AEC Annual Report 2003-2004
AEC Overview
- Role
- Legislative framework
- Purpose and values
- Senior staff and their responsibilities
- Organisational structure
- Contact details
- Output and outcome structure
Role
The AEC is the Australian Government agency responsible for providing Australians with an independent electoral service that meets their needs and enhances their understanding of and participation in the electoral process.
Six processes uniquely identify the AEC:
- preparing for, conducting and reviewing elections
- managing the Commonwealth electoral roll
- educating and informing the community about participating in the electoral process
- providing advice and assistance on electoral matters in Australia and overseas
- ensuring that political parties and others comply with financial disclosure requirements
- supporting electoral redistributions.
Legislative framework
The organisation operates as an independent statutory authority under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 was amended in 1984 to establish the AEC, with three Commissioners. The functions and powers of the AEC are contained in section 7 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, and the Commission meets as required in accordance with section 15 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
At 30 June 2004, the Commissioners were:
- the Hon. James Burchett QC, Chairperson (the Chairperson must be either a judge or a retired judge of the Federal Court of Australia)
- Mr Andy Becker, Electoral Commissioner and the Chief Executive Officer
- Mr Dennis Trewin, Australian Statistician (who is the required part-time, non-judicial member).
- With the guidance of the Commission, the AEC conducts operations under the following legislative authorities:
- the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 in relation to:
- conducting federal elections
- maintaining and updating the Commonwealth electoral roll
- promoting public awareness of electoral and parliamentary matters through information and education programs
- providing international electoral assistance in cases approved by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
- conducting and promoting research into electoral matters and other matters that relate to its functions
- registering political parties
- paying public funding to election candidates and parties and publishing financial details of political parties and others
- determining representation entitlements
- the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 in relation to conducting referendums
- the Commonwealth Electoral Legislation (Provision of Information) Act 2000 in relation to the provision of elector information on tape or disk under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918
- the Representation Act 1983 in relation to Senate elections
- the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Act 1989 in relation to elections for ATSIC
- the Workplace Relations Act 1996 in relation to industrial elections
- the Public Service Act 1999 to ensure an apolitical electoral commission and a framework for the effective and fair employment, management and leadership of its employees, and to establish their rights and obligations
- the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.
The AEC’s core business processes, purpose, values and leadership capabilities were developed on the basis of that legislation.
Purpose and values
Purpose: helping people have their say
The AEC’s purpose is to help our primary customer, the eligible voter, have a say in who will represent him or her in the government of Australia.
Values
Our values are underpinned by the values of the Australian Public Service (APS).
Our success as an organisation depends on our staff, among whom we actively foster the following core values:
- impartiality and neutrality
- integrity and accuracy
- mutual respect
- respect for the law
- service
- transparency.
Leadership capabilities
We actively encourage and support our leaders to:
- provide direction
- communicate well
- create the right climate
- be values driven
- be people focused
- be achievement oriented.
Primary customer: the eligible voter
The AEC acknowledges that it has a number of important customers and stakeholders, including the Parliament, the Minister, political parties, the media and Australian and overseas communities. However, we identified the eligible voter as our primary customer in our Strategic Plan 2001–04. The AEC has sought to ensure that the eligible voter is not negatively affected by the provision of services to other customers and stakeholders.
Senior staff and their responsibilities
The Electoral Commissioner, as Chief Executive Officer, has the powers of a secretary of an Australian Government department, and has responsibility for management and strategic leadership in relation to the AEC’s:
- enrolment and election activities
- conduct of
- federal parliamentary elections and referendums
- certain other elections, including for industrial organisations and for ATSIC
- electoral education programs
- electoral research
- administration of human, financial and other resources
- provision of assistance in relation to elections and referendums in foreign countries
- national dissemination of electoral information and education services.
Assisting the Electoral Commissioner in central office are the Deputy Electoral Commissioner, two First Assistant Commissioners and five Assistant Commissioners. Australian Electoral Officers (AEOs) for each State and the Northern Territory assist the Electoral Commissioner to manage the conduct of elections in their respective jurisdictions. The individuals occupying these positions in 2003–04 are listed below.
