LONG-time Greens leader Shane Rattenbury will now have to be elected leader by the party before he can lead the ACT Greens to the next Legislative Assembly, according to sweeping changes to the party’s constitution.

The ACT Greens members have voted to choose the party’s leadership before the October 2024 Legislative Assembly election.

Until now, the Greens leadership was a party room matter for the elected members to decide.

Changes to the ACT Greens party constitution will also see the creation of a new parliamentary position of deputy leader, whenever there are more than two Greens in the ACT Legislative Assembly. If the member-elected leader of the party is not a woman or gender-diverse person, the deputy must be a woman or gender-diverse person unless it is not possible due to the genders of the elected MLAs.

Currently, the existing leadership arrangements will remain in place.

“Grassroots democracy is at the heart of the global Greens movement and we’re extremely proud that every ACT Greens member will now have a say over who our party leader is,” said ACT Greens convenor Michael Brewer.

He said a ballot of all members would be held after lead candidates were preselected for each upcoming ACT election, or when a position becomes vacant.

“Everything the Greens do originates with our membership,” said Mr Brewer. “Members develop our policy platform and our election strategies, members organise, run in and vote in our pre-selection processes, and members in their neighbourhood teams are out in the community every week.”

The first party-wide vote on the ACT Greens leader and deputy leader will be held after lead candidates are preselected for the October 2024 ACT election, in the coming months.