ISBN 978 0 642 60532 0 
© Australian Capital Territory, Canberra 2010 
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permission from the Territory Records Office, 
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GPO Box 158, Canberra City ACT 2601. 
Produced by Publishing Services for the ACT Electoral Commission PO Box 272, Civic Square ACT 2608. Phone: 02 6205 0033 Web: www.elections.act.gov.au Email: elections@act.gov.au 
Printed on recycled paper 
Publication No 10/1127 
http://www.act.gov.au Telephone: Canberra 132 281 Mr Simon Corbell MLA Attorney General ACT Legislative Assembly London Circuit CANBERRA ACT 2601 

Dear Attorney General 
This report has been prepared under section 6(1) of the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004 and in accordance with the requirements referred to in the Chief Minister’s Annual Report Directions.  It has been prepared in conformity with other legislation applicable to the preparation of this Annual Report. 
This Annual Report is a joint report covering the operations of the ACT Electoral Commission and the operations of the Electoral Commissioner and the staff employed to assist the Commissioner.  Under the Electoral Act 1992 and other relevant legislation, the Commissioner exercises some functions independently of the Commission.  For simplicity, references in this report to Elections ACT are to be taken to refer to the Electoral Commissioner and his staff. 
We hereby certify that the attached Annual Report is an honest and accurate account and that all material information on the operations of the ACT Electoral Commission during the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010 has been included and that it complies with the Chief Minister’s Annual Report Directions. 
The Electoral Commissioner hereby certifies that fraud prevention has been managed in accordance with Public Sector Management Standard 2, Part 2.4. 
Section 13 of the Annual Reports (Government Agencies) Act 2004 requires that you cause a copy of the Report to be laid before the Legislative Assembly within 3 months of 
the end of the financial year. 

Roger Beale AO 	Phillip Green 	Christabel Young 	
Chairperson 	Electoral Commissioner 	Member 	
31 August 2010 	31 August 2010 	31 August 2010 	

Contents 
Tables vi Graphs vi Glossary vii PERFORMANCE AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT REPORTING        1 
The organisation 2 Overview 8 Highlights 9 Outlook 11 Management discussion and analysis 12 Financial report 13 Statement of performance 14 Strategic Indicators 14 Analysis of Agency Performance 15 Triple Bottom Line Report 41 CONSULTATION AND SCRUTINY REPORTING                                                                            43 
Community engagement 44 Internal and external scrutiny 44 Legislative Assembly Committee inquiries & reports 44 Legislation Report 45 LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY BASED REPORTING              47 
Risk management & internal audit 48 Fraud prevention 48 Public interest disclosure 48 Freedom of information 49 Internal accountability 52 Human resources performance 53 
Staffing profile 54 
Learning and development 56 Workplace health and safety 57 Workplace relations 57 Strategic asset management 57 Capital works 58 Government contracting 58 Community grants/assistance/sponsorship 58 Territory records 58 Human Rights Act 2004 58 Commissioner for the Environment 59 ACT multicultural strategy 59 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reporting 60 Ecologically sustainable development 61 ACT Women’s Plan 64 Model litigant guidelines 64 
Compliance index 65 Alphabetical index 67 

Tables 
Table 1 - Members of the ACT Electoral Commission 4 Table 2 — Additional performance indicator included in budget papers from 2010/2011 6 Table 3 — Financial summary for 2009/2010       13 Table 4 – Non-voter court action for the 2004 and 2008 elections     17 Table 5 — Interstate elections     18 Table 6 — Health professionals board election     19 Table 7 — Australian National University elections     19 Table 8 — Other elections     20 Table 9 — Enrolment by age group 2008-2009     26 Table 10 — Electoral education sessions     28 Table 11 — Registered political parties as at 30 June 2010 30 Table 12 – Summary of receipts, payments and debts of ACT registered parties from annual returns     31 Table 13 - Summary of receipts of registered parties from annual returns for ACT election years     32 Table 14 – Summary of payments made by registered parties from annual returns for ACT election years     32 Table 15 – Summary of debts of registered parties from annual returns for ACT election years     32 Table 16 – Source of funding received by the Australian Labor Party, the Liberal Party and The ACT Greens     33 Table 17 — Records disposal schedule       39 Table 18 — Triple bottom line report     42 Table 19 — Legislative Assembly committee inquiries and reports     45 Table 20 — FTE and Headcount     54 Table 21 - Employment type     54 
Table 22 - Classifications     54 
Table 23 - Employment category by gender     54 Table 24 - Average length of service by gender by age-group     54 Table 25 - Total average length of service by gender     55 
Table 26 - Age profile     55 Table 27 - Agency profile     55 Table 28 - Agency profile by employment type     55 
Table 29 - Equity and workplace diversity     55 Table 30 — Elections ACT learning and development activities     56 Table 31 — External sources of labour and services 2009/2010     58 Table 32 — Ecologically sustainable development data      62 

