Council election FAQs
Here you will find the answers to the frequently asked questions on the QLS Council election.
About campaigning
No. In keeping with privacy legislation, we are unable to release member data.
Each candidate is to provide to QLS their photo and a statement of no more than 150 words setting out:
- their service to the legal profession or service to the community (or both);
- the area of law in which they practise; and
- any special interests that the candidate has, whether inside or outside the legal profession.
Candidates are invited to answer three questions and have the option to provide a Linkedin profile.
Each candidate’s photo and profile will be displayed on the QLS website from 22 September 2023 in the order drawn by lot automatically in accordance with r35(2) of the Rules and members will be directed to these profiles when considering voting. Outside this, please see our QLS Election Media Protocol for rules and ideas for campaigning.
You can start campaigning as soon as you receive confirmation from QLS that your application for candidacy is accepted and can continue until the close of voting at 4pm AEST Monday 9 October 2023.
Please note that nominations close 4pm AEST Thursday 21 September 2023.
About nominating
Only those who are full members on the Roll of Electors as of 9am AEST Monday 11 September 2023 can nominate and vote. To ensure you are on the Roll and that your details are up to date, please contact 1300 367 757 or email the Records Team.
You will be ineligible to nominate if you:
- are not a full member
- are of impaired capacity as defined in the Powers of Attorney Act 1998;
- are an insolvent under administration;
- have been convicted of a serious offence, as defined in schedule 2 to the Legal Profession Act 2007;
- in the five years prior to the election, have been convicted of two offences under the Legal Profession Act 2007 or any regulation made under that Act; or
- in the five years prior to the election, have been found to have committed an act of unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct.
See rule 29 of the Legal Profession (Society) Rules 2007.
When nominations open on Monday 11 September 2023, all members eligible to nominate and vote will be sent an email from our election provider Truevote (truevote.com.au) which will include a link to the nomination form. You can then confer with your colleagues who have received the email notice for seconding your nomination, or alternatively you may contact election@qls.com.au to confirm that your supporters are eligible to participate and support your nomination in the election.
You will need three seconders. The nomination form (available 11 September) must also be furnished with a bio (no more than 150 words) and a headshot (between 100KB and 1MB file size). For ease, candidates are asked to complete and submit the Nominee profile (available 11 September), which also includes three questions and an option to provide a link to a website or LinkedIn page.
The nomination form must be completed in full and received by the returning officer by 4pm AEST Thursday 21 September 2023.
From Friday 22 September 2023, the bio and headshot of all eligible candidates, in the order drawn by electronic lot, will be published on the QLS election website.
No, unfortunately the Election By-Laws require that we make the nomination form available when we send out the Notice of Election. Keep your eyes peeled from 9am, Monday 11 September 2023 for the Notice of Election and link to the nomination form.
Yes. If you are eligible to nominate you may nominate for one or more of the available positions:
- President
- Deputy President
- Vice President
- Councillor
QLS encourages practitioners all across Queensland to consider nominating for Councillor and Presidential roles. We support regional councillors by funding travel and accommodation to enable councillors to attend Council meetings and major events in person wherever possible, and conducting committee and other meetings by phone and web links.
Councillors from regional areas often have significant leadership roles in their communities and may be requested by the president to represent QLS at local events.
Yes, the returning officer accepts electronic signatures on nomination forms. Electronic signatures accepted include electronic signatures, scanned wet signatures, digital signatures and use of DocuSign.
Yes, the returning officer accepts nomination forms which have been scanned and emailed.
No, the returning officer does not accept the nomination form in counterparts. The full completed form must be received by the returning officer before nominations close. See the questions above about acceptance of electronic signatures and scanning of nomination forms.
No an insurance member / ILP member / student member / associate member / honorary members are not full members of the Society and cannot nominate, second or vote in the QLS Council Election.
In order to successfully submit the Nominee Profile form please ensure that you:
- Keep within the word count (150 word for the bio; 60 words for each question)
- Upload a photo
- Include a full and correct email address
- Ensure you fill in every mandatory field
- Confirm that you are not a robot by clicking the reCAPTCHA button
If you continue to have difficulties, please email elections@qls.com.au for further assistance.
