His exploits leaking classified information has earnt him the ire of governments around the world, especially the United States, and infamy across the globe.
But Mr Assange lives in Ecuador's London embassy refusing to leave because the British government says he must be extradited to Sweden for questioning over sexual assault allegations - allegations he's denied.
It begs the question though whether he could even take up his seat in the Senate as a representative of Victoria should he win one on September 7.
So his circumstances also make Mr Assange one of the most unlikely Senate candidates.
Julian Assange has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year.
If he leaves, it's assumed he would be arrested by the police surrounding the building, and the British government would force him to travel to Sweden for questioning over sexual assault allegations.
Mr Assange says he won't go to Sweden because he fears he'll then be passed on to the United States for prosecution over his work releasing classified information on the WikiLeaks website.
That's meant he's conducted his campaign for the Australian Senate from another country's embassy in another hemisphere.
The secretary and treasurer of the WikiLeaks party, John Shipton, says if Mr Assange wins a Senate seat, he may have to rely on some generosity from other Senators.
Mr Shipton says it's within the Senate's power to give Mr Assange time to resolve his position in Britain before making the seat vacant again.
"The Senate takes up you know next year, I suppose about June, about March rather and then Julian will have two months to take the seat. The Senate can in its wisdom say 'oh, you can have a bit more time' and leave the seat vacant, but we're hoping of course that by that time Julian will be free to come back to Australia and serve the people of Victoria."
But before serving as a Senator, the would-be politician would first have to be sworn in.
Constitutional expert, Graeme Orr from the University of Queensland, who has also provided legal advice to Mr Assange in the past, says that requirement could sink his ambitions.
But Professor Orr says even that is not certain as there's nothing in the Constitution, the bulk of which was drafted in the 1890s, that says Mr Assange can't take his oath via the internet, perhaps using Skype.
"The way people meet by Skype and other mechanisms, that's all going to potentially change in the future. But look, at the moment I'd say it's less likely that they're going to change a century of custom and practise and not require him to be there to subscribe the oath, physically and in person. But he faces another hurdle, which is actually in the Constitution, which is even if he can be sworn in electronically, he does need to attend the sittings in parliament and if he misses more than two sittings and you don't get the leave of the parliament, because say you're sick, well then you automatically lose your seat."
Another constitutional expert, Professor George Williams, of the University of New South Wales, agrees that Julian Assange's circumstances don't necessarily mean he can't be elected.
But Professor Williams believes unless the circumstances change, he wouldn't be able to take up his seat in the Senate.
"Well, it would seem that Julian Assange could take up his seat in the sense that he could be elected, but he'd never actually be able to hold the seat for very long and that's because the Constitution is clear on this point. Section 20 says that if a Senator does not attend the Senate for two consecutive months of a session of parliament then their seat becomes vacant and it means that under the Constitution Assange would automatically lose his seat after that two-month period if he was unable to attend."
Professor Graeme Orr, from the University of Queensland, says even if Julian Assange gets elected from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, the granting of asylum by Ecuador might provide grounds for a legal challenge to his victory.
Professor Orr says Senators cannot have dual citizenship and although the granting of asylum by Ecuador does not come with the full rights of citizenship it could still become a factor in a challenge.
"You might say, well the purpose of the rule against dual citizens in parliament is that you don't have divided obligations and loyalties and what we call a purposive reading you might think well Mr Assange is on a knife edge. If the Ecuadorians want to lean on him they just have to threaten to take away his asylum. So in one sense, he's got some potential issues there, but that would have to be taken before a court and that would probably only happen if he won and if someone wanted to challenge his election, after the election."
Professor George Williams, of the University of New South Wales, says if Mr Assange is elected to the Senate, but cannot take up his seat, and it's then declared vacant, what happens next will create a precedent.
"It's not something that's come up before in Australian history so we'd be entering uncharted waters. But what you imagine what would likely happen is that there'd be a countback of the Senate votes and they would likely determine where his preferences would have gone so in all likelihood the seat would be taken up by whoever next would be on the WikiLeaks ticket and you could find the number two candidate would take the seat."
Given all the difficulties placed before him, some have wondered whether Mr Assange even seriously hopes to win a Senate seat and whether his campaign is simply an elaborate money raising or publicity campaign.
John Shipton, from the WikiLeaks party, dismisses such speculation, saying it's a genuine campaign.
"It's my savings that are being eaten up. So there's no money in it. It just costs a fortune to set up a political party. I don't see it in any way as a business venture. In fact just the opposite. It's a very serious movement towards getting transparency, accountability and a bit of justice to stop the bullshit into the Australian Senate."
