Legislative Assembly · District of Bellarine
Dom Williams
Last verified 26 Aug 2026
Seat context — Bellarine›
The Legislative Assembly district of Bellarine stretches from the Bellarine Peninsula to the outer eastern suburbs of Geelong, covering Barwon Heads, Clifton Springs, Drysdale, Ocean Grove, Point Lonsdale, Portarlington, Queenscliff and the Geelong suburb of Leopold. It has traditionally been a marginal seat that has changed hands between Labor and Liberal since being recreated in 1985. Labor's Alison Marchant won the seat at the 2022 election, defeating the Liberal candidate on a two-candidate-preferred vote of 58.46% to 41.54% — a margin of roughly 17 points.
Background
No local council terms, union office, party administrative roles, or board/committee appointments found. RReported — GL-DJILANGGreen Left, "Socialist Alliance to run in all four Djilang seats" (12 Feb 2026)View source
Has informal activist involvement: described as a "keen environmental activist" who helped organise School Strikes 4 Climate while in high school, and is active in campaigns for public education, against racism, and for disability rights. RReported — GL-DJILANGGreen Left, "Socialist Alliance to run in all four Djilang seats" (12 Feb 2026)View source
Platform
Where they stand, issue by issue — grounded in 2026 Victorian polling, not assumed. Every position is tagged with how we know it.
Reported to have spoken at the Socialist Alliance Djilang campaign launch about the need for governments to fund housing, addressing the rising cost of living, and the impact of federal NDIS cuts on Victoria's health services and budget.
Describes himself in local press as "just an average person," arguing Bellarine wants "a normal person running for parliament, not someone who's going to sit in an office in Melbourne or Leopold."
What Victorians say matters most
5 poll-led issuesCost of living and crime have ranked 1st or 2nd in every Victorian poll since mid‑2025, with debt and housing close behind — see schema §3 for the polling this grouping is based on (DemosAU, Ipsos Issues Monitor, Roy Morgan). The 0-10 'priorityScore' on each candidate's issue entries is NOT a measure of true importance or an independent ranking of what a candidate actually cares about. It reflects how much detail and specificity exists in what that candidate has actually said publicly on that issue -- a named policy mechanism and a verified voting record score higher than a one-line stated priority, regardless of the issue's real-world weight. Render this distinction in the UI wherever the score appears; do not label it just 'Priority' without the qualifier.
Cost of living
Reported to want government action to "address the rising cost of living," with no further specificity.
Crime and community safety
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Housing affordability and supply
Reported to want governments to fund housing, with no mechanism, target or figure attached to him personally.
Socialist Alliance's national platform calls for a large-scale public housing building program, nationalising substandard rentals, and capping rent at no more than 20% of a renter's income — party platform, not candidate-specific.
State government debt and fiscal management
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Also on the record
6 substance issuesThese don't top “biggest issue” polling, but carry real 2026 policy weight and genuine differences between parties.
Education and training
His past activism history includes campaigning "for public education" generally, though no specific 2026 election-platform statement was found.
Socialist Alliance's national platform calls for free public education at all levels and abolishing HECS — party platform, not candidate-specific.
Health and healthcare access
On federal NDIS cuts, speaking at a Melbourne protest: "It's an attack on something that is critical, especially in regional Australia. It's a major employer of young people, it's a major employer of women."
"I think the NDIS makes people independent. I have a job, I'm quite independent. I would not have that if it wasn't for the NDIS."
"The NDIS allows disabled people to access support to go shopping, to live independently, to get employment... it allows us to contribute far more than if we lack those supports."
Reported to be an NDIS recipient himself, personally tying this advocacy to his own disability and independence.
Also reported to have raised that federal NDIS cuts will "impact Victoria's health services and budget."
Urban planning and housing density
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Climate and energy transition
No current 2026 policy statement found; his background includes having helped organise School Strikes 4 Climate while in high school (see Background), which is activism history rather than a stated 2026 platform position.
