Your council’s constitution will detail the different type of membership categories and the numbers of members who will be nominated to be on your council.

Clear timelines for the nomination and appointment of these types of members must be established and approved by the council.

School governing council

For a school governing council, the principal (as the returning officer) will:

• undertake an election process for staff representatives on the council - Staff members are nominated and elected by the staff at the school
• seek the names of the nominated representatives from any affiliated committees, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander committees
• undertake (or support) an election process for student representatives on the council – Students are nominated by the student body (SRC or equivalent) or students of the school
• either extend invitation(s) to community members to be appointed to the council or initiate a nomination process for community members. This process could resemble the election process used for parent members. Noting, it is the council who decide on who will be appointed.

Preschool governing council

For a preschool governing council, the preschool director (as the returning officer) will:

• undertake a process for the election of a staff representative on the council – the staff member is nominated and elected by the staff at the centre
• seek the name of the representative nominated by any other program or service regularly provided at the centre
• either extend invitation(s) to community members to be appointed to the council or initiate a nomination process for community members. This process could resemble the election process used for parent members. Noting, it is the council who decide on who will be appointed.

The returning officer should receive all nominated representatives before the first meeting of the council after the annual general meeting. At this meeting, all nominated representatives will be formally appointed to the council, including any community members.