Candidate information

Nominations open on Friday 11 July 2025.

Nominations close at 12 noon on Thursday 31 July 2025.

You are encouraged to lodge your nomination as early as possible. Late nominations will not be accepted.

To nominate as a candidate, you must complete the following steps:

Step 1. Check you are eligible to nominate

To be eligible to be a candidate in the 2025 Local Government Elections, at the date of nomination you must be:

• an Australian citizen
• 18 years of age or older
• enrolled to vote in the local government area you are nominating for
• a resident within the local government area
• nominated by at least one other person who is enrolled to vote in the local government area you are nominating for.

Step 2. Complete the relevant nomination form

Download the Nomination Form PDF (246.5 KB).

Note: there is no fee to nominate for the 2025 Local Government Elections.

Step 3. Lodge your completed nomination form and photo

Each nomination must be accompanied by a recent photograph of the candidate.

You can lodge your nomination in 2 ways:

• NTEC website: you can lodge your completed nomination form and submit your photo through the nominations portal.
• In person: by attending the NTEC office in Darwin or Alice Springs.

Note: nominations cannot be accepted by email.

If you need help, you can contact NTEC by phone 1800 698 683 or email nominations.ntec@nt.gov.au.

Regional council offices can provide assistance by accessing this website and the nominations portal where prospective candidate may have connection issues in remote areas.

Nominations must be lodged by 12 noon on Thursday 31 July.

4. Confirm your nomination has been received by the NTEC

To ensure your nomination has been received and is complete if you did not lodge it in person, it is strongly recommended that you contact NTEC.

A nomination will only be accepted if it is completed and submitted correctly within the required timeframe.

Nominee photograph

Candidate nominations must include a photo of the nominee, meeting the standards listed below. The photograph should be:

• recent
• vertical portrait style
• full faced showing the nominee’s head and shoulders.

Nominating for more than one vacancy

If you nominate for both a principal member (mayor) and an ordinary member (councillor) position and are elected as the principal member, you are no longer considered for the ordinary member position.

Any votes you received for the ordinary member role will be passed on to the next candidate based on voter preferences.

The grounds for disqualification include:

• bankruptcy
• holding a judicial office
• employed as a council staff member (note s181 of the Local Government Act 2019 regarding resignation to contest an election - staff members)
• having a debt owing to council
• disqualified from managing a corporation
• not having a principal place of residence within the local government area.

The complete list of grounds for disqualification are shown on the nomination form PDF (246.5 KB).

The validity of an election may be disputed on application to the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) regarding eligibility of a person to be nominated as a candidate.

It is an offence if a person makes a statement on their nomination form that is false or misleading.

The NTEC may reject a nomination for the following reasons:

• the nomination does not meet the requirements detailed in the nomination form
• the nominee is not enrolled at an address within the local government area at the time the electoral roll closes
• the name of the nominee is not the same name the nominee is enrolled as, or is entitled to be enrolled as
• the name of the nominee is obscene, frivolous or has been assumed for a political purpose.

The NTEC will give the nominee written notice of the rejection, the reason/s and the nominee’s right to dispute the validity of the election.

You can withdraw your nomination for the 2025 Local Government Elections by completing the withdrawal form PDF (192.5 KB).

The completed form must be received before 12 noon on Thursday 31 July 2025. After that date a nomination cannot be withdrawn.

You can lodge your withdrawal form at the NTEC office in Darwin, Alice Springs or by email to nominations.ntec@nt.gov.au.

To confirm that the nomination withdrawal has been received, contact NTEC.

To protect the integrity of elections, there are laws that regulate campaign material and activities.

Campaign material is defined as an advertisement, document or any other thing that is intended to promote the electoral prospect of a particular candidate or group of candidates for an election, including (but not limited to):

• an electoral advertisement
• a printed document containing an electoral matter (for example, a handout, pamphlet or how-to-vote card)
• a message containing an electoral matter sent by telephone or broadcast by electronic means
• published materials containing electoral matter
• car stickers or decals
• a campaign sticker.

Campaigning activity involves actions such as:

• canvassing for votes: actively seeking the support of potential voter; this includes handing out campaign material.
• soliciting votes: asking individuals to vote in favour of a particular candidate
• encouraging people not to vote for a specific candidate
• displaying election-related notices or signs: putting up signs or notices about the election
• broadcasting content that can be heard by the public using sound amplification tools such as loudspeakers, public address systems, or similar devices.

For more information about campaigning view the following resources:

• Factsheet: Authorisation of campaign material PDF (231.8 KB)
• Factsheet: Campaign material PDF (872.4 KB)
• Factsheet: How to vote cards PDF (342.2 KB)
• Factsheet: Campaigning activities at voting centres PDF (733.0 KB)
• Factsheet: List of offences PDF (661.4 KB)
• Factsheet: Political parties in Local Government Elections PDF (731.6 KB)

Scrutineers for candidates play an important role in maintaining the integrity of the election process.

As a scrutineer you can observe the conduct of the election, including the counting of votes, and provide assurance that everyone has followed the electoral rules and procedures.

Scrutineers can observe the following activities during the voting and counting period:

• sealing of ballot boxes at the start or end of voting
• voting at early voting centres, mobile voting centres and election day voting centres (this does not include viewing how voters cast their vote)
• issuing officers asking voters their name, enrolled address and whether they have voted before in the election
• the voting centre manager providing voter assistance
• election night counts at voting centres and scrutiny centres
• entering of voter preferences on ballot papers into the Easy Count system
• admittance and rejection of declaration votes at a scrutiny centre
• admittance and rejection of postal votes at a scrutiny centre.

Candidates can appoint scrutineers to represent them during the voting and counting period.

Each candidate may appoint the following at any time:

• voting centre during the voting period: one scrutineer per voting centre
• security centre during the count period: one scrutineer per candidate for each count table that is counting ballot papers that include that candidate.

Download a scrutineer appointment form PDF (218.7 KB).

Scrutineers must present their completed appointment forms, signed by the candidate before entering a voting or counting centre to scrutineer. The form includes a commitment which the scrutineer must sign that they will not attempt to influence voters or reveal confidential information about a voter’s choice.

Additional approval processes are required for scrutineers to attend urban mobile voting locations including correctional facilities and hospitals. These requirements are determined by the facility.

Candidates in the 2025 Local Government Elections must follow rules for reporting donations and loans.

If you receive donations totalling $200 or more from the same donor during the disclosure period, you must submit a campaign donation return with details of the donation and donor.

If you receive a loan of $1,500 or more (not from a bank or financial institution) during the disclosure period, you must also submit a campaign donation return with details of the loan and lender.

You must not accept any anonymous donations or loans during the disclosure period.

If you do not receive any donations or loans, or the amounts are below $200 for donations or $1,500 for loans, you do not need to submit a return. You also do not need to submit a ‘nil’ return.

Donors and lenders do not have to submit returns for local government elections.

Download the campaign donation return factsheet PDF (653.5 KB).

The disclosure period for the 2025 Local Government Elections starts on Tuesday 1 July 2024 and ends Monday 22 September 2025.

Campaign donation returns are due on 1 November 2025.

Candidates only need to submit one campaign donation return for the entire disclosure period (unlike Legislative Assembly elections, which require multiple returns).

Candidates must keep all records related to donations or loans reported in a campaign donation return for at least 4 years.