UMSU Annual Election 2024
Annual elections will be held in September to elect leaders and representatives who will be in charge of UMSU in 2025.
Results
The election has now been declared, aside from Clubs and Societies Committee, which will be elected at Clubs Council on October 14;
Information for voters
The UMSU elections have closed.
- Got a complaint? The elections are covered by the Electoral Regulations which set out rules on what campaigners can and can’t do. If you have a complaint, please contact the Returning Officer with as much detail as you can, and we’ll investigate. Complaints are taken seriously and if substantiated, penalties up to and including referral to the Electoral Tribunal for disqualification, or a referral to the University under the Student Conduct Policy, are possible.
More information on complaints.
- Who runs the election? The election is run by an independent Returning Officer, unaffiliated with any of the candidates/tickets and separate from either UMSU or the University. This year the Returning Officer is Stephen Luntz of Above Quota Elections.
Table of contents
Polling numbers
- Number of votes received by 6pm, Monday 2nd September: 2 071
- Number of votes received by 6pm, Tuesday 3rd September: 3 159
- Number of votes received by 6pm, Wednesday 4th September: 4 009
- Number of votes received by 6pm, Thursday 5th September: 5 428
- Number of votes received by 5pm, Friday 6th September: 7 320 (close of polls)
List of nominations
The provisional list of nominations (in alphabetical order) is now available
Polling help points
This year we are ran six Polling Help Points across the Parkville, Southbank and Burnley campuses.
For the avoidance of doubt, Polling Help Points are Polling Places within the meaning of Electoral Regulations 44.5 and 49, and are Polling Booths within the meaning of Electoral Regulation 28.
Notice of Election
Notice is hereby given of the 2024 University of Melbourne Student Union annual elections. This annual election also incorporates by-elections for casual vacancies for the 2024 term of office.
The election will be held from the 2nd–6th September, 2024.
The notice of election is available as a PDF.
List of positions
The following positions are open for election.
Officer positions
- President
- General Secretary
- Education (Academic Affairs) Officer
- Education (Public Affairs) Officer
- Welfare Officer
- Women’s Officer
- Creative Arts Officer
- Activities Officer
- Queer Officer
- Environment Officer
- Media Officers
- Clubs & Societies Officer
- Indigenous Officer
- Disabilities Officer
- People of Colour Officer
Students’ Council — voting representatives
- General representative (15 to elect)
- Representative for Graduate Students
- Representative for Indigenous Students
- Representative for International Students
- Representative for Queer Students
- Representative for Students of Colour
- Representative for Students with Disabilities
- Representative for Southbank Students
Committee members
Each committee elects 7 members.
- Activities Committee
- Creative Arts Committee
- Disabilities Committee
- Education Committee
- Environment Committee
- Indigenous Committee
- People of Colour Committee
- Queer Committee
- Welfare Committee
- Women’s Committee
Southbank campus positions
- Southbank Students Campus Co-ordinator
- Southbank Activities Officer
- Southbank Education Officer
- Southbank Students Committee (7 to elect)
Burnley campus positions
- Burnley Campus Co-ordinator
- Burnley Students Committee (7 to elect)
National Union of Students
- National Union of Students delegate (7 to elect)
2024 Byelection
Note: These positions are 2024 positions that are vacant. Successful candidates will fill the positions for the remainder of the 2024 term of office (until 30 November 2024).
- Indigenous Officer*
- Indigenous Committee member (6 to elect)
- Burnley Campus Co-ordinator
- Burnley Campus Committee member (5 to elect)
* Note: the Indigenous Officer position is listed but is subject to a resignation expected to take effect on 31 July
A list of positions, role descriptions, and current officeholders is also available.
Note the special requirements for University Council.
Nominations (how to be a candidate)
Nominations closed at 12noon on Friday, 9th August.
More information for candidates is available. This includes a summary of the eligibility requirements for specific positions, information about tickets, links to election forms, guidance for candidate photos and other information of interest to candidates.
Tickets
A group of fifteen or more members seeking election on a common platform may apply to register a ticket name and be set out on the ballot under the ticket’s name.
Ticket registration closed at 12noon on Friday, 9th August.
How to vote
Voting has closed in this election.
How voting works
Voting in all UMSU elections is preferential: this means you number the candidates, in order of how much you want them to win. The candidate you most want to win should be numbered “1”, and then continue to number candidates in order of your preference. The polling system will ensure the numbers are consecutive and you don’t double-up any numbers. You can stop numbering at any time, or leave entire ballots blank, if you wish.
There are two types of positions:
- Single-member positions: elect just one person (or a pair running together). Vote by numbering preferentially, as described above.
- Multi-member positions: elect multiple people. For this, you can vote in one of two ways:
- You can vote “above the line” by numbering the tickets (teams). The tickets may appear at the top, or left-hand side, of your ballot, depending on the size of the device you’re using to vote
- You can vote “below the line” by numbering individual people. These appear at the bottom, or right-hand side (depending on your device) of the screen.
Some positions (Women’s, Queer, Disabilities and People of Colour) are restricted to certain constituencies: you have to be a woman, queer, a student with disabilities, or a student of colour respectively to vote for them. If you identify with these categories, tick the relevant box and the ballots for those categories will appear.
Getting help voting
If you have questions about voting, you can contact the Returning Officer for assistance.
Timetable
The election timetable will be updated throughout the election period.
- Monday, 22nd July
- Formal notice of elections given
- Opening of nominations
- Opening of ticket registration
- Wednesday, 31st July
- 12noon, Friday 9th August
- Deadline: close of nominations, including complete policy statements and conflict of position forms
- Deadline: ticket registrations including ticket policy statements
- Note these deadlines are written into the Electoral Regulations strictly and therefore cannot be extended.
- 11.59pm, Monday 12th August
- Deadline: candidate photograph submission
- Deadline: ticket “order of candidates” forms
- Deadline: declarations of eligibility for certain positions
- Monday 2nd September – Friday 6th September
Election regulations
The election takes place under the auspices of the UMSU Constitution, Regulations, policy and procedures, in particular, the Electoral Regulations.
Rulings
Returning Officer
The Returning Officer is responsible for managing the election. In 2024, UMSU has appointed Stephen Luntz of Above Quota Elections as Returning Officer. Patrick Clearwater has been appointed as Deputy Returning Officer.
Complaints
- A complaint about someone’s election conduct should be made to the Returning Officer.
- A complaint can be made by anyone: a candidate, a student, a staff member, or a member of the community.
- Our job is to enforce the Electoral Regulations. Areas of particular concern include:
- Campaigning to voters while they are voting
- Election material
- Campaigning in a way that harrasses, annoys or intimidates
- All election material carries a line identifying the name and student number of the individual who authorised its publication
- If you’re not sure about something, we are happy to discuss matters informally
- Complaints can be made anonymously but the more detail we have, the greater the chance of a satisfactory resolution
Contact details
The best contact for the Returning Officer is returningofficer@union.unimelb.edu.au. If you wish to contact a specific official, see below.