Legislative Assembly · District of Broadmeadows
Rachel Unicomb
Last verified 22 Sept 2026
Seat context — Broadmeadows›
The Legislative Assembly district of Broadmeadows covers roughly 47 km² in Melbourne's outer north, including Broadmeadows, Campbellfield, Coolaroo, Dallas, Fawkner, Jacana and Meadow Heights, plus parts of Glenroy, Roxburgh Park, Somerton and Westmeadows. It is one of Labor's safest seats, held by the party for almost all of its history since the district's creation in 1955. At the 2022 election Kathleen Matthews-Ward won it for Labor with 51.94% after distribution of preferences against the Liberal candidate.
Background
Per her own campaign biography, has worked in the marketing profession for over ten years, including seven years in the UK, before relocating to Australia in 2018. SSelf-stated — AJP-UNICOMBAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View source
Currently serves as Communications & Fundraising Manager at Invertebrates Australia, a Melbourne-based invertebrate-conservation NGO, per the organisation's own public staff page. VVerified — IA-PEOPLE-BMInvertebrates Australia, "People"View source
Third-party professional-directory aggregators additionally cite prior employment at the University of Melbourne, Bartlett Homes, and Sapphire Systems, apparently scraped from LinkedIn and not independently confirmed against a primary source. RReported — THEORG-BM, ROCKETREACH-BMThe Org, "Rachel Unicomb – Invertebrates Australia"View sourceRocketReach, "Rachel Unicomb — Invertebrates Australia"View source
No record found of ever holding elected office, a local council position, a union office, a party executive role, or a formal government board/committee appointment prior to this candidacy. VVerified — VEC-DAREBIN2024, VEC-HUME2024BM, VEC-MERRIBEK2024BMVictorian Electoral Commission, "2024 Council Election Results — Darebin City Council" (2024)View sourceVictorian Electoral Commission, "2024 Council Election Results — Hume City Council" (2024)View sourceVictorian Electoral Commission, "2024 Council Election Results — Merri-bek City Council" (2024)View source
Describes ongoing community involvement — Friends of Edwardes Lake membership, wildlife rescue, and cat-charity foster care and fundraising — but claims no formal office-bearer title within any of these groups. SSelf-stated — AJP-UNICOMBAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View source
States she currently lives in Reservoir with her partner and three cats, named Lyra, Richard and Shy. SSelf-stated — AJP-UNICOMBAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View source
Reservoir sits within the Preston district, not within Broadmeadows — no source found tying her personally to the Broadmeadows electorate she is now contesting.
Grew up in Newcastle, NSW. SSelf-stated — AJP-UNICOMBAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View source
Describes local campaign involvement — protecting Edwardes Lake and Preston Market, and improving conditions at the Epping pound facility — all locations outside the Broadmeadows district; this reads as a carryover from her prior Preston candidacy bio rather than Broadmeadows-specific advocacy. SSelf-stated — AJP-UNICOMBAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View source
States she "studied marketing at university"; no institution or degree title is named. SSelf-stated — AJP-UNICOMBAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View source
Third-party aggregator sources, apparently surfacing LinkedIn content that could not be directly fetched to confirm, describe a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Newcastle (2006–2008) — a communications degree, not marketing specifically, and not independently confirmed against a primary source. RReported — LINKEDIN-BM, THEORG-BMLinkedIn, "Rachel Unicomb — Invertebrates Australia"View sourceThe Org, "Rachel Unicomb – Invertebrates Australia"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.
A passionate advocate of recycling, composting, growing produce and maximising garden spaces.
"Animal sentience must be recognised by our laws."
Believes human impacts on animals should be factored into political decision-making, rather than being the last consideration.
Priorities include ending commercial kangaroo culling and protecting native habitat.
Supporting domestic animal and wildlife volunteers, and conserving native bees, are stated priorities.
Believes voting outside the two major parties "is not a wasted vote, but rather an opportunity for the community to demand better."
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
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Crime and community safety
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Housing affordability and supply
Party platform (not candidate-specific): supports rapidly increasing the supply of social and affordable housing; no Broadmeadows- or candidate-specific statement found.
State government debt and fiscal management
Not detailed in sources reviewed.
