About Election Watch

Election Watch is an initiative of the University of Melbourne.

The aim of Election Watch is simple: to go beyond the rhetoric and encourage Australians to engage with issues that shape their lives.

Election Watch brings together the University of Melbourne's most respected and experienced academics, to provide rigorous analysis and independent commentary on the Australian federal election campaign.

Our strategic partners include:

The opinions expressed by contributors to Election Watch are the authors' own and not those of the University of Melbourne.

The Team

Cathy Harper, Editor

Cathy Harper has been a journalist and producer at SBS and the ABC since 2000. She has reported from East Timor during the 2002 independence vote and from the United States in the leadup to the 2004 presidential election. She graduated from the University of Melbourne (BA(hons)/LLB(hons) in 1999.

Ryan Sheales, Deputy Editor

Ryan Sheales is a University of Melbourne communications officer, former ABC News political reporter and President of the Victorian Parliamentary Press Gallery. He blogs, consults on social media and presents a monthly segment on ABC News Breakfast, The Research Report, detailing breakthroughs from across the tertiary sector. @ryansheales

Andrea Carson, Project Officer

Andrea Carson is the project officer for Election Watch. She is also a lecturer, journalist, author and has recently completed a PhD in the school of social and political sciences at the University of Melbourne. Andrea started her journalism career at the The Age. She has worked as a reporter, producer and broadcaster. @andrea_carson

Ciannon Cazaly, Project Officer

Ciannon Cazaly is a Doctoral Candidate in the University of Melbourne's School Historical and Philosophical Studies. Her research explores race and gender discrimination and social inclusion in sport.

(Also see Experts)

Images policy

Photos, graphics and all other images featured on Election Watch are either (i) original works created by the site's authors and editors, (ii) contributed by readers or (iii) sourced from across the internet under the provisions of Creative Commons.

We use images from Flickr profiles, politicians' social media acccounts and any other images which have been 'labelled for reuse' by Google Image Search.

All reasonable efforts are made to provide accurate credit.

If you feel an image has been used incorrectly or without suitable credit, please email the editors.