5:00 PM

Motika not disqualified for President

Correction to a previous post: Community's presidential candidate at the election, General Secretary Daniel Motika and and Education OB Corbin Afanasyev were not disqualified for President and General Secretary. BigPulse currently shows the presidential and General Secretary races as head-to-head contests between Together and Progress, but this is an error. Reportedly, Motika and Afanasyev were not disqualified for President and General Secretary as they did not win these races.

In the alternate counts currently shown by BigPulse, President-elect Lottie Jenkins and General Secretary-elect Khush Shah are shown defeating their Progress counterparts with 85 per cent of the primary vote, and 83 per cent respectively.

3:30 PM

Afanasyev responds to Tribunal ruling

Community's General Secretary candidate at the election, Education OB Corbin Afanasyev, has responded to his ban and disqualification. In a statement given to Farrago, and published on social media, Afanasyev said the following:

"I'm truly gutted that my lifelong dream of running for an unwinnable Students' Council spot in the final year of my degree has been torn from my grasp."

Farrago has also reached out to General Secretary Daniel Motika, but has not received a response.

12:30 PM

Community 'attendance-mogged', says Together member 

A member of Together who was present at the Council as an observer told Farrago that Community was "attendance-mogged". During Council, Together members overwhelmed the empty Community bench in attendance numbers.

11:45 AM

Council inquorate

Today's session of Student Council failed to reach quorum after Community's Council members did not turn up. While Council was scheduled for 11:00am, the time to reach quorum lapsed at 11:30am. Laptops were initially placed on Community's side of the Council, but were removed shortly after. General Secretary Daniel Motika told Farrago that the laptops were removed as it became clear that quorum would not be reached. Non-voting members of Together gathered at Council to observe, with the opposition's side of the room completely packed.

10:45 AM

Motika disqualified, banned 

In last week's meeting of the Electoral Tribunal, the Tribunal banned and disqualified Community's presidential candidate Daniel Motika and General Secretary candidate Corbin Afanasyev. Afanasyev received a one-year ban, while Motika received a two-year ban. The two candidates were disqualified for NUS.

10:30 AM

BREAKING: Community attempted to overturn election

Last week, Community launched an appeal to overturn the 2026 UMSU annual election, Farrago has learned. At a meeting of the Electoral Tribunal on Wednesday 23 September, Community appealed to overturn the results of the elections, citing unsubstantiated claims of "serious misconduct" by Returning Officer Stephen Luntz. The appeal was struck down by the Electoral Tribunal.

Monday 28 September

Student Council called for Wednesday

A session of Student Council has been called for Wednesday 30 September, Farrago has learned. This session of Student Council will mark the first Council since the election.

Tuesday 22 September

Fabian Society congratulates Jenkins

In a statement published on social media on Sunday, the Australian Fabian Society congratulated UMSU President-elect Lottie Jenkins on her election victory, along with La Trobe Student Union President-elect Maali Kerta-Rice. Jenkins and Kerta-Rice were participants in the 2025-26 Fabian Leadership Summer School.

"Congratulations Lottie Jenkins and Maali-Kerta-Rice, recently elected Student Union President respectively at the University of Melbourne and LaTrobe University. Natural leaders before we worked together, they were also participants in our in our 2025-26 Fabian Leadership Summer School [...] Well done also to the teams you led, Together for UMSU and Together 4 LTSU."

Update from the author

Good evening UniMelb, more than a week after the 2026 UMSU elections, we are coming back from a vacation from student politics to talk about... student politics. Join Farrago over the next few days as we keep you in the loop about the latest post-election events which are expected rock UMSU student politics over the next few weeks.

Wednesday 16 September

Together sweeps committees

With counting for multi-member positions now complete, Together's legislative mandate has now been confirmed. Together has won a 5-2 majority on the Queer Committee, and 4-3 majorities on Activities, Welfare, Disabilities, People of Colour, and Women's. Both Together and Community won three seats in three committees, and will need to work with minor tickets occupying the seventh seat in order to pass their legislative agenda. Socialist Action won one on the Education Committee, one for the Independent Artists Co-operative on Creative Arts, and one for the Independent Students for Sustainability on Environment.

Returning Officer releases provisional results

The Returning Officer has completed counting, and the full declaration of results has now been published. A full distribution of preferences for multi-member positions has also been released.

Tuesday 15 September

UMSU set for a hung council 

UMSU is set to see its first hung Council in years, despite a thumping majority for Together at the executive level. In the Student Council election, Together won the largest share of the vote at 39 per cent, while Community won 34 per cent of the vote. Together is currently projected to win six seats, amounting to a total of nine, when factoring in reserved constituency seats. Community is projected to win five seats, with a total of eight. A ticket would require 11 seats in the 22-seat Council to form a working majority.

On the crossbench, Independent Media has retained its one seat, while Independents for Southbank has also held its seat reserved for Southbank students. Socialist Action will hold the balance of power in the Council, with it projected to win 3 seats, with the third currently in contention. Socialist Action won 17 per cent of the vote share in Student Council. While Socialist Action has a coalition agreement with Community, whether this will last into the next Council is unclear.

Sunday 13 September

Together releases first post-election statement

Together has released its first public statement since its landslide election win on Friday. In a post published on Instagram today, the ticket issued a statement thanking volunteers and voters.

"Thank you. Together, we have built something incredible. There'll be time in the coming weeks (once we've all gotten some sleep!) to talk about how much this means. For now though, thank you." 

The incoming administration will take office in December.