Candidate Information

Want to represent your community and be part of making decisions for Hedland? 

To stand for election as a Councillor, you must:

• Be 18 years of age or older
• Be an elector of the district (if you are only an elector because you are a nominee of a company then you are not eligible to stand)
• If you are a current Council member, have a term that ends on Election Day

You are not eligible to nominate if you:

• Are an elected member of another council
• Are a candidate for another vacancy of Councillor on the council (except for that of Mayor)
• Are a Member of Parliament
• Are an insolvent
• Are currently an elected member for the local government whose term does not expire on election day except if nominating for Mayor
• Have been convicted of a crime and are in prison for that crime
• Have been convicted in the previous 5 years of a “serious local government offence”
• Are a nominee of a body corporate owner or occupier
• Have been found personally liable of misapplying local government funds or property in the previous five years.

Code of Conduct for Candidates

The Local Government Act 1995 requires the Town to adopt a code of conduct for council members (elected members), committee members and local government election candidates.

The code sets out principles and standards of behaviour candidates must observe and is intended to promote accountable and ethical conduct.

The Town’s Code of Conduct reflects the mode code of conduct prescribed by the Local Government Act 1995 which includes:

• General principles to guide behaviour of candidates
• Requirements relating to behaviour of candidates
• Provisions specified to be rules of conduct for candidates

Prior to Submitting a Nomination

Prior to nominating, candidates must:

• Complete mandatory Candidate Induction Training
• Contact the Returning Officer
• Complete a nomination form; and
• Complete their nomination profile on the Western Australian Electoral Commission website

When to Submit a Nomination

Nominations are to be received by the Returning Officer (RO).

How to Nominate

If you decide to nominate:

• You must complete the nomination form
• The completed nomination form must be received by the Returning Officer before the close of nominations date
• The nomination form must be accompanied by a candidate profile
• If the nomination is made by an agent the nomination form must be accompanied by a written authorisation from the candidate
• The nomination must be accompanied by a deposit of $100 or the deposit must be paid before nominations close

Returning Officer

If you intend to stand as a nominee in the election, you will need to meet with the Returning Officer.

We will publish more information about the Returning Officer later in the year.

Campaigning

Social media

With social media now a major part of many election campaigns, the WAEC has released standards to guide candidates. 

These standards define any material 'that is intended, calculated or likely to affect voting in an election' is required to be authorised.

The requirements relating to the authorisation of election material apply irrespective of who is publishing the material and whether it is in printed or electronic form.

Any electoral advertisement, handbill, pamphlet or electoral notice (other than an advertisement in a newspaper announcing the holding of a meeting), must have at the end of it, the name and physical street address (not a PO Box number) of the person authorising it. If the material is printed in hard copy, then it must also include the name and place of business of the printer at the foot of the material. This applies unless the advertisement is in a newspaper (in which case the printer is obvious and contactable).

If election material is produced and printed by the one person (e.g. using a home computer and printer), then the legislative provisions are satisfied by adding ‘Authorised and printed by (name), (address)’ at the end of it.

Certain small items of a candidate or party promotional nature are exempt from the requirement to carry the authorisation and addresses. These include:

T-shirts, lapel buttons, lapel badges, pens, pencils or balloons
Business or visiting cards that promote the candidacy of any person in an election.
Any advertising on the Internet (e.g. banner ads) must also be authorised. A website or Facebook site created for electioneering purposes needs to be authorised (on the home or landing page), however individual comments on social media (e.g. such as Twitter or Facebook) do not.

Penalties may be applied for non-compliance with the authorisation requirements, as well as for any misleading or deceptive publications.

Election Signs FAQs

Disclosure of Gifts

Both the candidate and the donor in local government elections have legislative obligations for the disclosure of gifts promised or received by the candidate or made by the donor. As per Part 5A of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997, the information will be publicly available through the Register of Electoral Gifts.

In accordance with the Local Government (Elections) Regulations 1997 regulations 30B and 30CA, both the candidate and the donor are required to each submit a disclosure of gift, promised or received by the candidate or made by the donor, during the specified disclosure period being 6 weeks leading up to the local government elections and concludes either 3 days after the election day for the unsuccessful candidate or on the start day for financial interest returns for the successful candidate.

Candidate

A candidate must disclose to the CEO a gift promised or received during the above disclosure period using the gift disclosure form found here. Failure to disclose attracts a penalty of $5,000 which may be enforced for non-compliance.

Donor

A donor must disclose to the CEO a gift to a candidate promised or made during the above disclosure period using the gift disclosure form found here. Failure to disclose attracts a penalty of $5,000 which may be enforced for non-compliance. Please submit all gift disclosure forms to the Town of Port Hedland at governance@porthedland.wa.gov.au or in person at the Civic Centre, 13 McGregor Street, Port Hedland.

Further Information

Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety's website

WAEC: Local Government Candidates

WAEC: 2025 Local Government Candidate Resource