Elect the new Council of the Swiss Abroad

The Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) is the representative body in Switzerland for Swiss people living abroad. Australia has four seats on the CSA. Elections for the Australian delegates of the CSA for the term 2017–2021 will take place in June 2017.

Australia is one of only two countries taking part in an e-voting pilot program. Giving all eligible Swiss in Australia the opportunity to elect their representatives is an exciting step forward in improving the election process. It will be much more democratic and will enhance the legitimacy of the CSA to represent the Swiss in Australia. The elections will be carried out entirely by electronic means, there will be no ballot paper.

All Swiss citizens in Australia, 18 years and over, can partake in these elections, provided that the Consulate General of Switzerland in Sydney has registered your email address. If you have not yet provided the consulate your personal email address, you may do this via the online desk on https://www.eda.admin.ch/ or by contacting the consulate on syd.vertretung@eda.admin.ch. Further details about the e-voting process will be published in the next (March) edition of the Swiss Review.

Call for candidates – your opportunity to represent the Swiss in Australia!

Eligible candidates are invited to apply for one of the four seats on the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) representing Australia for the term 2017–2021.

To stand, a candidate must meet the following requirements:

• be a Swiss citizen (or dual-citizen) living in Australia

• be aged 18+

• be registered with the Consulate General of Switzerland in Sydney

• must demonstrate an interest and commitment to the Swiss community in Australia

• have an interest in the Swiss political process

• in addition to English, be fluent in either German or French (spoken and written)

• be prepared to fulfil the duties and responsibilities of a council member as stated in the ‘Pflichtenheft’ (G) / ‘Cahier des charges’ (F), a copy of which is available on the OSA website: http://aso.ch/en/politics/csa-elections-2017

Please complete the election registration form and send it to direction@aso.ch no later than 31 March 2017.

The registration form as well as further information can be found on: http://aso.ch/en/politics/csa-elections-2017

For information about the current delegates and the services they provide go to: http://www.csa-oceania.org/