Claims that “ordinary people” can’t work for the Victorian Electoral Commission are false

^{By Renee Davidson}

In the lead-up to the Victorian state election to be held on November 26, social media users are spreading misinformation online about the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC).

For instance, a Facebook post claims that the VEC has narrowed the number of people who are eligible to work at the forthcoming election. The post says “ordinary people, mums and dads, young adults simply can’t work for them!”

Similar claims have also been made by the Freedom Party of Victoria, which is critical of Premier Daniel Andrews and COVID lockdowns and mandates.

The VEC has rejected such claims as “simply false”. 

“Any suggestion that we are narrowing the number of people who can work at the VEC is simply false and not based on anything factual,” the VEC wrote on its Facebook page.  

The commission explained that, in fact, more people were eligible to work at this year’s election compared to previous years.

“In September we identified a number of changes to political disclosure guidelines, which actually allows us to INCREASE the number of people eligible to work at this year’s State election and align our rules with other Australian electoral commissions,” it wrote.

When applying to work for the VEC, applicants must disclose their political memberships or activities. In previous elections, people who had been politically active in the past 15 years were not considered for employment due to the potential public perception of bias. 

Ahead of this year’s state election, the commission reduced the timeframe from 15 to five years for consideration of political activity and 15 to 10 years for nominating as a candidate at a local council, state, territory or federal level. This allows more people to be considered for work at the VEC during the election.

The VEC considers all other disclosed political activities on a case-by-case basis. These activities include donating to, or campaigning for, a political party or candidate, or giving media interviews that support or oppose a policy position.

Further information is available on the VEC's Register for Election Work website page, where it states that it accepts applications from anyone who is eligible to work and is over the age of 18. The only basis on which the VEC can lawfully refuse employment is if the applicant has disclosed "political memberships and activities".