Annual Elections 2026 - Information for Candidates

So, you’re thinking about being a candidate in the 2026 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.

We will run a Prospective Candidates’ Information Session during the nomination period. Once the date, time and location are confirmed, information will appear here.

UMSU engages an independent Returning Officer to administer the election, according to the Electoral Regulations which are set by UMSU in advance. In 2026, 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 (including nomination form)
  • Things you should know
  • Post-nomination checklist
  • Critical information for candidates
  • Declaration for certain positions
  • Conflict of position form
• Tickets
  • Candidate order forms
  • 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
• Role statements
• See also (separate page):
  • Document library
  • Election regulations

How to nominate

The deadline for nominations is noon (Melbourne time), Friday 14th August 2026.

Before nominating, make sure to:

• Confirm you’re a member of UMSU
• Check you’re eligible for the position you want (see below)
• Decide if you are running on a ticket (see below)
• If you’re running for an Officer position (except President or General Secretary), decide if you are running alone or jointly with another person. (For Media Officer, you must run in a team of three or four students.)

Once you’re ready to nominate:

The deadline for nominations is noon (Melbourne time), Friday 14th August 2026. Late nominations cannot be accepted; the deadline is written in to the Electoral Regulations.

We strongly encourage you not to leave it to the last minute—we can check your nomination for problems which may be fixable if it’s submitted well in advance.

Difficulties using the form? Contact the Returning Officer.

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 (election team), 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.
• Nomination details shared with ticket registrant: The person registering the ticket must confirm they consent to your inclusion on the ticket. We will share your name and position with the ticket registrant for this purpose. We will also discuss with them any issues with your nomination (for example, if you don’t appear on the roll) — if you have concerns about this, contact us in advance of submitting the form.
• Policy statements: We collect your policy statement as part of the nomination. We’ll send you a link you can use to update it, but updates must be received by the deadline below.

Post-nomination checklist

Once you’ve nominated, make sure:

Critical information for candidates

UMSU have provided the following information document, which applies to all positions except National Union of Students delegate:

• Critical information for candidates of 2026 UMSU Annual Election

Mandatory induction attendance

All elected Office Bearers and Councillors are required to attend an induction program, which will be occurring during the weeks of:

• Mon 28 Sep–Fri 2 Oct
• Mon 23 Nov–Fri 27 Nov

Attendance is mandatory. Eligibility for any sitting fee or honoraria is conditional upon completion of the program and associated training, per R8(d) of the Council Charter.

Specific dates and times of induction session will be provided to your student email at a later date.

Declaration of eligibility

In prior years, candidates running for some restricted constituencies were required to complete a separate declaration of eligibility. The Regulations have been updated so this form no longer needs to be separate, and it’s now part of the nomination form: no additional action is required.

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 tell us what to do if you’re elected to both. This information is collected on your nomination form. If you change your mind, you must submit a conflict of positions form to the Returning Officer by the close of nominations. Note that conflict of position forms must be provided by the nomination deadline.

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 of the form can be sent to you on request.

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 will:

• Have their ticket name listed next to endorsed candidates in the election
• Submit a policy statement for inclusion in the Election Guide
• Once provisionally registered, receive a link where they can see the status of all candidates on their ticket

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

The deadline for ticket registration is noon (Melbourne time), Friday 14th August 2026. This deadline is the same as the nomination deadline, but we strongly encourage you to submit earlier. Late registrations cannot be accepted.

If you’d like to register a ticket:

We strongly recommend you submit ticket registrations well in advance of the deadline.

Please read Electoral Regulation 20 prior to registering a ticket.

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 (available in early August).

We will accept these forms via the online system, or to returningofficer@union.unimelb.edu.au up to 11.59pm, Monday 17th August 2026.

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

Ticket post-registration checklist

Prospective candidates’ information session

We will hold a prospective candidates’ information session during the nomination period. 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.

Everyone is welcome to attend, and you don’t need to register in advance.

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 submitted via the online system, or emailed to us; see guidance below.
• Ticket policy statements: should be submitted via the online system, or emailed, by the policy statement 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:

• See document library

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. 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.

Please note the definitions of terms below can be found in the Electoral Regulations and 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 Committee	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 Not currently be, or have been in the past twelve months, a member of the governing body of the Graduate Students’ Association
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.

• Activities Department
• Burnley Students Department
• Clubs and Societies Department
• Creative Arts Department
• Disabilities Department
• Education Department
• Environment Department
• General Secretary
• Indigenous Department
• Media Department
• People of Colour Department
• President
• Queer Department
• Southbank Students Department
• Students’ Council
• Welfare Department
• Womens’ Department