we will only contact you if there is something specific to your nomination that needs to be addressed.

UMSU engages an independent Returning Officer to administer the election, according to the Electoral Regulations which are set by UMSU in advance. In 2023, the Returning Officer is Stephen Luntz of Above Quota Elections, whose contact details are here. The Returning Officer is impartial, is independent of all candidates, the University, and UMSU itself, and is overseen by UMSU’s Electoral Tribunal.

Table of contents

• How to nominate
  • Things you should know
  • Post-nomination checklist
• Tickets
  • Post-registration checklist
• Prospective candidates’ information session
• Policy statements and candidate photos for the Election Guide
• Withdrawing your candidacy
• Getting help
• Eligibility to stand for election
• See also (separate page):
  • Document library
  • Election regulations

How to nominate

The deadline for nominations was noon (Melbourne time), Friday 11th August 2023. No nominations can be accepted after the deadline.

Things you should know

• Nominating for multiple positions: You are can nominate for multiple positions, but we ask that you submit the form separately for each position.
• Nominating as part of a ticket: If you’re on a ticket, you’ll need some details about the ticket. Your ticket’s registrant can tell you these. The nomination form will automatically email your ticket registrant to tell them you have nominated on the ticket.
• Policy statements: Policy statement and candidate photo submissions have closed. They will be included in the election guide.

There’s also the following bullet points, which are information supplied by UMSU about the roles:

• Availability if Elected: UMSU is a very busy place, and the student-power stops for nobody! Candidates are advised that if elected, there are times that student representatives-elect are expected to be available in the lead up to, and commencement of their positions as of December 1, 2023, so we can keep this union running smoothly.
• Office Bearers and Committee Members must have availability in November for Department handover and budget preparation. Other planning and information sessions to prepare for term commencement may be scheduled in the late-September to November period.
• All Student Representatives will be invited to induction sessions in the first week of December. Eligibility for honoraria and/or sitting fees (in the case of Office Bearers and Voting Council Representatives) is contingent on completion of induction. Office Bearer candidates are advised that, if elected, their attendance is required for the entirety of the week of Dec 4 – Dec 8.
• In addition, candidates are advised that the months leading up to Semester 1 are typically very busy for UMSU, especially for Office Bearers. Candidates are advised to be mindful of their working capacity in the lead up to Orientation Week, as the UMSU Summerfest is an intense and large-scale undertaking.

Post-nomination checklist

Once you’ve nominated, make sure:

Tickets (teams of candidates)

A group of students wishing to stand for election on a common platform can apply to register a ticket name and be set out on the ballot paper together. This is called a “ticket”, and works like a team, slate of candidates, or political party. To register a ticket, your group must be at least 15 members of UMSU who are not part of another ticket.

Tickets are entitled to:

• Have their ticket name listed next to endorsed candidates in the election
• Submit a policy statement for inclusion in the Election Guide

You don’t have to be part of a ticket if you don’t want to.

The deadline for ticket registration was noon (Melbourne time), Friday 11th August 2023. Late registrations cannot be accepted.

Please read Electoral Regulation 19 prior to registering a ticket.

Ticket post-registration checklist

Prospective candidates’ information session

We held a prospective candidates’ information session on Thursday, 3rd August 2023. The session recording is available here:

A copy of the candidate information session slides is also available for download.

Election guide — policy statements and candidate photos

The Election Guide will be produced as a special supplement to Farrago and will be published on the election website. All candidates are entitled to submit policy statements and photos.

• Candidate policy statements: were submitted as part of your nomination.
• Candidate photos: should be emailed to us, see guidance below. Deadline: Monday 14th August.
• Ticket policy statements: were submitted as part of your nomination.

We have produced guidelines for preparation of statements and photos which we ask you read carefully.

Withdrawing

If you’d like to withdraw your candidacy, you can do so using the withdrawal form:

• Withdrawal form PDF (also available as Docx)

You can email completed forms to returningofficer@union.unimelb.edu.au.

Withdrawals can be accepted any time up to the commencement of counting for your position. Because this year’s ballot is electronic, counting for all positions will begin immediately following the close of polls.

Once your withdrawal is received by the Returning Officer, it cannot be rescinded.

Getting help

If you have questions, contact the Returning Officer. We can assist you with procedural and administrative requirements, and answer questions about process. Note that, consistent with the Returning Officer’s commitment to impartiality, we cannot assist you in determining if you should run for any positions or whether you would be suitable.

Eligibility to stand for election

It is your responsibility to ensure you meet the requirements in the Constitution and Regulations to stand for election. We have summarised the most common requirements below; note that terms are defined in the Constitution.

If you are running for...	You must...
Women’s Officer, Women’s Committee	Be a Woman
Queer representative on Students’ Council, Queer Officer, Queer Committee	Be Queer
Queer Officer (not running jointly)	Be a Woman, Trans or Non-Binary
Queer Officer (running jointly)	One candidate must be a Woman, Trans or Non-Binary
Women’s Officer (running jointly)	One candidate must be a Woman of Colour
Officer position held jointly	One candidate must be a Woman
Indigenous representative on Students’ Council, Indigenous Officer, Indigenous Committee	Be an Indigenous Student (according to the University’s records)
Students with Disabilities representative on Students’ Council, Disabilities Officer, Disabilities Commitee	Be a Students with Disabilities
Students of Colour representative on Students’ Council, People of Colour Officer, People of Colour Committee	Be a Student of Colour
International Students representative on Students’ Council	Be an International Student (according to the University’s records)
Southbank Campus representative on Students’ Council, Southbank Campus Co-ordinator or Officer, Southbank Campus Comittee	Be enrolled at the Southbank Campus according to the University’s records
Burnley Campus Co-ordinator, Burnley Committee	Be enrolled at the Burnley Campus according to the University’s records
All positions (except NUS Delegate)	Not be employed by the University, a body corporate controlled by the University, UMSU, a tenant of the University, or any combination thereof in a 0.5 position or more
All positions	Not have been terminated from any Students’ Council or Committee position this academic year
All Officer positions	Not have been an Officer more than twice before (excluding when filling a casual vacancy)
All positions	Be a student (including current Students’ Council representatives and Officers on a leave of absence)
Officers, voting representatives on Students’ Council	Not be disqualified from managing a corporation under the Corporations Act Not be disqualified from being a committee member by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commissioner