Australian Electoral Commission
| Australian Electoral Commission | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 21 February 1984 |
| Jurisdiction | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Headquarters | Canberra |
| Minister responsible | Gary Gray, Special Minister of State |
| Agency executives | Mr Ed Killesteyn, Electoral Commissioner The Hon. Peter Heerey QC, Chairperson Mr Brian Pink, Non-judicial member |
| Parent Agency | Department of Finance and Deregulation |
| Website | |
| www.aec.gov.au | |
The Australian Electoral Commission, or the AEC, is the federal government agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal elections and referendums. State and local government elections are overseen by the Electoral Commission in each state and territory.
The Australian Electoral Commission is also responsible for seat boundaries and redistributions, and maintains the Commonwealth electoral roll. Under the Joint Roll Arrangements, the AEC maintains the electoral roll for the whole of Australia. This roll is used by the state and territory Electoral Commissions to conduct their elections.
The AEC also plays a leading role in electoral education and industrial voting (votes on industrial action).
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[edit] History and structure
The AEC was first established in 1902, as a branch of the Department of Home Affairs. In 1973 it became the Australian Electoral Office, a name it retained until 21 February 1984 when it became the Australian Electoral Commission, a Commonwealth statutory authority.
The AEC consists of a Chairman (a Judge or a retired Judge of the Federal Court), the Electoral Commissioner and a non-judicial member (usually the Australian Statistician). The Electoral Commissioner has the powers of a Secretary of a Department under the Public Service Act 1999 and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1998. The Chairperson and the third, non-judicial member both hold their offices on a part-time basis.
AEC has a National Office in Canberra and State Offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Each federal electorate has a Divisional Returning Officer responsible for administration of House of Representatives elections within their division. Each State also has an Australian Electoral Officer responsible for administration of Senate elections.
[edit] Responsibilities
The AEC's major responsibilities are to run federal elections, by-elections and referendums. Election Rolls must always be up-to-date to run these elections, and the AEC must also follow up electors who fail to vote and publish detailed election results. The AEC is answerable to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters[1] of the Parliament of Australia, and must report on how elections were carried out and the success of the elections in general. The AEC also plays a major role in electoral education, aiming to educate citizens about the electoral process by which representatives are elected, and by which the constitution is changed (referendums).
[edit] Changes to electoral enrolment before an election
In 1984 a change to the Commonwealth Electoral Act allowed for the grace period after an election is called before the electoral rolls are closed to be extended to seven days. Many people either enrol or change their enrolment details in this period. Prior to the 2004 federal election there were 423,993 changes to enrolment were processed in the close of roll period; of these, 78,816 were new enrolments and 225,314 were changes of address.[2]
For the 2007 Federal Election, new laws have been passed to reduce the grace period for new enrolments to 8pm on the same business day as the issue of the writs, and for those who need to update their address details, they are given until 8pm on the third business day after the issue of the writs.[3]
On 6 August 2010, the High Court of Australia extended the close of rolls by one week, allowing additional eligible voters to vote in the 2010 Federal Election.[4] Supplementary lists of additional voters were distributed to polling places, and these voters were also contacted by the AEC via postal mail.[5]
[edit] List of Australian Electoral Commissioners
| Commenced | Finished | Commissioner |
|---|---|---|
| 21 February 1984 | 26 November 1989 | Colin Anfield Hughes |
| 18 December 1989 | 20 December 1994 | Brian Field Cox |
| 16 January 1995 | 14 January 2000 | Wilfred James "Bill" Gray |
| 23 March 2000 | 1 July 2005 | Andrew Kingsley "Andy" Becker |
| 2 July 2005 | 22 September 2008 | Ian Campbell |
| 5 January 2009 | Present | Ed Killesteyn |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Parliament of Australia: Joint Committee on Electoral Matters: Home Page". Aph.gov.au. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011. http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/em/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-12-25.
- ^ Senator the Hon. Eric Abetz, Special Minister of State (2005). "Speech - Address to the Sydney Institute: "Electoral reform: making our democracy fairer for all"". Australian Department of Finance (www.finance.gov.au). http://www.finance.gov.au/scripts/Media.asp?Table=SMOS&Id=212. Retrieved 6 April 2006.[dead link]
- ^ "Close of Rolls". Australian Electoral Commission (www.aec.gov.au). 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2007. http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Publications/Fact_Sheets/Close_of_Rolls.htm. Retrieved 22 October 2007.
- ^ "Statement from the Australian Electoral Commission on High Court Decision". Australian Electoral Commission (www.aec.gov.au). 2010. Archived from the original on 16 August 2010. http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Media_releases/e2010/06-08.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
- ^ "Statement from the Australian Electoral Commission on High Court Decision". Australian Electoral Commission (www.aec.gov.au). 2010. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010. http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Media_releases/e2010/14-08a.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-26.
[edit] External links
- The Australian Electoral Commission website
- The Electoral Council of Australia website, the consultative council between the AEC and state and territory electoral authorities