Graphs 
Graph 1 – Total public funding compared to election expenditure, 1995-2008 elections     34 Graph 2 – Public funding compared to election expenditure by party, 2008 election     35 

Glossary 
ACT Australian Capital Territory AEC Australian Electoral Commission ANU Australian National University Commission ACT Electoral Commission Commissioner ACT Electoral Commissioner 
CPI Consumer Price Index CRU Continuous Roll Update ECA Electoral Council of Australia 
Elections ACT The office of the Electoral Commissioner and 
the staff appointed to assist the Commissioner 
Electoral Act Electoral Act 1992 FOI Freedom of Information FOI Act Freedom of Information Act 1989 Hare-Clark The proportional representation electoral system used in the ACT ICT Information/communication technology InTACT The ACT Government information technology management agency JACS ACT Department of Justice and Community Safety Joint Roll The common ACT and Commonwealth electoral roll maintained under a formal government-togovernment arrangement MLA Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly OH&S Occupational Health and Safety 
Party 	A political party registered under the Electoral Act 
PDAs 	Personal Digital Assistants (hand-held computers used in polling places as electronic electoral rolls) 
Redistribution A redistribution of electoral boundaries 
Referendum Act Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1994 
                     ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 

Part A 
Performance and financial management reporting 

The organisation Overview Highlights Outlook Management discussion and analysis Financial report Statement of performance Strategic Indicators Analysis of Agency Performance Triple Bottom Line Report 
2 8 9 11 12 13 14 14 15 41 

The organisation 
The ACT Electoral Commission is an independent statutory authority established under the Electoral Act 1992 comprising a Chairperson, the Electoral Commissioner and a Member, with responsibility for the conduct of elections and referendums for the ACT Legislative Assembly and for the provision of electoral advice and services. 
It is important to distinguish between the functions of the Commission and the office of 
the Electoral Commissioner.  
The Commission is responsible under the Electoral Act for key over-arching electoral functions, including advising the Minister; conducting education and information programs; providing information and advice to the Assembly, the Executive, agencies, political parties, MLAs and candidates; conducting research; publishing electoral material; providing fee-for-service electoral goods and services; and conducting ballots for prescribed organisations.  The Commission is also responsible for key electoral roles, such as its part in the electoral boundaries redistribution process; and as a review body for decisions made by the Commissioner or the Commissioner’s delegates. 
The Electoral Commissioner serves in a dual capacity as both a member of the 
Commission and as a statutory officer holder with independent powers and functions.  The Commissioner is the chief executive officer of the Commission.  In that role, the 
Commissioner manages the operations of the Commission under the guidance and direction of the full Commission, and undertakes the Commission’s functions as the 
Commission’s delegate.  The Commissioner also has specific functions under the Electoral 
Act and other legislation that are given solely to the Commissioner, including most of the procedures related to the conduct of ACT Legislative Assembly elections, as well as registration of political parties and implementing the funding and disclosure scheme.  
The Commissioner is assisted by staff employed under the Public Sector Management Act 1994 and under the Electoral Act.  For simplicity, the office of the Commissioner and 
the Commissioner’s staff are referred to under the operating title of Elections ACT.  The Commissioner and the staff of Elections ACT perform functions that are the responsibility of the Commissioner and perform some functions on behalf of the Commission.  
The Attorney General is the Minister responsible for electoral matters and the Commission is included in the Department of Justice and Community Safety (JACS) portfolio for administrative purposes.  In the departmental structure for 2009/2010, the Commission was included in Output Class 1.6 – Electoral Services.  
The Commissioner and the Department of Justice and Community Safety have entered 
into a Memorandum of Understanding that defines areas of responsibility and assistance 
between the two agencies.  In particular, the Memorandum of Understanding clearly delineates the statutory independence of the Commission and the Commissioner in the conduct of their respective roles under the legislative framework, described in the next section. 
Legislative framework 
The Commission is responsible for the conduct of elections and referendums and for the provision of electoral advice and services under the following legislation: 
Electoral Act 1992; 
Electoral Regulation 1993; 
Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1994; 
Proportional Representation (Hare-Clark) Entrenchment Act 1994; 
Health Professionals Regulation 2004; and 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008. 