In the second year of the Council term, the Deputy President becomes the President and the role of Deputy President is vacant. In the second year, the Vice President supports the President in their role.
If you are a full member (as of 11 September 2023) please check the spam and trash folders of your mailbox to see if the email was diverted to spam.
If you have a work email registered, please engage with your IT Team to determine whether it has been blocked by the firm’s firewall or is a quarantined email.
If you have changed employment or personal email address since 11 September 2023, it is possible your previous email address is registered on our system and the Notice has been sent to that address. Please contact elections@qls.com.au to update your email address for the election.
To ensure you do not miss further communications, please consult with your IT support provider to add our Election Provider, Truevote and www.truevote.com.au as a safe sender in your personal and work email programs.
You can start preparing for nominations by:
- Checking that you are a full member in MyQLS or by emailing Records before Friday 8 September 2023
- Consulting with three full QLS members to ascertain if they will support your nomination and ensure they have full QLS membership
- Raising awareness with supporters to ensure their contact details are up to date and to ensure they have full QLS membership
- Encourage supporters to diarise dates, noting that voting starts 29 September and concludes 4pm AEST Monday 9 October 2023
- Encourage supporters to Whitelist our Election Provider, Truevote, by saving Truevote and www.truevote.com.au as a safe sender in their personal and work email programs so that they never miss an email
- Reviewing or organising a headshot - Images should be JPEG or TIFF format, at least 300 pixels wide (larger if possible) and saved to maximum quality. Original, unedited colour images are preferred
- Reviewing or updating your bio (no more than 150 words)
- Consider updating or creating a LinkedIn profile or webpage (optional)
- Familiarise yourself with the QLS Election, Media and Engagement Protocol 2023
- Familiarise yourself with the QLS annual report, the position descriptions and key resources on qls.com.au/election
- Bookmark Proctor for election updates and news - https://www.qlsproctor.com.au/
About the Council
Members are elected to Council for a period of two years beginning 1 January of an even-numbered year and concluding 31 December of an odd-numbered year. The President serves a 1 year term and in the second year becomes immediate past president. The Deputy President serves a 1 year term and in the second year becomes president. The Vice President and Councillors remain in their positions throughout the 2 year term.
Council is scheduled to meet seven times a year, approximately every six weeks. Council usually meets for half a day at a time (12pm–5pm) and usually on a Thursday. The meeting schedule for the year is set the preceding December.
In addition, Council often holds a strategy review workshop during the year and there can be Teams meetings and flying minutes called at short notice to manage urgent business
The workload of Councillors can fluctuate significantly from week to week, depending on meetings, events and the business of Council. It is not uncommon for a Councillor to spend between three and seven days per month on their duties.
While the President and the Deputy President (in the first year) and the Vice President (in the second year) undertake the majority of representative and public speaking duties on behalf of QLS, from time to time other councillors are asked to represent and/or speak for the Society at member, district law association and other profession-related events. Councillors receive many invitations to QLS and profession-related events during the year – although attendance at most is not compulsory.
Councillors tend to also sit on at least one to two other QLS committees. The President, Deputy President, Vice President, Immediate Past President and two to three other Councillors appointed by Council constitute the Executive Committee. Councillors also comprise the Finance and Risk Committee, and Governance Committee, and at least one Councillor is required to sit on each of the following:
- Committee of Management
- Professional Conduct Committee
- Practice Management Course
- Committee Continuing Professional Development Committee
- Specialist Accreditation Board.
Councillors who, before election, were appointed members of other QLS committees such as policy committees or the Ethics Advisory Committee often continue to sit on those committees as well.
See the role description for more information.
The President elect, Deputy President elect and Vice President Elect are, during the two year term, effectively the ‘Chair of the Board’. In line with best practice corporate governance, the role of the chair is one of leading, facilitating and encouraging, rather than directing. A good chair will ensure the Council is providing leadership and vision, and working in a constructive partnership with the CEO and executive team. Nominees for presidential roles are expected to have some understanding or experience of the operation of boards and the role of the chair, with prior training an advantage.
