Elections

  1. Macquarie University
  2. About
  3. About the University
  4. Structure and governance
  5. Elections

Electing members to Macquarie's governance bodies

The Macquarie University Council, Academic Senate, and Faculty Boards are key decision-makers in the operation of the University. Each includes elected members chosen by the University community in accordance with set procedures.

The University Council and Academic Senate of Macquarie University include a number of positions elected by and from the staff and students of the University.  Faculty Boards also include elected staff and student positions, and the main student body — the Student Representative Committee — is formed of a mixture of elected and appointed student positions.

Each body has specific requirements related to its membership. For example, Council includes two positions for academic staff, one for professional staff and one for students. Academic Senate has a much larger number of academic staff and student positions which are targeted to specific groups — such as Faculty or student enrolment type (postgraduate coursework, international, and so on).

When an election is called the notice of election and related nomination form will provide full details on who is eligible to stand for election and who is eligible to vote, and will refer to the relevant legislation or policy.

Elections and results

Declaration of results

Following the close of voting at 3.00 pm on Wednesday 23 October 2024, a vote count took place on the afternoon of Thursday 24 October 2024.The results of the election are as follows:

One (1) non-academic staff member on University Council for a term of office from 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2026

  • Dr Stuart Upton

Declaration of results

Following the close of voting at 3.00 pm on Wednesday 23 October 2024, a vote count took place on the afternoon of Thursday 24 October 2024. The results of the election are as follows:

STUDENTS

Term of Office 1 December 2024 – 30 November 2026

One (1) Undergraduate Student from the Faculty of Arts

  • Vanessa Gallaher

One (1) Undergraduate Student from the Faculty of Science and Engineering 

  • Kendra Mulder

One (1) Undergraduate Student from the Macquarie Business School 

  • Bella Mantakoul

One (1) Undergraduate Student from the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences

  • No nominations received.

Two (2) Postgraduate Coursework Course Student Members

  • Andrew Jenkins
  • Blake Whitford

One (1) Graduate Research Course Student Member

  • Lilly Leaver

Student member from the International Student Cohort 

  • Jessica Cheung

Student member from the Indigenous Student Cohort

  • Aidan Downey

STAFF

Term of Office 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2026

Three (3) Continuing Academic Staff Members from the Faculty of Arts

  • Dr Joanne Faulkner
  • Dr Holly Doel-Mackaway
  • Professor Tanya Evans

Three (3) Continuing Academic Staff Members from the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences

  • Associate Professor Alissa Beath
  • Professor Simon McMullan
  • Professor Peter Roger

Three (3) Continuing Academic Staff Members from the Faculty of Science and Engineering

  • Associate Professor Ray Eaton
  • Associate Professor Kerrie Tomkins
  • Damian Jurd

Three (3) Continuing Academic Staff Members from the Macquarie Business School

  • Professor Grant Michelson
  • Dr Paul Crosby
  • Dr Prashan Shayanka Mendis Karunaratne

Academic staff member from the Indigenous staff electorate

  • Dr Andrew Farrell

STUDENTS

Term of Office 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2026

Two (2) Students on the Faculty of Arts Faculty Board

  • Kai Dowsett
  • Sukhmeet Kaur

Two (2) Students on the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences Faculty Board

  • No nominations received.

Two (2) Students on the Faculty of Science and Engineering Faculty Board

  • Shani Spielman
  • Andrew Tung

Two (2) Students on the Macquarie Business School Faculty Board

  • Arju Adhikari
  • Shahriar Bhuiyan

STAFF

Term of Office 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2026

One (1) Continuing Non-Academic Staff Member from the Faculty of Arts

  • Ms Karina Arakel

One (1) Continuing Non-Academic Staff Member from the Faculty of Science and Engineering

  • No nominations received.

One (1) Continuing Non-Academic Staff Member from the Macquarie Business School

  • No nominations received.

(Note: The elected non-Academic staff member for the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences Faculty Board is not due for an election until 2025)

Term of Office 1 March 2025 – 30 June 2026

One (1) Continuing Academic Staff Member from theDepartment Of Economics On The Macquarie Business School Faculty Board

  • Associate Professor Ben Wang

(Note: The term of membership Department of Economics has been out of sync with the other Departments in MQBS due to a casual vacancy. This term of office reflects plans to align all Departments on the same election schedule from June 2026)

SRC elections are held in accordance with the SRC Terms of Reference

For general information on the SRC and membership, please see the SRC website.