The Independent's Tool-box

How to Nominate

The Australian Electoral Commission has extensive information about how, when and where to nominate to stand as a candidate at a federal election. It is worthwhile checking out the relevant section of the candidate's handbook.

Click here to view the nominations pamphlet.

Briefly, to nominate for the Senate or the House of Representatives you must be at least 18 years old, an Australian citizen and entitled to vote at the election or qualified to become a voter.

There are constitutional grounds (s44) that disqualify a person from standing as a candidate in a federal election, such as being an MP of a State or Territory parliament who has not resigned that position, or a federal, state or territory public servant who has not resigned their position before standing as candidate. 'Leave without pay' from a public service position is not sufficient. Seek the advice of your local AEC office to clarify your situation if you are unsure of your eligibility to stand.

Nomination forms are available from your local AEC office or the AEC website. You will need the single nomination form for an independent candidate.

You will need 50 registered voters from your electorate to nominate you to stand as an independent candidate. This is extremely important.

You must give yourself enough time to collect and validate the details of your nominees. They all must be on the electoral roll for the electorate in which you are standing and you must check that all their details are absolutely correct and as they appear on the electoral roll. This takes time, and if you don't get it right, you will be disqualified from the election.

It is worth your while getting more than 50 nominees to cover yourself.

You can lodge your nomination form anytime after the writs for the election have been issued - this is not necessarily when the government announces its intention to hold an election on a certain date and may be a few days following - and before 12 noon ion the day nominations close. According to the AEC:

The date fixed for the close of nominations must be at least 10 days but no more than 27 days after the issue of the writ and is specified in the writ. The AEC advertises the dates fixed in the writ in at least two major newspapers circulating in each State and Territory, or, if there is only one major newspaper circulating in the State or Territory, in that newspaper.

Again, you should contact your local AEC office if you need to clarify anything to do with your nomination.