Aspects of the AEC’s senior management committees, including their composition and functions, are discussed in the Management and Accountability section— see Figure 13 for a summary.
Senior executives
| Deputy Electoral Commissioner | Mr Paul Dacey |
|---|---|
| First Assistant Commissioner, Business Support | Ms Barbara Davis |
| First Assistant Commissioner, Electoral Operations | Mr Tim Pickering |
| Assistant Commissioner, Corporate Services | Ms Marie Nelson |
| Assistant Commissioner, Elections | Mr Doug Orr |
| Assistant Commissioner, Enrolment and Parliamentary Services | Mr Andrew Moyes |
| Assistant Commissioner, Information Technology | Mr Ken Hunter |
| Assistant Commissioner, Public Awareness, Media and Research | Mr Brien Hallett |
Australian Electoral Officers
| New South Wales | Mr David Farrell |
|---|---|
| Victoria | Mr Daryl Wight |
| Queensland | Ms Anne Bright |
| Western Australia | Ms Jennie Gzik |
| South Australia | Dr Christopher Drury |
| Tasmania | Mr Alex Stanelos |
| Northern Territory | Mr Bill Shepheard |
Organisational structure
The AEC’s organisational structure for 2003–04 is shown in Figure 3.
AEC offices are organised geographically, with a central office in Canberra, a head office in each State and the Northern Territory, and divisional offices in or near each electoral division.
Central office
The AEC’s central office is organised functionally into the following branches, each managed by an Assistant Commissioner:
- Corporate Services Branch
- Elections Branch
- Enrolment and Parliamentary Services Branch
- Public Awareness, Media and Research Branch
- Information Technology Branch.
In addition, there are the Strategic Policy Unit and the International Services Section, which report directly to the Deputy Electoral Commissioner.
Offices in the States and the Northern Territory
The AEO of each State and the Northern Territory is responsible for managing activities within the State or Territory, including conducting elections for the Senate and the House of Representatives and referendums. The New South Wales AEO has administrative responsibility for the Australian Capital Territory divisions between elections. During an election period, an AEO is appointed for the Australian Capital Territory.
Divisional offices
Each State or Territory is divided into electoral divisions that correspond to the number of members of the House of Representatives to which it is entitled. At the end of 2003–04 there were 150 electoral divisions.
The AEC’s electoral divisions are shown in Figure 2.
(Text description)
Contact details
The AEC national telephone inquiry number is 13 23 26, and the website address is www.aec.gov.au.
| Central office | New South Wales |
|---|---|
| West Block Offices Queen Victoria Terrace Parkes ACT 2600 (02) 6271 4411 |
Level 1, Roden Cutler House 24 Campbell Street Sydney NSW 2000 (02) 9375 6333 |
| Victoria | Queensland |
| Level 22, Casselden Place 2 Lonsdale Street Melbourne Vic. 3000 (03) 9285 7171 |
Seventh Floor, Collection House 488 Queen Street Brisbane Qld 4000 (07) 3834 3400 |
| Western Australia | South Australia |
| Level 3, AXA Building 111 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000 (08) 6363 8080 |
Ninth Floor, Origin Energy House 1 King William Street Adelaide SA 5000 (08) 8237 6555 |
| Tasmania | Northern Territory |
| Second Floor, AMP Building 86 Collins Street Hobart Tas. 7000 (03) 6235 0500 |
Level 7, TCG Centre 80 Mitchell Street Darwin NT 0800 (08) 8982 8000 |
Outcome and output structure
The AEC’s outcome and output structure is based on three outcomes. An overview is provided in Figure 4. Outcomes are the desired results of the AEC’s activities, and outputs are the functions performed by the AEC to produce the outcomes. Outcomes and outputs are prescribed in the AEC’s annual Portfolio Budget Statements and Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements.
In 2003–04, there was no variation between the outcomes and outputs described in the AEC’s Portfolio Budget Statements and those in this annual report.
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