Statutory Rules
1976 No. 112
REGULATIONS UNDER THE FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL ACTS 1973.*
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Film and Television School Acts 1973.
Dated this twenty-seventh day of May, 1976.
JOHN R. KERR
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
MALCOLM FRASER
Prime Minister.
————
FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL (ELECTIONS) REGULATIONS
Citation.
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Film and Television School (Elections) Regulations.
Definitions.
2. In these Regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—
“ the Act ” means the Film and Television School Acts 1973;
“ election ” means an election to the Council by members of the staff of the School, by students of the School or by Convocation, as the case requires.
Returning Officer.
3. The person for the time being occupying, or performing the duties of, the office of Secretary to the Council shall be the Returning Officer for the purposes of these Regulations.
Rolls.
4. (1) The Returning Officer shall prepare for the purposes of each election separate rolls showing the names and addresses of members of the staff of the School and students of the School.
(2) The roll kept in pursuance of sub-section 22 (4) of the Act shall be the roll for the election by Convocation.
Election date.
5. An election shall be held—
(a) except in the case of a casual vacancy, on a date determined by the Returning Officer; and
(b) in the case of a casual vacancy, on a date determined by the Minister.
* Notified in the Australian Government Gazette on 1 June 1976.
Calling for nominations.
6. Not less than 5 weeks before an election, the Returning Officer shall—
(a) display on a notice-board at the School; and
(b) forward by post or deliver to everyone whose name appears on a roll of those entitled to vote at the election, at the address shown in that roll,
a notice that—
(c) states the number of people to be elected;
(d) states the required qualifications for standing for the election;
(e) invites nominations of suitably-qualified people for election;
(f) states the form in which nominations are to be made; and
(g) states the date on which and time at which nominations close.
Nominations.
7. (1) A person is not eligible for election as a member of the Council unless he has been nominated by a person entitled to vote for him at that election, or by himself, not less than 3 weeks before the date of election.
(2) A nomination shall be in accordance with Form 1 in Schedule 1 and shall be signed by—
(a) the nominator and the candidate; or
(b) where the candidate nominates himself, by the candidate.
(3) Nomination shall be lodged with the Returning Officer before the close of nominations.
Election without voting.
8. If, at the time at which nominations close, the number of people nominated does not exceed the number of people to be elected at the election, the Returning Officer shall declare the people nominated elected.
Ballot-papers.
9. Within 7 days after nominations close and at least 14 days before the election, the Returning Officer shall post to everyone on the roll of those entitled to vote at the election at the address shown on the roll as at the close of nominations—
(a) a ballot-paper in accordance with Form 2 in Schedule 1 on which appears the names of the candidates at the election in an order determined by lot;
(b) a notice indicating the manner in which the ballot-paper is to be returned to the Returning Officer, and specifying a date on which and a time at which the poll closes;
(c) where a candidate has, not later than 7 days before the close of nominations, supplied to the Returning Officer a statement not exceeding 150 words relating to his candidacy—a copy of that statement; and
(d) a reply-paid envelope capable of holding the ballot-paper, marked “ ballot-paper ” and addressed to the Returning Officer.
Manner of voting.
10. Each voter shall—
(a) record his vote by inserting on the ballot-paper next to the names of so many candidates as he wishes to vote for, numbers in cardinal order commencing with 1 indicating the order of his preference for the candidates and return the ballot-paper to the Returning Officer by the close of the poll; or
(b) destroy the ballot-paper.
Ballot-box.
11. (1) Up to the close of the poll, the Returning Officer shall make available at the School a sealed ballot-box in which voters may deposit their ballot-papers and in which the Returning Officer shall deposit, as soon as practicable, all envelopes purporting to contain ballot-papers received by post.
(2) The Returning Officer shall take such steps as are necessary to ensure the safety of the ballot-box and shall produce the ballot-box at the scrutiny.
Scrutiny.
12. The result of the poll shall be ascertained by scrutiny.
Scrutineers.
13. (1) A candidate may appoint a scrutineer to represent him at the scrutiny.
(2) The appointment of a scrutineer to represent a candidate shall be made by notice in writing signed by the candidate and given to the Returning Officer before the scrutiny.
Objections to ballot-papers.
14. (1) If a scrutineer objects to a ballot-paper as being informal, the Returning Officer shall mark the ballot-paper “ Formal ” or “ Informal ” according to his decision to admit or reject the ballot-paper.
(2) Nothing in this regulation prevents the Returning Officer from rejecting any ballot-paper as being informal although it is not objected to.
Informal ballot-papers.
15. (1) A ballot-paper shall be informal if—
(a) it does not indicate, in accordance with the directions on the ballot-paper, the voter’s first preference for a candidate; or
(b) it purports to indicate the voter’s first preference for 2 or more candidates.
