Online Voting Insights & Resources

When an election result is challenged, questioned, or simply scrutinised by members, one issue sits at the centre of the discussion: Can the result be verified? Not whether people liked the outcome. Not whether participation was high. Whether the organisation can demonstrate that votes were issued correctly, received correctly, counted correctly, and reported correctly. That […]

When elections go smoothly, nobody talks about them. When they don’t, they can dominate an organisation for months. For associations and unions, that reality is sharper than most. These are member-driven bodies where legitimacy depends on process. If members don’t trust how votes are managed, they rarely separate that concern from the outcome itself. That’s […]

For many organisations, AGM voting no longer happens with a raised hand and a count from the front of the room. Members are increasingly attending meetings online, participating from different locations, or submitting votes before the meeting begins. Boards and governance teams are also under pressure to make meetings more accessible, more accurate, and easier […]

If you’ve ever chaired an AGM, attended a strata meeting, sat on a club committee, or managed a member vote, you’ve probably heard someone call for a poll after a show of hands has already taken place. For many organisations, that’s the moment confusion starts. People often assume a vote is a vote. In practice, […]

When enterprise bargaining reaches a standstill, employees and unions sometimes consider industrial action as part of the negotiation process. In Australia, that action cannot simply begin overnight. Before protected industrial action can legally occur, a protected action ballot must first be approved by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). For many organisations, unions and employee representatives, […]

How Are Board Members Elected in Australia? Board elections in Australia are usually straightforward — until they’re not. Most organisations follow a familiar process. Nominations open, candidates are confirmed, members vote, and the result is declared. On paper, it’s simple. In practice, the detail around how that vote is run can make a big difference, […]

Clients often assume there must be a strict rule somewhere saying EBA votes have to be conducted by secret ballot. It sounds like the kind of thing the law would spell out clearly. It doesn’t. That said, if you’ve been around enterprise bargaining for any length of time, you’ll know most experienced practitioners won’t go […]

“If it’s secret, how do you audit it?” That question comes up almost every time we talk to a new client. And it’s a fair one. On the surface, secrecy and auditability sound like they’re pulling in opposite directions. They’re not. In fact, when an online ballot is set up properly, you end up with […]

What Happens If Your Protected Action Ballot Fails? A failed protected action ballot (PAB) can feel like a setback. There’s no point dressing that up — if employees don’t support industrial action, it changes the tone of bargaining overnight. But it’s not the end of the road. In practice, I’ve seen plenty of negotiations regain […]

If you’re putting an enterprise agreement (EA) to a vote, the Better Off Overall Test — usually shortened to “BOOT” — is the hurdle that ultimately decides whether it gets approved. It’s not a tick-the-box exercise. The Fair Work Commission will scrutinise the agreement in detail, and if it doesn’t pass the BOOT, it simply […]