Candidate Forums
‘Meet the Candidate’ Forums provide the opportunity for churches and local Christians to hear from candidates running for election in your local community. These forums provide the opportunity for local candidates to hear and understand issues that are important to local Christians and to answer questions and share their views on different issues.
This enables local Christians to make informed choices when they vote and gives Christians a voice. The Meet the Candidate Forums also enable local Churches and Ministers to develop good ongoing working relationships with the candidate elected as their Member of Parliament.
Christian denominations across Australia are working together through Freedom for Faith on religious freedom matters. Freedom for Faith is helping local churches and Ministers Associations run “Meet the Candidate Forums” for their electorate either in person or via Zoom. Guides and templates for every step are provided are provided.
Read more: why run a candidate forum?
What is involved in holding a Meet the Candidate Event?
Step 1: Organise the time, date and venue for the face-to-face event, or time and date of the Zoom call. Monday to Thursday evenings or weekend afternoons can work well. It’s best to avoid school holidays and prepoll periods. If you are working with other local Churches, it can be helpful to co-ordinate a suitable time and venue together. Livestreaming facilities are important for face-to-face events so those who are not able to get there in person can still watch.
Step 2: Invite the candidates
Step 3: Promote the event: Invite your church members and other churches in the electorate
Step 4: Hold the event
Step 5: Send an email thanking candidates for participating
To make it easy to co-ordinate an event, Freedom for Faith provides ongoing support for the hosting Church/es in the following ways:
- A Guide covering each stage of the process, together with templates for invitations, emails, the agenda and promotional material to invite your church members and other churches in the electorate.
- Support contacting and inviting candidates, keeping track of responses and following up
- Some suggested questions, coordinated with the denominations
Get more information
If you are interested in learning more about the forums or being involved, please fill in the form below, or contact us at [email protected]
Or, view our full guide on running a candidate forum here.