Organisational structure  
The ACT Electoral Commission consists of a Chairperson, the Electoral Commissioner and a third Member. 
Table 1 - Members of the ACT Electoral Commission 

The 3 Members of the Commission are appointed by the Executive under the Electoral 
Act.  As chief executive officer of the Commission, the Electoral Commissioner is remunerated as a full-time office holder.  The Chairperson and the other Member of the Commission are remunerated as part-time office holders.  Remuneration for all 3 
Members is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. 
The current Electoral Commissioner, Mr Green, was reappointed to this position during the reporting year to a further 5 year term, concluding on 31 March  2015. 
The Electoral Commissioner has chief executive powers under the Public Sector Management Act in relation to staff employed to assist the Commissioner.  These staff, acting under the direction of the Commissioner, have been brought together under the operating title Elections ACT.  
The Commissioner may also employ casual staff and engage consultants under the Electoral Act, on terms and conditions determined by the Commission after consultation with the Executive. 
The Commissioner was assisted throughout 2009/2010 by 5 officers employed under the 
Public Sector Management Act.  
From time to time, other staff are employed to assist the Commissioner as necessary.  
These include officers employed under the Public Sector Management Act and the Electoral Act and officers seconded from other organisations.  
For more information on the Elections ACT staff positions see Staffing Profile on page 54. 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
 Election ACT’s mission 
Election ACT’s mission is: 
To provide the ACT community with high quality electoral services that ensure fair and open elections and referendums. 
Elections ACT also provides services to a wide and diverse range of clients, including the Attorney General, Members of the Legislative Assembly, political parties, election candidates, ACT Government agencies, the media and special interest groups. 
Elections ACT’s most important function is to conduct elections for the Legislative Assembly.  The next election is due to be held on 20 October 2012. 
Some of the other tasks for which Elections ACT is responsible include electoral education, maintaining the register of political parties and the funding and disclosure scheme, conducting redistributions of electoral boundaries, working with other electoral authorities to improve the accuracy of the electoral roll, conducting elections for ACT health professionals boards and providing electoral services to other organisations on a fee-for-service basis. 
Elections ACT Corporate Plan 2009-2013 

MISSION 	
To provide the ACT community with high quality electoral services that ensure fair and open elections and referendums. 	
Goal 1 	To conduct high quality elections and referendums 	
Key result areas: 	1.1 Elections for the ACT Legislative Assembly 	
	1.2 Election and referendum services to other agencies 	
Goal 2 	To provide high quality electoral information, education, advice and services 	
Key result areas: 	2.1 Electoral information and advice 	
	2.2 Electoral enrolment 	
	2.3 Electoral education 	
	2.4 Other electoral statutory requirements 	
Goal 3 	To support high quality electoral services by effective management 	
Key result areas: 	3.1 Human resources management 	
	3.2 Financial management 	
	3.3 Records management 	
	3.4 Information/communication technology management 	

The Corporate Plan 2009–2013 is underpinned by more detailed operational plans.  
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
Performance indicators 
Formal budget paper performance indicators 
Following a rationalisation of performance indicators for the JACS portfolio conducted in 2005/2006, the Chief Executive of JACS decided to adopt only 2 performance indicators for electoral services, both of which only relate to Legislative Assembly elections.  
These indicators measure voter turnout at Assembly elections and timely finalisation of 
Assembly election results.  As 2009/2010 was not a Legislative Assembly election year, there were no formal reporting indicators in the 2009/2010 Budget Papers for Output 1.6 
– Electoral Services.  
The Commission undertook a review of its performance indicators during the year with 
a view to adopting at least one indicator that would reflect its ongoing activity.  From 
the 2010/2011 reporting year, the Commission will formally report on the participation of eligible electors on the electoral roll.  A new performance indicator will measure the percentage of electors on the electoral roll compared to those eligible to be enrolled.  While formal reporting against this indicator is not required until the 2010/2011 year, the performance outcome against this indicator is included in this year’s report in Table 2 below.  
This performance indicator is effectively a measure of the net result of the efforts of Elections ACT and the Australian Electoral Commission to facilitate the compulsory enrolment of eligible electors. 
In previous years, the percentage of electors on the roll compared to the number eligible has been reported under Key Result Area 2.2 Electoral Enrolment.  It will also continue to be reported in detail under that heading. 

