2018 ANNUAL REPORT ii / © Commonwealth of Australia 2019 ISSN: 0814–4508 Unless otherwise noted, the Australian Electoral Commission has applied the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence to this publication with the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the AEC’s logos, the AEC’s maps and content supplied by third parties. Use of material subject to the licence must not assert or imply any connection with or endorsement by the AEC unless with express prior written permission. The commission asserts the right of recognition as author of the original material. The publication should be attributed as Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2018–19. The term ‘Indigenous’ in this report refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people unless otherwise stated. This report may contain the names and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now deceased. Produced by: Australian Electoral Commission Printed by: Elect Printing Annual report contact officer Director, Resource Management Section Australian Electoral Commission 50 Marcus Clarke Street Canberra ACT 2600 Contact phone number: 02 6271 4648 Contact email: [email protected] AEC website: www.aec.gov.au Location of report: https://annualreport.aec.gov.au/2019 Make an online enquiry www.aec.gov.au/enquiry Accessible services www.aec.gov.au/assistance for telephone interpreter services in multiple languages. Readers who are deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment can contact the AEC through the National Relay Service (NRS). • TTY users phone 13 36 77 and ask for 13 23 26 • Speak and Listen users phone 1300 555 727 and ask for 13 23 26 • Internet relay users connect to the NRS and ask for 13 23 26 This publication is printed on an uncoated 30% recycled, FSC© certified carbon neutral paper. ii / Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2018–19 iii Contents About this report viii Tools to assist readers viii Letter of transmittal ix COMMISSIONER’S REVIEW 1 Five by-elections (Super Saturday) 2 Wentworth by-election 3 2019 federal election 3 Learning and development 4 Implementing new legislation 4 Turnout 5 Looking forward 5 OVERVIEW OF THE AEC 7 Role and function 8 Organisational structure 8 Senior Executive as at July 2019 9 PERFORMANCE REPORT 13 Annual performance statements 15 Statement by the Electoral Commissioner 15 Performance statement – agency direction one 17 Performance statement – agency direction two 23 Performance statement – agency direction three 25 Performance statement – agency direction four 28 Performance statement – agency direction five 30 Performance statement – agency direction six 32 Other performance 34 AEC FUNCTIONS 37 Active electoral roll management 38 Conducting successful electoral events 40 Other highlights of the year 46 Undertaking public awareness activities 49 Supporting electoral redistributions 52 Administering political party registrations and financial disclosure 53 iv / AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY 57 Corporate governance – principles and objectives 58 External scrutiny 60 Managing and developing staff 62 Assets management 67 Purchasing 68 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 71 Financial performance summary 72 List of financial statements 74 Primary financial statements 78 Administered schedules 83 Overview 86 Notes to the Financial Statements 89 APPENDICES 111 Appendix A: Resources 112 Appendix B: Governance 115 Appendix C: Commonwealth electoral roll information 119 Appendix D: Electoral events data 125 Appendix E: Public awareness data 130 Appendix F: Electoral redistribution data 131 Appendix G: Political party registrations and financial disclosure data 132 Appendix H: Workforce statistics 137 READER GUIDES 149 Abbreviations and acronyms 150 Glossary 152 Index to list of annual report requirements 155 General Index 160 FIGURES Figure 1: Performance criteria from the AEC Portfolio Budget Statements mapped against agency directions 16 Figure 2: Australia’s 151 electoral divisions as at 30 June 2019 54 Figure 3: Enrolment rate trend, 9 October 2004–30 June 2019 119 iv / AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2018–19 v TABLES Table 1: AEC performance against the regulator performance framework 35 Table 2: AEC APS workforce by employment type and classification (excluding statutory office holders), 30 June 2019 63 Table 3: New claims for compensable and non-compensable injuries 67 Table 4: Number and expenditure on new and ongoing consultants in current report period (2018–19) 69 Table 5: Agency resource statement – current report period (2018–19) 113 Table 6: Expenses and resources for Outcome 1 114 Table 7: Average staffing levels 2016–17 to 2018–19 114 Table 8: Accountable