Infrastructure and public transport delivery
Party platform: advocates a national shift away from road transport; no statement found on Broadmeadows-area infrastructure specifically.
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
Party platform: education-related policy is limited to opposing animal exploitation in educational contexts, such as animal dissection; no statement found on school funding, curriculum, or TAFE/university funding.
Health and healthcare access
Party platform: supports a universal, publicly funded healthcare system; no candidate-specific or Victoria-specific detail on hospital funding, GP access, or ambulance ramping found.
Urban planning and housing density
Describes herself as "a passionate advocate of recycling, composting, growing produce and maximising our garden spaces," and is a member of the Friends of Edwardes Lake group, though that group is based in her home suburb of Reservoir rather than Broadmeadows.
Her stated priorities include protecting native habitats generally, framed around wildlife and green space rather than zoning, density or heritage planning specifically.
Climate and energy transition
Party platform: climate policy accounts for all sources of emissions, including agriculture, and supports any clean energy source; no statement found on renewable targets, offshore wind, transmission, or the State Electricity Commission specifically.
Treaty and First Nations affairs
Party platform: "endorses efforts to rectify long-standing injustices" faced by First Nations peoples, a general statement with no reference to Victoria's Statewide Treaty or Gellung Warl, and no candidate-specific statement found.
Regional and rural Victoria
Party platform: runs a statewide campaign opposing native-forest logging in Victoria, and states nationally that native forests have a value "greater than the commercial value" of logging them; general party policy, not candidate- or seat-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.
Her stated priorities — animal sentience in law, ending kangaroo culling, native habitat and native bee protection, wildlife volunteer support — closely track the Animal Justice Party's national platform on animal welfare and wildlife; no divergence from party policy found on any issue. SSelf-stated — AJP-UNICOMB, AJP-NATIONAL-BMAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View sourceAnimal Justice Party (national), "Our Policies"View source
On the 11 structured civic issues, no candidate-specific statements were found; where the party has a position at all, it is general/national rather than Victoria- or Broadmeadows-specific.
Track record & prior candidacies
Was the Animal Justice Party candidate for the Legislative Assembly seat of Preston at the 2022 Victorian state election, receiving 822 first-preference votes (2.06%), 9th of 10 candidates; Labor's Nathan Lambert won. VVerified — VEC-PRESTON2022BM, WIKI-PRESTONBMVictorian Electoral Commission, "Preston District results (2022 state election)" (2022)View sourceWikipedia, "Electoral results for the district of Preston"View source
No record found of any other prior candidacy — checked Darebin, Hume, and Merri-bek/Moreland City Council elections (2024) and the 2022 Broadmeadows state result, in which she did not stand (that year's AJP Broadmeadows candidate was Candace Feild). VVerified — VEC-DAREBIN2024, VEC-HUME2024BM, VEC-MERRIBEK2024BMVictorian Electoral Commission, "2024 Council Election Results — Darebin City Council" (2024)View sourceVictorian Electoral Commission, "2024 Council Election Results — Hume City Council" (2024)View sourceVictorian Electoral Commission, "2024 Council Election Results — Merri-bek City Council" (2024)View source
Recently moved from being AJP's candidate for Preston to being AJP's candidate for Broadmeadows for the 2026 election, per the party's own live candidates page; no public announcement or reason for the move was found, and secondary aggregator sites (Wikipedia, Tally Room) had not yet updated to reflect it as of this research. VVerified — AJP-UNICOMBAnimal Justice Party Victoria, "Rachel Unicomb for Broadmeadows"View source
Campaign, money & endorsements
Campaign logistics
Endorsements & Donations
Rachel Unicomb would be eligible for Victorian state election public campaign funding if she receives at least 4% of first-preference votes in Broadmeadows, or is elected. Funding is then calculated as the lesser of her audited campaign-expenditure statement or the statutory per-vote maximum — currently $7.70 per first-preference vote for Legislative Assembly candidates — indexed annually on 1 July per the Consumer Price Index.
The 1 July 2026 indexation round also set the political-donation disclosure threshold at $1,290 and the general donation cap at $5,190 (rising to $7,740 from 29 November 2026, after the election), following the Electoral Further Amendment Act 2026 (per the VEC's own funding guidance, accessed 2026-09-22).