Electoral Commission, using base data provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and applying a method developed by the AEC in conjunction with the ABS. The EEP is an estimate of the number of persons who are eligible to be enrolled at any point in time, and is calculated using post-censal estimates based on the latest census data updated by birth and death registrations, and estimated interstate and overseas migration.  The estimate is recalculated after each census and previous EEP estimates revised accordingly. 
It can be noted that the outcome as at 30 June 2010 – with 93.6% of the eligible population on the electoral roll – is below the target of 95%.  By contrast, the outcome for 30 June 2009, in the same reporting year as the 2008 ACT election, was 97.0%.  This 
outcome reflects the trend for the level of enrolment to decline in the years between 
elections.  However, it also highlights that there is a trend for the level of enrolment to be in decline generally.  There is further discussion about electoral enrolment starting at page 24.  
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
In-house performance indicators 
The Commission considers that it is worthwhile to maintain an extended set of performance indicators for in-house use and for annual reporting purposes.  Set out below are the Commission’s in-house performance indicators.  Discussion of the Commission’s performance against each of these measures is included in the Analysis of agency performance from page 15 to page 42. 

Elections ACT’s timeline targets are: 
All statutory deadlines will be met. 
◊ Election results will be finalised: 
▪ For general elections and referendums for the ACT Legislative Assembly (where a recount is not needed): within 3 weeks from polling day; 
▪ For general elections and referendums for the ACT Legislative Assembly (where a recount is needed): within 4 weeks from polling day; 
▪ For a count back to fill a casual vacancy in the Legislative Assembly: within 1 week from the date applications to contest the vacancy close; and 
▪ For other elections and referendums where the ACT Electoral Commission is responsible for providing election results: within 1 week from the close of the poll. 

ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
Overview 
The Commission and the Commissioner are independent statutory office holders 
appointed under the Electoral Act.  The operational framework of the Commission and the office of the Commissioner is prescribed by the legislation codifying the functions of the Commission and the Commissioner.  
The Commission’s most important function is to conduct elections for the ACT Legislative Assembly election.  An election for the Assembly was held in the previous reporting year on 18 October 2008.  The next Assembly election is due to be held on 20 October 2012. 
Preparation for the 2012 election was the major focus of the Commission and Elections ACT in 2009/2010.  A major component of these preparations was the commencement of the 4–year re-development of the Elections ACT ICT election systems.  Another major element in the election preparations was a successful bid for additional recurrent budget funding for the Commission for 2010/2011 and onwards, and for funding of the 2012 election itself. 
While the Commission’s and Elections ACT’s largest and most visible roles are the conduct of Legislative Assembly elections and the determination of electorate boundaries, the Commission and Elections ACT have a wide range of functions that provide challenging work at all stages of the election cycle.  
These functions include providing advice to Government and others, conducting minor elections, electoral education, administering the political disclosure scheme, maintaining the register of political parties and, together with other electoral authorities, maintaining the electoral roll.  
As can seen from the list of key activities undertaken in 2009/2010 shown at Highlights on page 9, the Commission and Elections ACT took advantage of this non-Assembly election year to focus on these other areas, while at the same time advancing preparations for the next major Assembly election. 
Highlights 
The main focus of the Commission and Elections ACT in 2009/2010 was on long-term planning and preparation for the 2012 Legislative Assembly election.  
One of the main activities undertaken in preparation for the 2012 election was the commencement of the 4-year re-development of Elections ACT ICT election systems, for which funding was provided in the 2009/2010 Budget.  This is a major project of activity with the objective of having the updated systems in place for the 2012 election. 
A major outcome of 2009/2010 was the successful submission to government for an increase in Elections ACT’s recurrent budget from 2010/2011, and the inclusion in the Budget’s forward year projections of an increased base election budget for the conduct of the 2012 Legislative Assembly election.  The additional recurrent funding will relieve the pressure on the Elections ACT’s ongoing budget, and the setting of the 2012 election funding will provide some surety in the long term planning for the election. 
Elections ACT staff also undertook staff development opportunities, including project management training, ICT skills training and personal development. 
Other notable activities undertaken during 2009/2010 included: 
Finalising a strategic review of Elections ACT’s staffing, structure, budget, staff development program, operational plan and corporate plan for 2009 to 2013, from which the successful submission to government for increased recurrent budget and the 2012 election budget was developed; 
Making a submission to the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety Inquiry into Campaign Finance Reform, and appearing before a hearing of the committee; 
Providing advice to Government and Members of the Legislative Assembly on electoral matters as required; 
Completing the follow-up of non-voters at the 2008 election by issuing court summonses to electors who failed to provide a valid and sufficient reason for failing to 

