Annual Elections 2024 - Information for candidates

So, you’re thinking about being a candidate in the 2024 UMSU annual elections? You’ve come to the right place.

The first step is to think about what position you’d like to run for. The election includes Officebearers, positions on the Students’ Council, and members of Committees. Role statements for positions are available here. (The full list of positions is on the notice of election.) Made up your mind? Read on for details.

UMSU engages an independent Returning Officer to administer the election, according to the Electoral Regulations which are set by UMSU in advance. In 2024, 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

The deadline for nominations was noon (Melbourne time), Friday 9th August 2024.

Things you should know

  • Nominating for multiple positions: You 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: We collect your policy statement as part of the nomination. If you need to update it, you can send as a revised version by email up to the nomination deadline.

The following information is provided by UMSU:

  • Induction dates this year will either be 11-19 November, or 9-13 December.

Post-nomination checklist

Once you’ve nominated, make sure:

Post-nomination checklist

  • You’ve received a confirmation email from us
  • If nominating for some restricted constituencies, you’ve submitted your declaration of eligibility (see below)
  • If nominating for multiple positions, you’ve submitted your conflict of position form
  • You’ve sent us your policy statement (if you didn’t submit with your nomination)
  • You’ve sent us a photo of you for inclusion in the Election Guide
  • You’ve read the Electoral Regulations and asked the Returning Officer about anything you’re uncertain of

Declaration of eligibility

If you’re running for a restricted constituency, you may need to complete a separate declaration of eligibility. The best way to submit your eligibility is via the link you were sent with the confirmation of your candidate (contact us if you haven’t received it).

A PDF form is available in the document library if you’d prefer to submit by email.

The deadline is 11.59pm, Monday 12th August 2024. If you don’t submit the form, we can’t finalise your nomination.

Who needs to complete a declaration form?

  • Students with Disabilities positions: Officer, Committee, representative on Students’ Council
  • Students of Colour positions: People of Colour Officer, Committee, representative on Students’ Council
  • Queer positions: Officer, Committee, representative on Students’ Council
  • Women’s positions: Women’s Officer, Women’s Committee

Note: Candidates for Indigenous, International, Southbank and Burnley positions don’t need to complete a separate declaration. Your eligibility is checked based on the University’s records.

Conflict of positions form

If you haven’t nominated for more than one position, you don’t need to worry about the conflict of positions form.

You can stand for multiple positions, but there are limits on the positions you can be elected to simultaneously. These restrictions are contained in Regulation 8.1, and mean:

  • You can’t be elected to more than one voting position on Students’ Council
  • You can’t be elected to more than one Officer position, and if elected as an Officer, can’t be elected to any Committee or to Students’ Council
  • You can’t be elected to more than two Committees, or if elected to Students’ Council, more than one Committee

If you have nominated for multiple positions and can’t hold all of those positions concurrently, you must submit a conflict of positions form. The nomination form asks you for your preference, and as long as you correctly filled out your preference on every nomination form, you are taken to have submitted your preferences. Otherwise (or if you change your mind), you must submit a conflict of positions form to the Returning Officer by the close of nominations. The best way to submit your conflict of positions is via the link you were sent with the confirmation of your candidate (contact us if you haven’t received it).

A PDF version is also available in the document library.

Warning: The Electoral Regulations require us to reject all the nominations of a candidate who is required to submit a conflict of positions form and doesn’t do so.

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 9th August 2024.

Order of candidates for multi-member positions

For multi-member positions (general representatives on Students’ Council, Committees, and NUS delegate) where your ticket has more than one candidate, you can determine the order that candidates appear on the ballot under your ticket name using the ticket candidate order form. You can submit this online (we will email you a link when your ticket registration is provisionally accepted), or use the PDF form:

We will accept these forms to returningofficer@union.unimelb.edu.au up to 11.59pm, Monday 12th August 2024.

If you don’t lodge a candidate order form, we will use a random order.

Ticket post-registration checklist

Post-registration checklist for tickets

  • You’ve received a confirmation email from us
  • The candidates on your ticket have completed their nomination form and checklists
  • You’ve sent us a photo of you for inclusion in the Election Guide
  • You’ve sent us order-of-candidates forms
  • You’ve read the Election Regulations and asked the Returning Officer about anything you’re uncertain of

Prospective candidates’ information session

We will hold a prospective candidates’ information session half-way through the nomination period, which we currently intend to provide as a hybrid session. The session will provide information about the election process, the Returning Officer, how to nominate and how to campaign. We expect it will take 45 mins–1 hr, and there will be an opportunity for questions.

 

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: are submitted as part of your nomination. If you need to adjust your statement (up to the deadline), see guidance below
  • Candidate photos: should be emailed to us, see guidance below.
  • Ticket policy statements: should be emailed by the registration deadline, see guidance below.

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:

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 Student with a Disability
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, the Graduate Student Association, 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

Role statements

These role statements were provided to us by UMSU, and relate to the positions in 2024. They are provided for the information of candidates, and are subject to adjustment in accordance with UMSU’s policies and procedures.

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