Senior election officials
We maintain a pool of senior election officials (SEOs) who take on specialised election management roles during election events. Our SEOs play a major role in the delivery of elections across Victoria.
What do senior election officials do?
SEOs work as election managers, assistant elections managers, and SEO consultants for each major election event. These roles are more complex and involved than other casual election roles. We appoint SEOs to these temporary roles in the lead-up to each election.
Election managers and assistant election managers work in election offices and look after many election activities. These activities can change depending on the type of election. Some key activities are:
SEO consultants can work in an election office or at other VEC venues. SEO consultants report to election managers in election offices and project managers in other venues. They may help with the tasks above or other election projects.
SEO consultants complete the same training program as election managers and assistant election managers. This means they can step into these roles if they become available.
What makes a successful senior election official?
To be successful as an SEO you must:
- be able to effectively lead a team of short-term staff
- be a strong communicator
- be highly organised and able to multi-task to meet strict and inflexible deadlines
- have sound computer skills and be able to learn new applications
- be able to follow strict procedures to ensure that elections are fair, impartial, and conducted according to law.
You do not need prior election experience to apply for the SEO pool. Our SEOs come from a range of backgrounds, such as teaching, policing, farming, retail, and more.
The VEC SEO experience
Eligibility
You do not need election experience to be considered for an SEO role, but you do need to be eligible to work. To be eligible you must be:
- an Australian citizen, a permanent resident, or hold a current work visa
- over the age of 18
- willing to undertake a National Police Records check and Working with Children check
- able to provide evidence of vaccination against coronavirus (COVID-19) or a recognised medical exemption.
We want our elections workforce to reflect the diversity of Victoria. That's why we encourage applications from:
- people with disabilities
- people who speak English and other languages
- Aboriginal peoples.
Disclosure of political activities
Having staff who are politically neutral is critical to our impartiality. We will ask you to complete a disclosure of political activities before we appoint you to a role. It is legal for us to refuse employment to a person because of any political membership or activity.
Sometimes we have to reject potential staff because of their political activities. If you want us to review that decision you can submit a complaint.
Pay rates
SEOs appointed to election positions are paid in one of two ways:
- Salary packages (fixed term): agreements for a determined time period. We use fixed term agreements for the election period of major election events
- Casual rates: for SEOs in casual roles. Casual rates are used for senior election officials working outside a fixed term period. They are also used for all work done by SEO consultants.
Pay rates depend on the type of election and the role. Current base rates for SEO roles range from $31.93 to $52.41 an hour. A 25% casual loading is added to the base rate for casual roles.
Senior election officials are also paid for all training time.
The senior election official handbook (PDF, 14 MB) contains more information about pay and allowances.
Expressions of interest
Senior election official roles for the 2022 State election have been filled. If you want to know when our next round of recruitment begins, we can add you to our expression of interest list. Please email us at SEOrecruit@vec.vic.gov.au with your:
- full name
- contact details.
We offer:
- competitive pay rates
- full training provided
- casual contract roles with intensive peak periods every 2 years
- opportunities across Victoria
We will provide a full position description of the role when the next round of recruitment begins.
Need help?
If you have any questions not covered here please read the documents below for more information. You can also contact our personnel helpline or send us an email.
Email: SEOrecruit@vec.vic.gov.au
Phone: 1300 783 043 (9 am – 5 pm weekdays)