Deliver high quality electoral services

The AEC is focused on providing consistent, high quality, and impartial electoral services to the Australian public and stakeholders that comply with legislation, and are delivered with integrity. These services encompass the core elements of the AEC’s purpose and include enrolment, polling services, targeted communication and education activities on electoral matters, and political party registration, funding and disclosure.

What we did

In 2018–19 the AEC:

• delivered polling services and event management at one federal election and six by-elections. Delivery of elections was underpinned by:
  • strategies, policies and procedures to enable AEC staff to deliver electoral events and services that are consistent with legislation
  • published service plans for each event describing the electoral services the AEC would provide to the public and stakeholders
  • a public information campaign targeting Australian citizens over 18 years old—including special audiences—for the 2019 federal election. A benchmarking survey was also undertaken as a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the campaign
  • strategic communication activities which supported delivery of six federal by-elections
• actively managed the Commonwealth Electoral Roll which is integral to election delivery and ensures the public and stakeholders have confidence in the roll’s completeness, accuracy and integrity. Through joint roll arrangements, the AEC also supported state, territory and local electoral events. The ongoing high enrolment rate is sustained by:
  • increased enrolment activity from federal and state electoral events
  • online enrolments through the Online Enrolment System
  • the Federal Direct Enrolment and Update Program which allows the AEC to place eligible people on the electoral roll based on data from external agencies
• supported the timely conduct of three federal redistributions. These were determined for the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia in July 2018, increasing the number of electoral divisions to 151. Affected electors were notified in accordance with legislative obligations, including electors affected by redistributions completed in 2017–18 (Queensland and Tasmania)
• developed public engagement materials relating to federal redistributions and by-elections, new candidate nominations processes and working at the 2019 federal election event. Information was provided to the public and stakeholders throughout the year through the AEC’s multiple communication channels
• maintained highly accessible communication channels. This included creating a permanent web page aton the AEC website to support voters with disability or mobility restrictions. This initiative was promoted in the lead up to and during the federal election, and included Auslan videos and easy read guides
• worked with communities and groups that may face barriers to electoral participation. This included:
  • defining a new community engagement framework targeting five clear cohorts (Indigenous Australians, culturally and linguistically diverse voters, young people, people with disability and homeless voters) through work with a range of partners
  • implementing strategies at the 2019 federal election for disability, remote participation, homelessness and the Indigenous Electoral Participation Program (IEPP)
  • conducting a range of pilots using a new model of engagement and targeting different communities after initial analysis of the electoral roll or other data
  • designing, testing and implementing a new methodology to more accurately estimate the Indigenous voting age population and enrolment rates
  • identifying and collating lessons from these activities to inform how the AEC can provide information, educate, and assist these groups in the future
• continued to deliver targeted electoral education activities for schools, teachers and school children that maintained currency with the Australian curriculum and electoral changes during the year. These included:
  • the National Electoral Education Centre in Canberra continued to run at capacity for much of the year. More than 95,000 visitors came through the centre in 2018–19 from all 151 electoral divisions. This is an increase from more than 90,000 visitors in 2017–18. In 2019 an online booking system was introduced to make access easier for tour operators and teachers
  • face-to-face or online professional learning opportunities for 1095 pre-service and 237 in-service teachers. This is a significant increase over last year’s participation
• maintained the AEC for Schools website, which received 240,000 visitors. In addition, 521 new schools ordered their own election kits to participate in the AEC school outreach program, Get Voting. This spike in visitors suggests increased engagement with the education community in an election year
• progressed election readiness for the 2021–22 federal election
• engaged regularly with key stakeholders and provided information and services that allowed them to carry out their obligations and responsibilities under the Electoral Act, including recent significant changes to funding and disclosure legislation. This covered:
  • initial information on nominations and citizenship, including an optional qualifications checklist in place for by-elections
  • a mandatory qualifications checklist in place for the 2019 federal election as part of the candidate nomination form
  • administering a Transparency Register of publicly available information about political parties, associated entities, third parties, political campaigners and donors, and candidates registered with, or recognised by, the AEC
• continued to modernise delivery of industrial and commercial elections (ICE). This included developing modern support tools for staff to produce high quality outcomes and establish appropriate compliance and quality management processes

In 2019–20 we are:

• finalising all legislative requirements associated with delivering the 2019 federal election
• progressing with election readiness for the 2021–22 federal election
• delivering federal electoral events in accordance with legislation and the AEC’s strategies, policies and procedures
• continuing to maintain high levels of enrolment by actively managing the electoral roll
• providing Australians with targeted, accurate and impartial information and education on electoral matters
• developing a self-service platform to more efficiently engage with political parties and associated entities as they carry out their legislative responsibilities and obligations
• delivering industrial and commercial election events and defining a future operating model for ICE