for only Archived historical Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 research ii Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 for Produced by: Australian Electoral Commission Project managed by: Fiona Codd, Peter Heslop and Cheree West Printed by: Blue Star Print (02) 6280 7477 Coordinated and edited by: WordsWorth Writing Pty Ltd (02) 6232 7511 Designed by: GRi.D Communications Pty Ltd (02) 6280 0960 Web address of this report: www.aec.gov.au/what/publications Contact officer: Director, Governance and Assurance Section Australian Electoral Commission West Block Offices only Queen Victoria Terrace Parkes ACT 2600 PO Box 6172 Kingston ACT 2604 Archived Telephone: (02) 6271 4411 historicalFax: (02) 6271 4558 Email: [email protected] Website: www.aec.gov.au ISSN 0814-4508 © Commonwealth of Australia 2008 This work is copyright. Apartresearch from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Australian Government, available from the Attorney-General’s Department. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Copyright Law Branch, Attorney-General’s Department, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2601, or posted at http://www.ag.gov.au/cca. for Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 only Letter of transmittal Archived historical research iii for only Archived historical research Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 v Contents About this report 1 Electoral Commissioner’s review 3 Electoral Commissioner’s review 4 Significant achievements 8 AEC overview for 13 Overview 14 Partnerships 24 Report on performance: Outcome 1—An effective electoral roll 27 Performance overview 28 Output 1.1.1—Electoral roll management 32 Case study: Targeted enrolment stimulation program’s impact on the close of roll 41 Output 1.1.2—Support services for electoral redistributions only42 Report on performance: Outcome 2—An impartial and independent electoral system 45 Performance overview 46 Output 2.1.1—Federal elections, by-elections and referendums 50 ArchivedCase study: Evaluation of the conduct of the 2007 federal election 57 Case study: Trialshistorical of electronic voting 58 Output 2.1.2—Party registrations 59 Output 2.1.3—Funding and disclosure services 62 Output 2.1.4—Fee-for-service elections 65 Output 2.1.5—Industrial and Torres Strait Regional Authority elections 69 Output 2.1.6—Advice and assistance in overseas elections 72 Report on performance:research Outcome 3—An informed community 77 Performance overview 78 Output 3.1.1—Electoral education centres 82 Output 3.1.2—School and community programs 89 Case study: North and Central Australia Remote Area Strategy 96 Output 3.1.3—Communication strategies 97 Case study: Effectiveness of the 2007 federal election advertising campaign 108 vi Contents Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 Management and accountability 111 Corporate governance 113 Support services 122 External scrutiny 128 Management of human resources 133 Assets management 141 Purchasing 142 Consultants and contracts for 143 Providing access for people with disabilities 144 Financial performance and future operations 149 Analysis of financial performance 150 Developments that have affected or may affect operations 151 Financial statements 153 Appendices only205 Appendix A—Staffing overview 206 Appendix B—Occupational health and safety 209 Appendix C—Freedom of information 213 ArchivedAppendix D—Advertising and market research 218 Appendix E—Provision of electoral roll information 219 Appendix F—Ecologicallyhistorical sustainable development 238 Appendix G—Consultancies 240 Appendix H—Industrial and fee-for-service elections statistics 242 Appendix I—Publications 243 Appendix J—Election facts and figures 246 References research 249 Abbreviations list 250 Compliance index 252 Alphabetical index 254 Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 Contents vii Tables Table 1 Summary of changed output structure from 1 July 2007 16 Table 2 Legislative framework 17 Table 3 National and state office contact details 23 Table 4 Key partnerships supporting AEC outcomes 24 Table 5 Outcome 1 summary of resources 29 Table 6 Output 1.1.1—Electoral roll management: performance results 32 Table 7 Enrolment activity, 1 July 2007 to 30 forJune 2008 33 Table 8 People enrolled at 30 June by State or Territory, 2000–08 34 Table 9 Estimated rates of enrolment, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics population estimates, October 2004 to June 2008 35 Table 10 Additional performance results for electoral roll updates, based on performance indicators agreed with the Electoral Council of Australia 35 Table 11 Enrolment activities at citizenship ceremonies, 2005–06 to 2007–08 37 Table 12 Additional performance