School Council – Elections

From the 2026 school year, school council members, except VIT registered teachers and students, are required to hold a Working with Children Clearance (WWCC) (either a volunteer WWCC, or employee WWCC if they already have this), when nominating for a role on school council. Current (as at commencement of Term 1 2026) school council members are not required to obtain a WWCC until they nominate for re-election/co-option. This policy, guidance and resources have been updated to reflect this change and other changes made to Ministerial Order 1280 (Constitution of Government School Councils) 2020.

Policy

The purpose of this policy is to provide information on conducting school council elections in accordance with the relevant legal requirements.

Summary

• Principals must conduct school council elections in accordance with Ministerial Order 1280 (Constitution of Government School Councils) 2020 (DOCX) (Ministerial Order 1280) including the requirement for parent and community school council members to hold a Working with Children Clearance (WWCC) when nominating for a role on school council.
• The school council election process for all government schools must commence no earlier than the first day of the school year and be completed on or before 31 March for the parent, school employee and student member categories.
• A Ministerial Order is required to hold an election outside of this time.
• By 30 April, principals must inform the Secretary of the Department of Education of the council membership by completing and submitting the Declaration of school council membership (formerly Schedule 7) online at the School Council Membership Reporting site in the School Council Portal (principal login required).
• The Principals guide to school council elections (PDF) provides detailed guidance on holding school council elections. Principals must ensure they follow this guide throughout the school council election process.

Details

Ministerial Order 1280 specifies the total size of the school council and the number of members in each category of council. There are 3 mandatory membership categories for a school council:

1. parent members
2. school employee members
3. student members – for schools with students enrolled in Years 7 and above.

Many school councils also have community members.

Further information about school council membership categories is available under School Council – Composition, Eligibility and Office Bearers.

All parents or carers of students enrolled at the school are eligible to vote for parent members, staff vote for school employee members, and students vote for student members. Community members are co-opted by the school council.

Principals must conduct school council elections in accordance with the Principals guide to school council elections (PDF). This will ensure that elections are conducted within the legal framework of Ministerial Order 1280.

School Council Portal – declaration of school council membership

By 30 April, principals must inform the Secretary of the Department of Education of the school council membership, by completing and submitting the Declaration of school council membership (principal or business manager login required) in the School Council Portal. This video provides a summary of how to access, complete and submit the new Declaration of School Council Membership.

Election complaints

Any parent, school employee or student eligible for nomination to the school council who is aggrieved by any matter arising from the conduct of an election may, within 14 days of the date of the declaration of the poll, make a complaint in writing to the principal.

If the principal receives a complaint it must be referred to the school's Regional Director as soon as possible. The Regional Director or nominee will establish a committee to review the complaint and determine how the complaint will be dealt with and resolved.

Privacy

All personal information, including personally identifiable information, collected as part of this policy by staff, contractors, volunteers and service providers at Victorian schools, must be handled in accordance with the Schools' privacy policy and Protecting personally identifiable information guideline.

Advice on privacy is available from privacy@education.vic.gov.au

Records management

All records created or kept because of this policy must be handled in accordance with the schools' records management policy and recordkeeping guidelines. This includes ensuring appropriate information security controls are in place and any hardcopy records are stored in a facility or location that is well maintained and secure from unauthorised access.

Advice on records management is available from archives.records@education.vic.gov.au

Related policies

• Records Management
• School Council – Composition, Eligibility and Officer Bearers
• School Council – Meetings
• School Council – Overview
• School Council – Powers and Functions

Relevant legislation

• Education and Training Act 2006 (Vic)
• Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic)
• Financial Management Act 1994 (Vic)
• Ministerial Order 1280 – Ministerial Order (Constitution of Government School Councils) 2020 (DOCX)
• Public Administration Act 2004 (Vic)

Principals guide to school council elections

The Principals Guide to School Council Elections has been developed to assist principals to understand and conduct school council elections in accordance with Ministerial Order 1280.

It provides detailed guidance on conducting the election process, advice on the stages of the election that must be followed, examples of good practice, relevant forms and schedules to be used and fact sheets for parents and students.

A complete set of schedules relating to elections can be found in the Principals guide to school council elections:

• Principals guide to school council elections (PDF)

Induction

Induction materials for new school council members can be found in the School Council – Training and Good Governance policy.

