Victorian Socialists

Status & organisation

The party is registered as “Victorian Socialists”, with no abbreviation on the register. It first registered on 6 June 2018 and re-registered on 7 November 2024. Its registered officer is Corey Oakley, at 83 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056, an address it changed on 16 January 2025 VEC . It holds 0 seats in either chamber. Don’t confuse it with Socialist Alliance, a separate party that is currently unregistered and was registered as “Socialist Alliance (Victoria)” until 2 December 2019 (see Socialist Alliance).

2026 campaign

Victorian Socialists is running the largest unrepresented force in the election. The ABC/VEC candidate tracker records 79 Assembly and 10 Council sourced candidacies Election Tracker . Jordan van den Lamb (“purplepingers”, the Shit Rentals advocate) is standing against Greens leader Ellen Sandell in Melbourne, after a federal Senate bid in 2025. Other named Assembly candidates are Kath Larkin (Northcote), Van Thanh Rudd (Laverton), Anthony Cheeseman (Frankston) and Jasmine Duff (Footscray) GuardianABCThe Age . Van den Lamb calls it “easily our biggest campaign yet”, with a candidate in every lower and upper house seat, and the party will preference the Greens above Labor Guardian . Ben Raue counted 68 announced Assembly candidates as at 23 August 2026, “a very large number this far out for small parties” Victorian Socialists .

Policy platform

The party wants a $35 minimum wage on government-funded work, the right to strike and an end to wage theft. It proposes a five-year rent freeze and 150,000 new public homes. It would tax billionaires, fund free childcare, reach zero-carbon by 2035 and make public transport free Victorian Socialists .

Position in the contest

The party is squeezing the Greens’ left flank as much as Labor’s. Van den Lamb argues the Greens have become a “professional-class party” of “landlords” and “CEOs of NGOs”, more focused on “negotiating” than “fighting” inequity. “The Greens have held every single level of government in my area and nothing’s changed,” he says Guardian . Duff frames it in class terms: “capitalism is broken … a system that is not built to meet the needs of the working class” The Age . The vote is concentrated in the inner west and north: in 2022 the party polled 9.3% in Footscray and 4.6% in Richmond, against 1.34% statewide The AgeVictorian Socialists . The teacher-pay dispute fed it too, with 13 AEU members running as Victorian Socialists, including a challenge to Premier Carroll in Niddrie Guardian .

Recent results

In the 2022 Assembly election the party won 48,865 votes (1.34%, +0.90) and 0 seats Wikipedia . At the 2022 Council election its best region was Northern Metropolitan with 21,305 (4.71%). It also polled 3.58% in Western Metro and 2.51% in Southern Metro, for 0 seats Wikipedia . That first-preference vote is dwarfed by the majors and the incumbent microparties. The 2026 abolition of group voting tickets removes the preference-harvesting route, so any path to a seat now runs through a primary vote above the 16.7% quota.

Policy record

All 28 published policy domains with quotes and costing status: Victorian Socialists . Cross-party comparison is on the front page.

Getting involved

Volunteer sign-up, events, membership and donations are all open to the public Victorian Socialists .