results for roll products and services 39 Table 13 Output 1.1.2—Support services for electoral redistributions: performance results only42 Table 14 Outcome 2 summary of resources 47 Table 15 Output 2.1.1—Federal elections, by-elections and referendums: performance results 50 ArchivedTable 16 Dates of key events in the federal election process, 2004 and 2007 51 Table 17 Output 2.1.2—Party registrations: performance results 60 Table 18 Output 2.1.3—Fundinghistorical and disclosure services: performance results 62 Table 19 Output 2.1.4—Fee-for-service elections: performance results 65 Table 20 Output 2.1.5—Industrial and Torres Strait Regional Authority elections: performance results 69 Table 21 Output 2.1.6—Advice and assistance in overseas elections: performance results 72 Table 22 Activities in the Asia–Pacific region, 2007–08 74 Table 23 Outcome 3research summary of resources 79 Table 24 Output 3.1.1—Electoral education centres: performance results 82 Table 25 Electoral education centre effectiveness measures for 2006 to 2009 and results for 2006–07 and 2007–08 84 Table 26 Visitors to the Canberra Electoral Education Centre, 2006–07 and 2007–08 86 viii Contents Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 Table 27 Visitors to the Melbourne Electoral Education Centre, 2006–07 and 2007–08 87 Table 28 Visitors to the Adelaide Electoral Education Centre, 2006–07 and 2007–08 88 Table 29 Output 3.1.2—School and community programs: overall performance 89 Table 30 Output 3.1.3—Communication strategies and services: overall performance 97 Table 31 Communication activities for special target groups, 2007–08 100 Table 32 Availability of the federal election inquiry forservice, 2007 102 Table 33 Tasks performed by the federal election inquiry service, 2004 and 2007 102 Table 34 Corporate and business planning documents 117 Table 35 Escalated inquiries, issues and complaints received by the national office, 2007–08 118 Table 36 Base salary bands for statutory appointees and senior executive staff, 30 June 2008 121 Table 37 AEC Collective Agreement 2007–10 salary ranges, by classification, 2007–08 135 Table 38 Employees covered by Australian Workplace Agreements, 30 June 2008only 136 Table 39 Employees covered by s. 24(1) determinations, 30 June 2008 136 Table 40 Workplace diversity profile, 30 June 2008 240 Table 41 Ongoing staff employed, including staff on higher duties arrangements, Archivedby classification, gender and location, 30 June 2008 206 Table 42 Non-ongoing staff employed, including staff on higher duties arrangements,historical by classification, gender and location, 30 June 2008 208 Table 43 Comcare premiums, 2005–06 to 2008–09 211 Table 44 New Comcare claims, 2004–05 to 2007–08 211 Table 45 Accident and incident reports, 2004–05 to 2007–08 212 Table 46 Documents available for public inspection 214 Table 47 Freedom of information requests, 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007–08 217 Table 48 Resolution of freedom of information requests, 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007–08 research 217 Table 49 Commissions paid to advertising and market research agencies, 2007–08 218 Table 50 Provision of information to medical researchers and those conducting health screening surveys, 2007–08 219 Table 51 Provision of information to Schedule 1 agencies and authorities, 2007–08 223 Australian Electoral Commission Annual Report 2007–08 Contents ix Table 52 Provision of information to Regulation 7 persons and organisations, 2007–08 224 Table 53 Provision of information to members of the House of Representatives and senators, 2007–08 225 Table 54 Provision of information to federally registered political parties, 2007–08 236 Table 55 Consultancy contracts to the value of $10,000 or more let during 2007–08 241 Table 56 Activities in relation to industrial elections and fee-for-service ballots, 2007–08 for 242 Table 57 Publications available from the AEC, 2007–08 243 Table 58 Key facts and figures about the federal election 246 Figures Figure 1 Performance framework 14 Figure 2 Organisational chart 20 Figure 3 Electoral divisions 22 Figure 4 Outcome 1 outputs structure only28 Figure 5 Outcome 2 outputs structure 46 Figure 6 Use of declaration votes in federal elections, 1993 to 2007 52 Figure 7 Timeliness of Central Print lodgement of federal election postal Archivedvoting packages with Australia Post, 2004 and 2007 53 Figure 8 Outcome 3 outputs structure 78 Figure 9 Trends inhistorical electoral education centre visitor numbers, 1998–99 to 2007–08 85 Figure 10 Participants in school and community visits, large community events and teacher professional development sessions, 1998–99 to 2007–08 90 Figure 11 Uses of the AEC website, 2003–04 to 2007–08