 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 21 February 1984 |
| Jurisdiction | Commonwealth of Australia |
| Headquarters | Canberra |
| Employees | 750 (as at 20 June 2021) [1] |
| Minister responsible | |
| Agency executives |
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| Parent agency | Department of Finance |
| Website | www.aec.gov.au |
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory authority and agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management of federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1902 set up the framework for the Commonwealth electoral system, [2] which was administered until 1916 as a branch of the Department of Home Affairs, by the Department of Home and Territories until 1928, back to Department of Home Affairs to 1932, and then Department of the Interior until 1972. The Australian Electoral Office was created in 1973 by the Australian Electoral Office Act 1973. [3] The AEC was created by and operates under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 .[ citation needed ]
On 21 February 1984 the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) was established as a Commonwealth statutory authority.[ citation needed ]
After the loss of 1,400 ballots during the recount for the 2013 Western Australia Senate election and the subsequent 2014 special election, the AEC came under significant scrutiny, leading to the resignation of Commissioner Ed Killesteyn. [4]
During the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, then Opposition Leader Peter Dutton claimed that the Commission’s counting process was “rigged”, on the basis that the AEC would count ticks as "yes" votes but would not count crosses as "no votes" in accordance with pre-existing regulations. [5] Dutton’s comments were criticised as undermining faith in Australia’s electoral system and of echoing Trumpian misinformation when it comes to election integrity. [6] [7]
Later in 2023, the Commission topped an annual Commonwealth government trust survey, with 87 per cent of respondents indicating various levels of trust in the AEC’s running of the federal election system, the highest trust rating of any government authority. [8]
The AEC is answerable to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters [9] of the Parliament of Australia, and must report on how elections were carried out and the success of elections in general.[ citation needed ]
As specified under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, the AEC consists of a chairperson (a judge or a retired judge of the Federal Court of Australia), 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 Financial Management and Accountability Act 1998. The chairperson and the third, non-judicial member both hold their offices on a part-time basis.[ citation needed ]
Each House of Representatives electorate has a Divisional Returning Officer responsible for administration of elections within the division. Each state also has an Australian Electoral Officer responsible for administration of Senate elections. The AEC has a National Office in Canberra and an office in each state and territory: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.[ citation needed ]
The AEC's main role is to conduct federal elections, by-elections and referendums, maintain up-to-date electoral rolls, and determine electorate boundaries, apportionments and redistributions. Under a Joint Roll Arrangement with the states and territories, the AEC maintains enrolment for the whole of Australia, for rolls used in state and local government elections, other than Western Australia, The AEC publishes detailed federal election results and investigates electors who appear to fail to vote, or may have voted multiple times in an election.[ citation needed ]
The AEC is also responsible for registering political parties intending to field candidates at federal elections, monitoring the activities of those political parties, including receiving returns from parties of donations and expenditures, and the publication of the information. The AEC also plays an electoral education role, aiming to educate citizens about the electoral process by which representatives are elected, and by which the Australian Constitution is changed (referendums). It also plays a role in industrial voting and protected action ballots (e.g., votes on industrial action).[ citation needed ]
The rules for federal elections are contained in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 , while the rules for referendums are contained in the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984. [10]
The formal registration of political parties in Australia commenced in New South Wales in 1981 and 1984 for the Commonwealth. The AEC is required to maintain a register of political parties. [11] Such registration is required before a party can field candidates, receive public funding, have party identification on ballot papers and use above-the-line ticket voting. [12] [ better source needed ]
In all jurisdictions, conditions relating to a party name require party names to have a maximum of six words, not be obscene and not to resemble the name of another, unrelated party, be likely to cause confusion with another party nor contain the word "independent" or "independent party".[ citation needed ]
All Australian jurisdictions also have a minimum membership requirement, which differs widely, especially when compared with the total number of people enrolled in the jurisdiction. These range from 100 in the ACT and Tasmania, 200 in SA, 500 in Vic and WA, 1,500 for the Commonwealth and 750 in New South Wales. Four jurisdictions require a fee for registration: $500 for the Commonwealth, Victoria and the Northern Territory; and $2,000 for New South Wales. [12]
Since 1984, Australian political parties have been publicly funded by the AEC. The objective of public funding is to reduce the influence of private money upon elections, and consequently, the influence of private money upon the shaping of public policy. After each election, the AEC distributes a set amount of money to each political party, per vote received. A candidate or Senate group needs 4% of the primary vote to be eligible for public funding. [13]