Authority–current report period (2018–19) 115 Table 9: Business planning documents 115 Table 10: AEC decision making management committees 117 Table 11: Recipients of electoral roll extracts 2018–19 120 Table 12: Registered political parties provided with electoral roll extracts 2018–19 122 Table 13: Government departments and agencies provided with electoral roll extracts, 2018–19 123 Table 14: Medical and electoral researchers provided with electoral roll extracts, 2018–19 124 Table 15: Provision of electoral roll information to organisations verifying identity for financial purposes, 2018–19 124 Table 16: Nominations data 125 Table 17: Breakdown of House of Representative nominations by state and territory 125 Table 18: Breakdown of Senate nominations by state and territory 125 Table 19: House of Representatives votes by type, 2019 federal election 126 Table 20: Senate votes by type, 2019 federal election 126 Table 21: 2019 Senate elections, breakdown of above the line and below the line votes 127 Table 22: 2019 Senate elections, breakdown of informal votes by state and territory 127 Table 23: 2019 House of Representatives elections, breakdown of informal votes by state and territory 128 vi / AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 Table 24: By-elections conducted during 2018–19 128 Table 25: Key Voting Data for each by-election 2018–19 129 Table 26: Advertising and media placement payments, $13,800 or more 130 Table 27: Summary of electoral redistributions concluded in 2018–19 131 Table 28: 2018 Braddon by-election payment to political parties and candidates 132 Table 29: 2018 Fremantle by-election payment to political parties and candidates 132 Table 30: 2018 Longman by-election payment to political parties and candidates 132 Table 31: 2018 Mayo by-election payment to political parties and candidates 133 Table 32: 2018 Perth by-election payment to political parties and candidates 133 Table 33: 2018 Wentworth by-election payment to political parties and candidates 133 Table 34: 2019 federal election automatic payments to political parties and independent candidates 134 Table 35: Party registration related applications and requests 2018–19 136 Table 36: All ongoing employees by location —current report period (2018–19) 137 Table 37: All non-ongoing employees by location —current report period (2018–19) 137 Table 38: All ongoing employees by location —previous report period (2017–18) 138 Table 39: All non-ongoing employees by location —previous report period (2017–18) 138 Table 40: APS Act ongoing employees by classification —current report period (2018–19) 139 Table 41: APS Act non-ongoing employees by classification —current report period (2018–19) 139 Table 42: APS Act ongoing employees by classification —previous report period (2017–18) 140 Table 43: APS Act non-ongoing employees —previous report period (2017–18) 140 vi / AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2018–19 vii Table 44: APS Act ongoing employees by classification —current report period (2018–19) 141 Table 45: APS Act employment type (ongoing or non-ongoing) by location—previous report period (2017–18) 141 Table 46: APS Act Indigenous employment —current report period (2018– 19) 142 Table 47: APS Act Indigenous employment —previous report period (2017–18) 142 Table 48: APS Act employment arrangements —current report period (2018–19) 143 Table 49: APS Act employment salary ranges by classification level —current report period (2018–19) 143 Table 50: Statutory appointments under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 as of 30 June 2019 144 Table 51: Information about remuneration for key management personnel—current report period (2018–19) 145 Table 52: Information about remuneration for senior executives—current report period (2018–19) 146 Table 53: Information about remuneration for other highly paid staff—current report period (2018–19) 147 viii / AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 About this report This report outlines the performance of Tools to assist readers the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) This publication has: for the financial year ending 30 June 2019. • a table of contents The report meets the requirements of • lists of figures and tables the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, the Public Governance, Performance • an alphabetical index and Accountability Act 2013, and the • a list of requirements Public Governance, Performance and • cross references Accountability Rule for annual reports. • an abbreviations and acronyms section There are eight sections: • a glossary 1. Commissioner’s review—the Electoral See page ii for accessible services. Commissioner reflects on the year 2. Overview of the AEC—the AEC’s role, This report is available