These materials include a school council induction video and training options available on the Policy tab, and a sample ‘welcome’ letter for new and returning school council members on the Resources tab.

Student member category – alternative arrangement requirements

Student members on school councils provide unique perspectives that enrich school governance. Schools with students in Year 7 and above must have 2 student member positions on their school council, unless the school has sought and received an exemption from this requirement.

If you are a small school, a rural school, a special school, or if other exceptional circumstances exist that justify granting the exemption and your school council does not believe that it can identify suitable student members for their school council, the principal and school council president can apply for an exemption by completing the Student school council member – alternative arrangement form (DOCX). The principal sends the form to the regional director for approval, demonstrating how the school council will seek student input into their school’s discussion and decision making.

Principals will be required to submit this information to their regional director for consideration by the end of Term 4.

Resources

Documents to assist you in running a school council election.

The Principals guide to school council elections

• Principals guide to school council elections (PDF)

Interactive online training

To support the conduct of school council elections, principals and members of the school community seeking election to school council can access an interactive online training program relating to running school council elections.

School council members can self-register to access the interactive online training through the school council learning management system (LMS) and complete this module in sections, in their own time and pace.

Two case studies have been developed as examples of how school council elections are conducted for the student membership category and describing the benefits school council membership can provide to students. The case studies are based on feedback created from interviews and focus groups from a number of schools.

• Case study 1 – school in Metropolitan Melbourne (DOCX)
• Case study 2 – school in regional Victoria (DOCX)

Translated documents and resources

Translations of selected forms in 5 community languages (Arabic, Dari, Traditional and Simplified Chinese and Vietnamese) are provided below. When the school provides translated factsheets to the school community, these documents must be accompanied by the relevant factsheet in English.

Form 1: Notice of first school council election and call for nominations (DOCX) – This form is for new schools conducting their first school council election. Please ensure a copy of the English version is provided together with the translation.

• Arabic (DOCX)
• Arabic (PDF)
• Chinese – Simplified (DOCX)
• Chinese – Simplified (PDF)
• Chinese – Traditional (DOCX)
• Chinese – Traditional (PDF)
• Dari (DOCX)
• Dari (PDF)
• Vietnamese (DOCX)
• Vietnamese (PDF)

Form 2: Notice of election and call for nominations (DOCX) – This form is for existing schools. Please ensure a copy of the English version is provided together with the translation.

• Arabic (DOCX)
• Arabic (PDF)
• Chinese – Simplified (DOCX)
• Chinese – Simplified (PDF)
• Chinese – Traditional (DOCX)
• Chinese – Traditional (PDF)
• Dari (DOCX)
• Dari (PDF)
• Vietnamese (DOCX)
• Vietnamese (PDF)

Other factsheets and forms relating to school council elections

The following documents can be found in the Principal’s guide to school council elections (PDF):

• Fact sheet 1: school council elections – information for parents
• Fact sheet 2: information for students seeking election to council
• Fact sheet 3: information for parents of children seeking election to school council
• Form 1: new schools – notice of first school council election and call for nominations
• Form 2: notice of election and calls for nominations
• Form 3: self-nomination form for parent member category
• Form 5: self-nomination form for school employee member category
• Form 7: self-nomination form for student member category
• Form 9: candidate nomination form receipt
• Form 10: Parent ballot paper (Ordinary)
• Form 11: School employee ballot paper
• Form 13: Student ballot paper Form 14: Nomination notification form
• Form 15: Co-option to a community member position on school council
• Form 16: Co-option to a casual vacancy on school council

Application to change the size or composition of school council (Schedule 5) (PDF)

Application to change the size or composition of school council (Schedule 5) (DOCX)

Further department advice

The School Council Self-Assessment Tool (DOCX) provides support to school councils in evaluating their effectiveness annually, as a group and in identifying areas for improvement. The self-assessment tool is also available online in the School Council Portal (principal login required).

The school council induction video provides a summary of the purpose and responsibilities of school councils as well as the roles and responsibilities of school council members. The video can be viewed at School Council – Training and Good Governance.

Contact

The School Operations and Governance Unit (SOGU) provides advice and guidance on the election process. Principals and school councils can contact SOGU at school.council@education.vic.gov.au or 03 7022 5666.