After the 2013 election, political parties and candidates received $58.1 million in election funding, with the funding rate being 248.800 cents per vote. The Liberal Party received $23.9 million, as part of the Coalition total of $27.2 million, while the Labor Party received $20.8 million. Other significant recipients were Australian Greens with $5.5 million, Palmer United Party with $2.3 million, and Liberal Democratic Party with $1.0 million. [14]
In 2016, $62.7 million was distributed, with the funding rate being 262.784 cents per vote. [13]
One of the functions of the AEC is the maintenance of the electoral roll, which in some other countries are called electoral registers. In Australia voter registration is called "enrolment". The AEC maintains Australia's federal electoral roll, which is used for federal elections, by-elections and referendums. Australia has maintained a permanent federal electoral roll since 1908 and, by amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act, enrolment has been compulsory for federal elections since 1924. [15] The requirement to register then applied to British subjects over the age of 21.[ citation needed ]
Though each state and territory also has its own electoral commission or office, voters need to register only with the AEC, which shares the registration details with the relevant state electoral bodies. The federal roll also forms the basis of state (except in Victoria and Western Australia, which maintain their own roll) and local electoral rolls. [16]
AEC registration covers federal, state and local election voter enrolment. In Australia and in each state or territory, it is an offence to fail to vote without valid or sufficient reason, at any federal or state election, and may be punishable by a nominal monetary penalty. The amount varies between federal and state jurisdictions. Usually, people are issued with warnings when it is found they have not voted, and are given an opportunity to show cause. Acceptable reasons for not voting may include being illness, being overseas on election day, religious belief, being incarcerated, etc. "I forgot" is not considered acceptable. Section 245 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act provides that if an elector has been asked the reason for failing to vote and declares a religious belief, this statement shall be regarded as conclusive with no further action being taken.[ citation needed ]
Traditionally, voters could not register after the Close of Roll for an election. In 2004, the Howard government passed legislation that prevented registration after 8 pm on the day the writs were issued. This can be up to 10 days after the election has been announced. [17] The legislation was considered controversial by some Australians, who contended it disenfranchised first-time voters, or those who forgot to update their enrolment. The law was repealed prior to the 2010 federal election, when advocacy group GetUp! obtained a High Court ruling [18] the changes unconstitutional. [19] 16 and 17 year old's can provisionally enroll and able to vote when they turn 18. [20]
| Commissioner | Term Start | Commissioner |
|---|---|---|
| Colin Hughes | 21 February 1984 | 26 November 1989 |
| Brian Field Cox | 18 December 1989 | 20 December 1994 |
| Wilfred James "Bill" Gray | 16 January 1995 | 14 January 2000 |
| Andy Becker | 23 March 2000 | 1 July 2005 |
| Ian Campbell | 2 July 2005 | 22 September 2008 |
| Ed Killesteyn | 5 January 2009 | 4 July 2014 |
| Tom Rogers | 15 December 2014 | Present |
Electoral commissions of each state and self-governing territory:
| Parliamentary parties |
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|---|---|
| State and territory parliaments (parties not represented federally) |
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| Other AEC-registered parties | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
| Other | |
The electoral system of Australia comprises the laws and processes used for the election of members of the Australian Parliament and is governed primarily by the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. The system presently has a number of distinctive features including compulsory enrolment; compulsory voting; majority-preferential instant-runoff voting in single-member seats to elect the lower house, the House of Representatives; and the use of the single transferable vote proportional representation system to elect the upper house, the Senate.
Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories are broadly similar to the electoral system used in federal elections in Australia.
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important part of the constitutional reform programme implemented by the 1997 Labour Government, building on the Registration of Political Parties Act 1998 which was passed two years earlier.
Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar principles, although there are minor variations between them. The elections for the Australian Parliament are held under the federal electoral system, which is uniform throughout the country, and the elections for state and territory Parliaments are held under the electoral system of each state and territory.
In electoral systems, voter registration is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote.
The Victorian Electoral Commission, or VEC, is the statutory body responsible for the running of state, municipal and various non-government elections in Victoria, Australia.
In Australia, one vote, one value is a democratic principle, applied in electoral laws governing redistributions of electoral divisions of the House of Representatives. The principle calls for all electoral divisions to have the same number of enrolled voters, within a specified percentage of variance. The electoral laws of the federal House of Representatives, and of the state and territory parliaments, follow the principle, with a few exceptions. The principle does not apply to the Senate because, under the Australian constitution, each state is entitled to the same number of senators, irrespective of the population of the state.