(2) A ballot-paper is not informal by reason only that—
(a) the same number has been indicated opposite the names of more than one candidate, in the order of the voter’s preference, after his first preference; or
(b) a number has been omitted in the numerical sequence in the voter’s preference after his first preference,
but the ballot-paper shall be treated as if the numbers so repeated and any higher number had not been placed on the ballot-paper or as if any number higher than the number so omitted had not been placed on the ballot-paper, as the case requires.
Conduct of scrutiny.
16. (1) The scrutiny shall be conducted as follows:—
(a) it shall commence as soon as practicable after the closing of the poll;
(b) all scrutineers and any people approved by the Returning Officer may be present;
(c) all the proceedings shall be open to the inspection of the scrutineers;
(d) it may be adjourned from time to time as may be necessary until the counting of the votes is completed.
(2) The Returning Officer shall ascertain the result of the election in accordance with the procedure set out in Schedule 2.
Notification of result of poll.
17. The Returning Officer shall, by notice in writing, inform the Council of the result of the election and place a copy of the notice on a notice-board at the School.
SCHEDULE 1
Form 1 Regulation 7
THE FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL
NOMINATION FORM
FOR ELECTION OF THE COUNCIL
I, the undersigned, being a member of staff/student of the School/member of Convocation* entitled to vote at the election hereby nominate the following person/myself* as a candidate for election as Staff/Student/Convocation* member of the Council.
Candidate’s full name
Candidate’s address
Nominator’s full name and address
Nominator’s signature
Date of signature
Witness’s signature
I hereby consent to act if elected Candidate’s signature
Date of signature
Witness’s signature
*Strike out whichever is inapplicable.
————
Form 2 Regulation 9
BALLOT-PAPER
THE FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL
ELECTION OF STAFF (OR STUDENT OR CONVOCATION) MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF THE FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL
Direction to voter:
To record your vote on this ballot-paper, place the number 1 in the square opposite to the name of the candidate for whom you wish to vote as your first preference. You may place the numbers 2, 3, 4 (and so on, as the case requires) in the squares opposite to the names of so many of the remaining candidates as you wish, so as to indicate the order of your preference for them.
When you have recorded your vote, either place the ballot-paper in the reply-paid envelope provided and post to the Returning Officer or place the ballot-paper in the ballot-box provided at the School. The ballot-paper must reach the Returning Officer or be placed in the ballot-box on or before......................................................................................................
CANDIDATES
□......................................................................................................
□......................................................................................................
□......................................................................................................
SCHEDULE 2 Regulation 16
Procedure for Counting Votes
1. In this Schedule, “ continuing candidate ” means a candidate not already elected or excluded from the count.
2. The Returning Officer shall reject and place in a separate parcel all informal ballot-papers.
3. The Returning Officer shall arrange the unrejected ballot-papers under the names of the respective candidates by placing in a separate parcel all those on which a first preference is indicated for the same candidate.
4. The Returning Officer shall count the first preference votes given for each candidate on all unrejected ballot-papers.
5. The Returning Officer shall then determine a quota by dividing the total number of first preference votes by one more than the number of candidates required to be elected and by increasing the quotient so obtained (disregarding any remainder) by one.
6. Any candidate who has received a number of first preference votes equal to or greater than the quota so determined shall be elected.
7. Where the number of first preference votes received by a candidate is equal to the quota, the whole of the ballot-papers containing those votes shall be set aside as finally dealt with.
8. Unless all vacancies have been filled, the surplus votes (that is, any number in excess of the quota) of each elected candidate shall be transferred to the continuing candidates, in proportion to the voter’s preference, as follows:—
(a) The Returning Officer shall divide the number of the elected candidate’s surplus votes by the total number of first preference votes received by him and the resulting fraction shall, for the purposes of this paragraph, be the transfer value of that candidate’s surplus votes.
(b) The Returning Officer shall arrange in separate parcels for the continuing candidates the whole of the ballot-papers of the elected candidate according to the next available preference indicated on the ballot-papers.
(c) The Returning Officer shall ascertain, in respect of each continuing candidate, the total number of ballot-papers of the elected candidate that bear the next available preference for that continuing candidate and shall, by multiplying that total by the transfer value of the elected candidate’s surplus votes, determine the number of votes to be transferred from the elected candidate to each continuing candidate. If, as a result of the multiplication, any fraction results, so many of those fractions, taken in the order of their magnitude, beginning with the largest, as are necessary to ensure that the number of votes transferred equals the number of the elected candidate’s surplus votes shall be reckoned as of the value of unity and the remaining fractions shall be ignored.
(d) The Returning Officer shall then, in respect of each continuing candidate, forthwith take at random from the parcel containing the ballot-papers of the elected candidate that bear the next available preference for that continuing candidate, the previously-determined number of ballot-papers and transfer those ballot-papers to the continuing candidate.
(e) The ballot-papers containing the first preference votes of the elected candidate that have not been transferred (that is to say, the ballot-papers containing the number of voles equal to the quota) shall be put aside as finally dealt with.