vote; 
Finalising a negotiation of the review of the rate of payment to the Australian Electoral Commission for the maintenance of the electoral roll; 
Processing the requests of 2 registered political parties for the cancellation of their registration, and an application for a change to the register of political parties; 
Conducting audits of 2008/2009 annual returns for compliance with the financial 

disclosure scheme; 
◊ Reviewing, revising and simplifying the financial disclosure manuals and forms, 
incorporating the 4 annual return manuals into a single comprehensive document; 
Finalising redevelopment of the Elections ACT Business Continuity Plan; 
Reviewing and updating the Commission’s information resources, including its printed resources and the Elections ACT website; 
Reviewing the processes and arrangements for the conduct of the 2011 election of representatives to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body; 
Continuing to contribute to the national review of electoral processes being undertaken by the federal government; 
Hosting an employee of the Election Commission of Bhutan; 
Continuing to work with the AEC and the Electoral Council of Australia (ECA) to improve ongoing electoral roll maintenance procedures; 
Pursuing Continuous Roll Update (CRU) initiatives, including obtaining data from a comprehensive range of ACT agencies; 
Continuing the Commission’s non-parliamentary election program, conducting 8 health professionals board elections and 3 fee-for-service ballots; 
Assisting with the conduct of 7 interstate elections, including issuing votes for the general elections for the States of South Australia and Tasmania; 
Providing a full-time electoral inquiry service over the counter, by phone, by email and by post; and 
Continuing the schools based electoral education program. 

Outlook 
During 2010/2011 the Commission and Elections ACT will continue its planning for the 2012 Legislative Assembly election.  
The main area of focus in this planning will continue to be the re-development of Elections ACT ICT election systems, for which funding was provided in the 2009/2010 Budget.  During 2010/2011 the concentration of effort will be on: 
developing an on-line voting system for use in non-parliamentary ballots, especially the enterprise agreement ballots that are expected to take place during the year; 
upgrading eVACs®, the electronic voting and counting system; 
developing a new electronic roll mark-off system; 
upgrading the election results system, including the tally room display; and 
enhancing the scanning of ballot papers system. 

System specifications were completed or were in draft form for each of these systems at 
the end of 2009/2010.  The next stage will be to contract the work and commence the software development or upgrade, as appropriate. 
Elections ACT will also continue its usual electoral education, non-parliamentary election and CRU programs.  With negotiations for enterprise agreements having commenced in 2009/2010, it is expected that a number of ballots will occur during the reporting year. 
A redistribution of electoral boundaries will commence as soon as practicable after 21 October 2010, and would expect to be completed in mid to late 2011.  The redistribution process involves an extensive public consultation component. 
The financial outlook for the Commission has improved following the successful 
submission to government for additional recurrent budget funding, enabling the Commission to undertake activities it may not otherwise have been able to fund, including: 
Producing a revised (post-2008 election) edition of the Electoral Compendium; and 
◊ Conducting research on electoral matters, including taking a lead role in developing, with other ECA members, an on-line repository and discussion website on electoral research. Other projects to be undertaken will include: 
Conducting the election of members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body in the first half of 2011; 
Conducting further audits of compliance with the financial disclosure scheme; 
Providing advice to Government and Members of the Legislative Assembly on electoral matters as required; 
Continuing the review and update of the Commission’s information resources, including its printed resources and the Elections ACT website; 
Continuing to contribute to the national review of electoral processes being undertaken by the federal government; and 
Continuing to work with the AEC and the ECA to improve electoral roll maintenance procedures. 