The presidential roles include significant public speaking opportunities, such as speeches at judicial inaugurations, QLS conferences and events, presentations to parliamentary committees and media interviews and statements. QLS provides support to the President, Deputy President and Vice President, including media and public speaking training, but nominees should be equipped for the scope of public speaking responsibilities associated with the role.
The following skills and attributes benefit and assist Councillors in the discharge of their duties:
- understanding of Queensland Legal Practice
- understanding of Queensland statutory bodies and associated legislation financial literacy (eg balance sheets profit and loss statements and investments)
- previous strategic planning, governance, Board or Council experience and being familiar with collective decision making processes having leadership skills
- being an advocate for positive corporate culture
- understanding the framework of the Society’s captive insurer, Lexon Insurance Pte Ltd, as both an insurer and a subsidiary of the Society good time management
- a willingness to undertake continuing professional development in director and governance courses.
About the election process
The election period includes the entire election process starting from the open of nominations on Monday 11 September 2023 and concluding at the end of voting at 4pm AEST Monday 9 October 2023.
The nomination period is the period in which an eligible candidate submits their nomination to stand for Council. During this time the Society will assess each candidate’s nomination, advise the candidate whether their application for candidacy has been accepted and, within two business days of receipt of an accepted nomination, the Society will publish the names of eligible candidates on the QLS website in the order of nomination receipt. The nomination period begins Monday 11 September 2023 and finishes at 4pm AEST Thursday 21 September 2023.
The publication period is the period in which QLS will publish the names, biographies and photos submitted by eligible candidates on the QLS website in the order drawn by automatic lot in accordance with r35(2) of the Rules. QLS election communications will invite members to view these profiles. The publication period begins Friday 21 September. The voting period finishes at 4pm AEST on Monday 9 October 2023.
The day voting closes – soon after 4pm AEST Monday 9 October 2023.
From Tuesday 10 October 2023.
For more information on the Roll of Electors, nominations, voting or the election announcement, please contact the returning officer on:
About voting
Email – you will receive an email which will invite you to click on a link to vote online. The 2023 QLS Council election will be hosted by Truevote, a web-based online service provider.
Truevote will send members on the Roll of Electors a link via their nominated email address to vote electronically. Emails will be sent from the domain name truevote.com.au
If you have not received your email invitation to vote please:
- ensure your system has not routed the email to another location such as a spam or junk folder;
- consult with your IT support provider to:
- add our Election Provider, Truevote and www.truevote.com.au as a safe sender in your personal and work email programs; and
- check quarantined emails that may be on the server but have not been downloaded to your email program.
Please contact elections@qls.com.au for further assistance.
Voting form – for full members who do not have an email address registered with us, we will send a letter via express post which will have instructions how to vote online without an email address.
If you are eligible to vote please check the spam and trash folders of your mailbox to see if the email was diverted to spam.
If you have a work email registered, please engage with your IT Team to determine whether it has been blocked by the firm’s firewall or is a quarantined email.
If you have changed employment or personal email address since 11 September 2023, it is possible your previous email address is registered on our system and your ballot link has been sent to that address. Please contact elections@qls.com.au to update your email address for the election.
To ensure you do not miss further communications, please consult with your IT support provider to add our Election Provider, Truevote and www.truevote.com.au as a safe sender in your personal and work email programs.
Once you submit your vote you cannot change it. Due to the strict confidentiality settings and that all votes are confidential, there is no way to identify your ballot and change your vote. Please consider and review carefully before you submit your vote.
You can only vote once. The ballot will have instructions to complete and submit your vote.
In order to access your unique link to vote using a QR Code:
- Access your phone
- Open the “camera” app on your phone
- Hover your phone over the QR code.
- The camera will identify a unique link, press the link on your phone.
The link will take you to the voting website. Your vote is kept confidential.
The letter will also include a website, username and one time password. Please login with those credentials to vote. Your vote is kept confidential.