Socialist Alliance's national platform calls for 100% renewable energy within 5–10 years through public investment and a fossil-fuel phase-out with job guarantees — party platform, not candidate-specific.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
No candidate-specific statement found. Socialist Alliance's national platform calls for negotiating treaties respecting First Nations sovereignty and land rights, and ending interventions in Indigenous communities — party platform, not candidate-specific.
Regional and rural Victoria
His NDIS advocacy (see health above) touches regional impact — he specifically noted NDIS cuts are "an attack on something that is critical, especially in regional Australia" — but this is fundamentally a health/disability point rather than a general regional-policy statement.
Socialist Alliance's national platform calls for restoring and rebuilding regional transport links and housing/education/employment assistance in regional areas — party platform, not candidate-specific.
Local & party context
2 fieldsNot scored the way the eleven issues above are — these are fixed facts about the seat and the party, not positions with more or less emphasis behind them.
Aligned with Socialist Alliance's national platform; no evidence of personal divergence found. VVerified — MOJO-NDIS, SA-POLICYMojo News, "Protests gather pace as NDIS cuts loom" (18 Aug 2026)View sourceSocialist Alliance, "Policy"View source
His most detailed public statements (on the NDIS and disability) are a personal, first-person elaboration of the party's health and social-rights platform grounded in his own lived experience as an NDIS recipient, rather than an independent position. VVerified — MOJO-NDIS, SA-POLICYMojo News, "Protests gather pace as NDIS cuts loom" (18 Aug 2026)View sourceSocialist Alliance, "Policy"View source
Track record & prior candidacies
No record found of any prior electoral candidacy, at any level. Wikipedia's full candidate list for the district of Bellarine (1967–2022) shows no Dom Williams or Socialist Alliance candidate at any point, including 2022 (no Socialist Alliance candidate ran in Bellarine that year). VVerified — WP-BELLARINE-RESULTSWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Bellarine"View source
Also checked and ruled out against the 2024 City of Greater Geelong council election (Socialist Alliance's own campaign page and a full ward-by-ward candidate roster both list only Sarah Hathway and Angela Carr as the party's candidates, not him) and against federal Corio/Corangamite Socialist Alliance candidates in 2022 and 2025. VVerified — SA-GEELONG2024, TALLYROOM-GG2024Socialist Alliance, "Geelong local council elections 2024" (2024)View sourceThe Tally Room, "Greater Geelong — 2024 Victorian council elections" (2024)View source
No source states outright that this is his first run for office, but his self-presentation as "just an average person" and "a normal person running for parliament" — rather than a repeat candidate reflecting on past runs — is consistent with a genuine first candidacy. SSelf-stated — SCT-CHALLENGERSurf Coast Times, "New Liberal challenger takes aim at Bellarine"View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
As a Socialist Alliance candidate, eligibility follows the same 4%-or-elected first-preference-vote threshold as any other candidate, with funding calculated against the audited campaign-expenditure statement and vote count — currently $7.70 per first-preference vote for Legislative Assembly candidates, effective 1 July 2026, up to legislated maximums (per the Victorian Electoral Commission's own indexation and funding guidance, accessed 2026-08-26).
One live wrinkle specific to this candidate: Socialist Alliance was, as of this research, still short of the ~500 members needed for VEC state registration (federally registered with the AEC only). If the party remains unregistered when nominations close on 4 November 2026, VEC's own nomination rules mean Williams would need 6 supporting nominators like an independent and would appear ungrouped on the ballot — and, since the VEC's public-funding rules only distinguish between a registered party (funding paid to the party) and an independent (funding paid to the candidate's own account) with no stated third category, an unregistered party's candidate would most likely be funded, if he ever qualified, into his own account rather than the party's.
This is an inference from the VEC's structural rules rather than an explicit VEC statement, and is in any case moot unless he clears the 4% threshold.