Management discussion and analysis 
This section of the report is intended to provide a high level narrative of the financial results and financial health of the Commission.  These matters are the responsibility of 
the Electoral Commissioner, exercising delegations made under the Financial Management Act 1996 by the chief executive of the JACS portfolio.  The Commission, however, also has an interest in the adequacy or otherwise of the budget to the extent that it enables the Commission’s functions to be met. 
In its 2008/2009 Annual Report, the Commission noted that the budget situation for 
the Commission was expected to become increasingly difficult over the next few years as efficiency dividends take effect.  The continual erosion of the Commission’s budget 
through unfunded increases in salaries and the increasing cost of the joint electoral roll threatened to reach the point where the only option available to the Commission to meet its budget would be to seek additional funding or reduce its salary expenditure.  
During 2009/2010 the Commission successfully sought additional funding from Government for the 2010/2011 Budget process, resulting in an increase in the Commission’s recurrent budget from 2010/2011, and the inclusion in the Budget’s forward year projections of an increased base election budget for the conduct of the 2012 Legislative Assembly election.  This additional funding should meet the concerns expressed by the Commission in 2008/2009. 
As additional funding was not provided to the Commission in 2009/2010, the Commissioner was required to carefully manage the Commission’s expenditure in order to remain within budget. 
The funding provided to the Commission is broken down by JACS into expenditure on 
“variable” and “fixed” items.  The Commissioner has direct control over the variable expenses component, with JACS managing the fixed expenses relating to the Commission. 
Variable expenditure includes salaries, overtime, allowances, leave, superannuation and the operational costs of Elections ACT.  Fixed expenses include workers’ compensation, 
office accommodation, cleaning, utilities, insurance and depreciation.  
Total expenditure under Electoral Services on variable and fixed items exceeded the 
budget for 2009/2010 by approximately $79,000.  However, variable expenditure (that part of the Electoral Services budget over which the Commissioner has direct control) was under the budget allocation by approximately $60,000 (including a saving of $52,000 in “quarantined” superannuation that was not available for the Commission’s use).  Fixed expenses exceeded budget allocation by approximately $140,000, primarily as a result of higher depreciation ($113,000) which is a non-cash item, and occupancy costs associated 
with Elections ACT’s new office accommodation in the North Building. 
This favourable result in the outcome of the variable expenditure was primarily due to the use of the capital funding allocated to the Commission for the upgrade of its election ICT systems.  By using Elections ACT permanent staff as project managers for the ICT systems upgrade, Elections ACT was able to reduce the cost of its permanent staff under its recurrent budget.  However, this strategy had the effect of reducing staff capacity to undertake normal ongoing tasks, as permanent staff were taken off-line to work on the ICT project.  The provision of additional funding for 2010/2011 should enable the Commissioner to employ additional staff to undertake both the additional project work and ongoing tasks. 
The Commission’s total expenditure in 2009/2010 was approximately $1,085,000.  Details of the Commission’s budget and expenditure are included in Table 3 on page 13. 
Financial report 
The Commission does not have financial reporting obligations under the Financial 
Management Act.  The Commission is included in the JACS portfolio for budgetary purposes.  In the departmental structure for 2009/2010, the Commission was included in Output Class 1.6 – Electoral Services. 
The financial transactions for the Commission for the year ending 30 June 2010 are formally reported in the consolidated financial statements of the JACS Annual Report.  The Commission’s financial results have been audited for the purposes of the Audit Act 1989 as part of the JACS portfolio. 
The following table shows the operating costs of the Commission for the reporting year for information purposes only.  This table should be read in conjunction with the 
JACS financial statements shown in its Annual Report.  The table does not include JACS 
corporate overheads charged to electoral services. 
Table 3 — Financial summary for 2009/2010  

Note 1: the total shown does not balance with internal figures in the table due to 
rounding. 
The Commission notes that the budgeted total cost included in the 2009/2010 budget papers for electoral services is shown as $1,140,000.  This includes an allocation of $140,000 for JACS corporate support and other overhead costs.  The Commission notes that this expenditure is effectively a notional allocation of JACS corporate overheads across the business units in the portfolio, and that this cost does not necessarily represent actual expenditure on electoral services overheads by the Department. 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
Statement of performance 
The Commission is not required to prepare an annual statement of performance under the Financial Management Act.  
Discussion of the Commission’s performance indicators is included in this report under Performance indicators on page 6 and under Analysis of agency performance from page 15 to page 42. 
Strategic Indicators 
Reporting against strategic indicators is included in the JACS annual report. The JACS strategic indicators do not relate directly to electoral services. 
Analysis of Agency Performance 
This section reports on activities undertaken in each key result area in 2009/2010 to achieve the Commission’s goals. 
Goal 1 - To conduct high quality elections and referendums 
Performance indicator summary 

ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
KEY RESULT AREA 1.1 ELECTIONS FOR THE ACT LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 
The conduct of the 2008 ACT Legislative Assembly election 
The Commission’s review of the conduct of the October 2008 Legislative Assembly election was provided to the Attorney General on 17 September 2009 and tabled in the Legislative Assembly on 15 October 2009.  
Copies of the Commission’s report can be obtained from the Elections ACT website at www.elections.act.gov.au/publications/pubelection.html. 
The report provides reporting on and analysis of the conduct of the election.  In addition to reporting on the conduct of the 2008 election, the report makes recommendations for changes to electoral legislation with a view to preparations for and the conduct of the 2012 ACT Legislative Assembly election. 
Redevelopment of the Commission’s Information/ Communication Technology systems 
The 2009/2010 Budget included funding for a 4-year program of redevelopment of all the Elections ACT ICT systems. 
The re-development of the electronic voting and counting system, eVACS®, will be a major component of that program.  In particular, the redevelopment program will ensure that electronic voting will be compatible with contemporary hardware.  The election results system will also be redeveloped for the 2012 election with the aim of making the system more robust. 
The progress of the redevelopment is detailed under key result area 3.4 – Information/ communication technology management, on page 40. 
2008 Legislative Assembly election follow-up 
Compulsory voting 
Voting is compulsory for ACT elections.  It is an offence for an enrolled elector to fail to 
vote at an election without a valid and sufficient reason.  The Commission’s 2008/2009 
annual report included details of the follow-up of electors who appeared to have failed to vote at the 2008 ACT election. 
In its 2008/2009 annual report, Elections ACT reported that, at the time of preparing that report, it had been liaising with the ACT Magistrates Court for the issue of summonses to the 496 electors who had failed to reply to the notice of possible prosecution, and to 
those electors who provided a reason that was taken not to be valid and sufficient and 
who have not subsequently paid the failure to vote penalty. 
During 2009/2010 the follow-up of apparent non-voters continued with the issue of summonses to 478 electors.  Following representations from electors, 161 summonses were withdrawn and in 23 cases that had already been heard, application was made to the Court to overturn the conviction.  In these cases, the elector had provided a valid and 
sufficient reason for not voting, albeit very late in the process. 
The following table outlines the court action resulting from the 2008 election, compared with the 2004 election.  Non-voter processes with respect to the 2008 election have now effectively concluded. 
Table 4 – Non-voter court action for the 2004 and 2008 elections 

ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
KEY RESULT AREA 1.2  ELECTION AND REFERENDUM SERVICES TO OTHER AGENCIES 
Elections ACT’s program of providing election and referendum services for other organisations continued in 2009/2010. 
Interstate elections 
Elections ACT provided over-the-counter pre-poll voting, postal vote applications, postal ballot papers and enquiry services for interstate electoral authorities in 2009/2010.  Details of these elections are shown in Table 5. 
No additional costs were incurred by Elections ACT in providing these services.  
Issuing votes and handling enquiries for other electoral jurisdictions at election times provide valuable opportunities for training and benchmarking between jurisdictions. 
Table 5 — Interstate elections 

Statutory and fee-for-service elections 
Health professionals board elections 
Elections ACT conducts elections for ACT health professionals boards under the Health Professionals Regulation 2004. These elections are conducted as postal ballots, generally every 4 years.  Elections ACT provided services for eight such elections in 2009/2010.  Details of these elections are shown in Table 6. 
For health professionals board elections, Elections ACT staff call for candidate nominations and, where the election is contested, send ballot material to eligible practitioners and conduct the count of votes.  The health professionals boards are charged on a fee-forservice basis for the conduct of these elections.  This enables Elections ACT to fully recover its costs, including permanent staff costs, incurred in running health professionals boards elections. 
            ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
Table 6 — Health professionals board election 

Fee-for-service electoral services 
Elections ACT conducts elections and provides other electoral services for other organisations under its power to provide services for determined fees.  
Australian National University elections 
Elections ACT assisted with the Australian National University (ANU) Union annual elections and the ANU Students’ Association (ANUSA) annual elections in 2009.  Details of these elections are shown in Table 7. 
Nominations for the ANU Union elections closed on 21 July, polling was conducted from 3 to 6 August and the results were determined on 6 August.  
For the ANUSA elections, nominations closed on 5 August, polling was from 17 August to 
20 August and final results were determined on 26 August. 
For these elections, Elections ACT provided assistance with receipt and checking of nominations, preparation and printing of ballot papers, operation of polling places at the ANU and the conduct of the count. 
Table 7 — Australian National University elections 

ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
Other elections 
Elections ACT conducted an election for the Board of Directors of the National Press Club in November 2009.  Details of this election are shown in the following table. 
Table 8 — Other elections 

Internet resources 
A series of documents to guide organisations through their own elections is available on the Elections ACT website and include: 
Principles for conducting elections; 
Sample electoral regulations; 
Pro-forma ballot papers; and 
Scrutiny sheets on a spreadsheet where a Hare-Clark count can be calculated automatically. 