9. When the surplus votes of all elected candidates have been transferred to the continuing candidates as provided by paragraph 8, any continuing candidate who has received a number of votes equal to or greater than the quota shall be elected. Unless all the vacancies have been filled, the surplus votes of the elected candidate shall be transferred to the continuing candidates in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 8, but, in the application of those provisions, only those ballot-papers that have been transferred to the elected candidate from a candidate previously elected shall be taken into consideration.
10. If, as a result of the transfer of the surplus votes of a candidate elected in pursuance of paragraph 9, or elected at a later stage of the scrutiny, a continuing candidate has received a number of votes equal to or greater than the quota, he shall be elected. Unless all the vacancies have been filled, the surplus votes of the elected candidate shall be transferred to the continuing candidates in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 8, but, in the application of those provisions, only those ballot-papers that have been transferred to the elected candidate from the candidate or candidates elected at the last preceding count shall be taken into consideration.
11. The ballot-papers containing the first preference votes of a candidate who has been elected in pursuance of the provisions of paragraph 9 or 10, together with the ballot-papers transferred to him from a candidate previously elected or excluded that have not been further transferred, shall be set aside as finally dealt with.
Schedule 2—continued
12. If, after the count of the first preference votes or after the transfer of the surplus votes of the elected candidates, no candidate has, or less than the number of candidates required to be elected have, received a number of votes equal to the quota, the candidate who has the fewest votes shall be excluded and the whole of his ballot-papers shall be transferred by the Returning Officer to the continuing candidates next in order of the voters’ available preferences.
13. If thereupon, or as the result of the exclusion of a candidate at any subsequent stage of the scrutiny, a continuing candidate has received a number of votes equal to or greater than the quota, he shall be elected. Unless all vacancies have been filled, the surplus votes of the elected candidate shall be transferred to the continuing candidates in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 8, but, in the application of those provisions, only those ballot-papers that have been transferred to the elected candidate from the candidate last excluded shall be taken into consideration. The ballot-papers containing the first preference votes of the elected candidate, together with the ballot-papers transferred to him from a candidate previously elected or excluded that have not been further transferred, shall be set aside as finally dealt with. If no continuing candidate has received a number of votes equal to the quota, the process of excluding the candidate with the fewest votes and the transferring of ballot-papers containing those votes to the continuing candidates shall be repeated by the Returning Officer until a continuing candidate has received a number of votes equal to the quota or, in respect of the last vacancy, a majority of the voles remaining in the count, but the process of excluding candidates shall not be repeated after the number of continuing candidates is equal to the number of unfilled vacancies.
14. A continuing candidate who has received a number of votes equal to the quota shall be elected.
15. After all the candidates who have received a number of votes equal to the quota are elected—
(a) where there is one remaining unfilled vacancy—the candidate who has received a majority of the votes remaining in the count; or
(b) where the number of continuing candidates is equal to the number of remaining unfilled vacancies—those candidates,
shall be elected.
16. Where, on the count of the first preference votes, or at the same time at any subsequent stage of the scrutiny, 2 or more candidates are elected by reason of their having received a number of votes equal to or greater than the quota, any transfer of the surplus votes of those candidates shall be carried out in the order, first of the candidate with the largest surplus, second of the candidate with the next largest surplus, and so on.
17. Notwithstanding anything contained in the preceding provisions of this Schedule, a transfer of the surplus votes of an elected candidate shall be deferred (but without affecting the order of that transfer) so long as the total number of those surplus votes is less than the difference between the total votes of the 2 continuing candidates with the fewest votes. In that case, unless all vacancies have been filled, the candidate with the fewest votes shall be first excluded and the ballot-papers containing his votes shall be transferred to the continuing candidates as provided by paragraph 12.
18. If on any count 2 or more candidates have an equal number of votes and one of them has to be excluded, the Returning Officer shall decide by lot which shall be excluded. If, at the time of their election, 2 or more candidates have an equal number of votes, the Returning Officer shall decide by lot the order of election of those candidates and the order of the transfer of their surplus votes. If in the final count for filling the last vacancy 2 candidates have an equal number of votes, the Returning Officer shall decide by lot which candidate shall be elected.
19. If, on the count of the first preferences, or at the same time at any subsequent stage of the scrutiny, 2 or more candidates are elected by reason of their having received a number of votes equal to or greater than the quota, the election of those candidates shall be deemed to have been in the order, first of the candidate with the largest surplus, second of the candidate with the next largest surplus, and so on.
20. Where on a transfer it is found that a ballot-paper—
(a) does not show a number indicating the voter’s next preference opposite to the name of a candidate who has not already been elected or excluded;
(b) shows the same number as the voter’s next preference opposite to the names of 2 or more candidates; or
(c) omits to indicate the number of the voter’s next preference in the numerical sequence of the order of the voter’s preference,
the ballot-paper shall be set aside as finally dealt with.
24038/78—17