The election process

The election process involves registered organisations (who commence the process), the Fair Work Commission and the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

1 Lodge prescribed information with the Commission

You (the organisation or branch) must do this at least 2 months before nominations are due to open in the election.

First, complete the relevant prescribed information template:

Then email the completed template to us at regorgs@fwc.gov.au.

You can also email us if you need help determining when nominations should open.

We recommend that you lodge the prescribed information for all stages of an election – the direct election and all collegiate elections – at the same time. This should be at least 2 months before nominations open in the first stage of the election. We can then arrange every election stage in one decision, allowing the election to progress as quickly as possible.

Advise us about potential rule changes

Advise us when lodging the prescribed information if any rule alterations are lodged or will soon be lodged. We will explore options with you about making arrangements for the election in light of any proposed rule changes that will affect the election.

Extensions

You are legally required to lodge prescribed information to us at least 2 months before nominations open, unless we approve an extension of time.

You may apply to us for extensions of time but will need to do so before the prescribed information is due. We will determine these requests on a case-by-case basis.

Only seek an extension of time if there are significant circumstances that demonstrate why a delay cannot be reasonably avoided.

2 The Commission assesses the information

Before we arrange for an election to be conducted, we must be satisfied that your organisation's or branch's rules require one to be held.

Once we have assessed the prescribed information you have provided, we will:

request further information from you, if needed
issue a decision to make arrangements for the AEC to conduct the election.

We assess the prescribed information as quickly as possible. We aim to issue election decisions within 40 working days but often do so much quicker.

Once we have issued a decision to the AEC to conduct the election, the AEC becomes the contact for any election questions. Contact the AEC for information about how long the election will take or what processes are involved.

3 The AEC conducts the election

4 The AEC issues a written post-election report

Within 30 days of the election the AEC gives a post-election report to the relevant organisation.

The AEC's post-election report must include:

the declaration of the result of the election
the number of written allegations (if any) of irregularities made to the AEC during the election
action taken by the AEC in relation to those allegations
any irregularities identified by the AEC and any action taken by the AEC.

We publish post-election reports, which can be found by clicking on the ‘Find documents’ button on the relevant organisation’s page.

The post-election report must include if the AEC is of the opinion that:

the register of members made available for the purposes of a postal ballot contained a large amount of members’ addresses that were not current or comprised work addresses
a particular rule was difficult to interpret or apply and whether any relevant model rules could be used by the organisation to address the matter.

5 Publish the post-election report

If your organisation or branch has a website you must, as soon as practicable after receiving the post-election report, publish a notice that any voting member of the election can request a copy of the report.

The AEC must publish a notice on its website advising that members who were eligible to vote in the election can obtain a copy of the report on request.

When an election requires a ballot, the AEC must also advise each member who is eligible to vote that they can request a copy of the post-election report from the organisation, branch or the AEC.

6 Respond to an adverse report

An 'adverse report' is an AEC post-election report that identifies organisation or branch rules as being difficult to interpret. If an organisation or branch receives an adverse report it must provide a written response to the AEC within 30 days. The response must describe what action, if any, the organisation or branch intends to take. The written response must also be lodged with us within 30 days of the response being provided to the AEC.

The organisation or branch must make available to its members an extract from the adverse report and the organisation's response. This must be done within 30 days of it providing the written response to the AEC.