Job-sharing Senate candidates launch proceedings to safeguard nomination

Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock, who recently spoke with HR Leader extolling the virtues of job-sharing parliamentarians, have filed an application to prevent the Australian Electoral Commission from rejecting their nomination to run for a Victorian Senate seat in this year’s federal election.

Earlier this week, job-sharing political candidates Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock (both pictured) filed an application in the Federal Court of Australia to prevent the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) from rejecting their nomination to run for a Victorian Senate seat.

Bradlow, a former lawyer and political communications expert, said: “Our case is simple.”

“There is nothing in the law that precludes two people from running as one Senator. Indeed, the Constitution requires that senators be ‘directly chosen by the people’. If we were to read the Constitution literally, we would only be allowed to choose men as our representatives.”

The application, which has been viewed by HR Leader, seeks a declaration from the court that Australia’s Constitution “does not preclude two persons from occupying the one office of Senator” and that the Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) does not grant the AEC the authority to refuse to accept the pair’s nomination on the basis that they are two people nominating for one Senate seat.

Alternatively, Bradlow and Bock’s application seeks orders from the court that the abovementioned legislation is invalid to the extent that it authorises the commissioner to refuse to accept their nomination.

The pair have also sought an injunction restraining the AEC from refusing to accept their nomination.

The pair are being represented by Emrys Nekvapil SC, Dr Julian Murphy, Professor Kim Rubenstein, and the Women’s Legal Centre ACT.

The federal election has yet to be called, but it must be held no later than 17 May 2025.

Bradlow and Bock originally launched a campaign early last year for the seat of the now-disbanded Victorian seat of Higgins, which was abolished in the national redistribution.

Bock, a mother of three and a former investment banker, said: “The fact that we were able to mobilise the support of 1,500 party members in just two months shows how much support there is behind this idea.”

“Voters want representatives that put their lives, families, and realities first. Australians are tired of the same old political games – they want leaders who genuinely understand their struggles, not politicians controlled by special interests.”

In November, Bradlow and Bock appeared on The HR Leader Podcast and on The Lawyers Weekly Show, the podcast of sister brand Lawyers Weekly, to discuss their candidacy and why Parliament “should be like any other workplace” and not limited to those who can be available 24/7 for the job. In that episode, the pair also fleshed out how job-sharing in politics can work.

Their candidacy for a Victorian Senate seat comes as the notion of job-sharing in professional services sectors, like law, becomes more commonplace.

Last September, Lawyers Weekly reported on the co-general counsel arrangement that Tala Prowd and Helena Kolenbet have at Wesley Mission Queensland, and how they make it work for their organisation and themselves.

The following month, the pair appeared on another Lawyers Weekly channel, The Corporate Counsel Show, to discuss the myriad benefits, both personal and professional, that come from working in tandem with another legal professional and whether we could see a rise in job-sharing arrangements in the legal profession.

Bradlow said: “Job-sharing is a well-recognised and utilised approach to bringing in a broader set of leaders in the private and public sectors.

“We will show that by allowing two people to share a single Senate seat, we can break down barriers that prevent people from participating in politics.

“This model could transform how Australians experience leadership, offering better representation and more effective decision making.”