An electoral roll is a compilation that lists persons who are entitled to vote for particular elections in a particular jurisdiction. The list is usually broken down by electoral districts, and is primarily prepared to assist election officials at polling places. Most jurisdictions maintain permanent electoral rolls, which are updated continuously or periodically, while some jurisdictions compile new electoral rolls before each election. Electoral rolls are the result of a process of voter registration. In most jurisdictions, voter registration is a prerequisite for voting at an election. Some jurisdictions do not require voter registration, and do not use electoral rolls, such as the state of North Dakota in the United States. In those jurisdictions a voter must provide identification and proof of entitlement to vote before being permitted to vote.
The Libertarian Party, formerly known as the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is an Australian political party founded in Canberra in 2001. The party espouses smaller government and supports policies that are based on classical liberal, libertarian principles, such as lower taxes, opposing restrictions on civil liberties, decentralisation, utilising nuclear energy, and the relaxation of smoking laws.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 is an Act of the Australian Parliament which continues to be the core legislation governing the conduct of elections in Australia, having been amended on numerous occasions since 1918. The Act was introduced by the Nationalist Party of Billy Hughes, the main purpose of which was to replace first-past-the-post voting with instant-runoff voting for the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Labor Party opposed the introduction of preferential voting. The Act has been amended on several occasions since.
In Australia, a redistribution is the process of redrawing the boundaries of electoral divisions for the House of Representatives arising from changes in population and changes in the number of representatives. There is no redistribution for the Senate as each State constitutes a division, though with multiple members. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), an independent statutory authority, oversees the apportionment and redistribution process for federal divisions, taking into account a number of factors. Politicians, political parties and the public may make submissions to the AEC on proposed new boundaries, but any interference with their deliberations is considered a serious offence.
The Court of Disputed Returns in Australia is a special jurisdiction of the High Court of Australia. The High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, hears challenges regarding the validity of federal elections. The jurisdiction is twofold: (1) on a petition to the Court by an individual with a relevant interest or by the Australian Electoral Commission, or (2) on a reference by either house of the Commonwealth Parliament. This jurisdiction was initially established by Part XVI of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1902 and is now contained in Part XXII of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. Challenges regarding the validity of State elections are heard by the Supreme Court of that State as the State's Court of Disputed Returns.
Online Direct Democracy – was a registered Australian political party. It was briefly named Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians! from January 2019 to September 2019, and had previously been known as Senator Online. The party was de-registered in December 2020.
The Sustainable Australia Party, formerly the Sustainable Population Party and the Sustainable Australia Party – Stop Overdevelopment / Corruption, is an Australian political party formed in 2010.
Getup Ltd v Electoral Commissioner (2010) was a landmark decision made by the Federal Court of Australia on 13 August 2010 allowing Australians to enrol online in future elections. The Federal Court ruled in favour of GetUp! in their challenge of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, that rejected first-time voter Sophie Trevitt's electronic enrolment application, after her electronic signature was deemed invalid.
An anonymous elector is generally a registered voter whose safety would be at risk if their details were available on a public electoral register.
Suffrage in Australia is the voting rights in the Commonwealth of Australia, its six component states and territories, and local governments. The colonies of Australia began to grant universal male suffrage from 1856, with women's suffrage following between the 1890s and 1900s. Some jurisdictions introduced racial restrictions on voting from 1885. Such restrictions had been eradicated by the 1960s. Today, the right to vote at all levels of government is held by citizens of Australia over the age of 18 years.
Section 13 of the Constitution of Australia provides for three aspects of the terms of members of the Australian Senate: the timing of elections, the commencement date of their terms and for the Senate to allocate long (six-year) and short (three-year) terms following a double dissolution of the Parliament of Australia. While members of the House of Representatives and territory senators have a maximum three-year term, state senators have a fixed six-year term, subject only to the parliament being dissolved by a double dissolution.
The Great Australian Party is a political party in Australia. The party was formally registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 7 April 2019 and is associated with former senator Rod Culleton who had been elected in the 2016 Australian federal election as a senator for Western Australia, but subsequently found to have been ineligible and was disqualified.
In Australia, voter registration is called enrolment. Enrolment is a prerequisite for voting at federal elections, by-elections and referendums, as well as all state and local government elections; and it is generally compulsory for enrolled persons to vote unless otherwise exempted or excused. Enrolment is compulsory for Australian citizens over 18 years of age who have lived at their current address for at least one month. Enrolment is not compulsory for persons with no fixed address who are not already enrolled. Residents in Australia who had been enrolled as British subjects on 25 January 1984, though not Australian citizens, continue to be enrolled, and cannot opt out of enrolment. For local government elections, an elector generally does not require to be an Australian citizen. Once enrolled, a person cannot opt out of enrolment. Enrolment is optional for 16- or 17-year-olds, but they cannot vote until they turn 18, and persons who have applied for Australian citizenship may also apply for provisional enrolment which takes effect on the granting of citizenship.