Goal 2 - To provide high quality electoral information, education, advice and services 
Performance indicator summary 

                     ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
KEY RESULT AREA 2.1 ELECTORAL INFORMATION AND ADVICE 
Information service 
Elections ACT provides an ongoing information service to the general public through: 
Providing information in person over the counter, by telephone or by email; 
Publishing a range of information booklets and pamphlets; 
Answering written correspondence; and 
Maintaining a comprehensive website. 

Publications 
The following items were published in 2009/2010: 
Report on the ACT Legislative Assembly Election 2008; 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2008/2009; and 
Updated funding and disclosure information booklet covering responsibilities of political parties, associated entities, MLAs and third parties together with the related forms. 

In addition, the following are available from the Commission: 
ACT Electoral Commission Electoral Compendium 1989–2006; 
Two workbooks entitled What is the ACT Legislative Assembly? for primary and secondary school students visiting the Legislative Assembly (November 1999); 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Reports since 1992/1993; 
Election Statistics for the 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2008 elections; 
Review of the Electoral Act 1992 for the 1995, 1998, 2001 and 2004 elections; 
The 2001 ACT Legislative Assembly Election: Electronic Voting and Counting System Review; 
The 2004 ACT Legislative Assembly Election: Electronic Voting and Counting System Review; 
Electronic voting data from the 2001, 2004 and 2008 ACT elections on CD-ROM (on request and payment of fee); 
Electronic voting data from the 2008 ACT election is also available for free downloading from the Elections ACT website; 
Customer commitment statement; 
Freedom of information statements; 
Information brochure on voting in the ACT for new citizens; 
Maps of ACT electorates; 
Various electoral enrolment and voting forms; 

Information Fact Sheets; and 
Redistribution reports, public submissions and statistics for the 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003 and 2007 redistributions. 

Internet 
The Elections ACT website address is www.elections.act.gov.au. This website continued to be maintained and updated in 2009/2010. 
Information and services provided on the website in 2009/2010 included: 
General information about Elections ACT; 
Details of past ACT Legislative Assembly elections, casual vacancies and referendums; 
Information and submissions regarding electoral boundaries; 
Media releases; 
The party register, including details on the registration of political parties; 
Information on the funding and disclosure scheme, including downloadable copies of returns; 
Information for organisations wishing to run their own elections; 
Information for schools to run their own elections; 
A link to the AEC electoral enrolment forms, and other enrolment information; 
Printable copies of the Commission’s publications; and 
Links to electoral legislation, other electoral bodies and ACT agencies. 

Advice 
Providing advice to the Attorney General, Assembly Committees and other MLAs is one 
of the Commission’s most significant tasks.  The Commission also provides advice to 
visiting delegations from other jurisdictions and other countries, makes submissions to Commonwealth parliamentary inquiries and gives presentations at conferences. Examples of advice provided during the year include: 
Advising the Government and Legislative Assembly Members on matters related to the Electoral Act; 
Appearing before the Select Committee on Estimates; 
Appearing before the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs in relation to the Commission’s 2008/2009 annual report; 
Making a submission to the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety inquiry into Campaign Finance Reform, and appearing at a hearing before the Committee; 
Providing comments on the Commonwealth Green Paper No. 2 with respect to electoral reform; and 
Hosting a delegate of the Election Commission of Bhutan. 

Electoral Legislation 
In 2009/2010 the Commission provided the Government with advice on several issues that related to the ACT’s electoral legislation.  These issues included the Commonwealth’s Commonwealth Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Close of Rolls and Other Measures) Bill 2010, introduced into the Australian parliament in February 2010, and the Legislative Assembly’s inquiry into Campaign Finance Reform.  
The Commonwealth also introduced four further electoral related bills into the Australian parliament on 2 June 2010.  Some of the provisions of the February 2010 bill were also included in these four new bills.  Two of the four bills include provisions that have a direct impact on ACT electors.  These two bills are: 
The Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Pre-poll Voting and other Measures) Bill 2010 (the Pre-Poll Bill); and 
The Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Modernisation and other Measures) Bill 2010 (the Modernisation Bill). 

These two bills were subsequently passed by the Australian Parliament on 17 June and 24 June 2010, respectively.  Neither bill had been enacted by the end of the reporting period. 
The Pre-Poll Bill includes a provision that allows for the on-line update of enrolment by electors who are currently enrolled and need to change their enrolled address.  This provision will automatically apply to electors enrolling for ACT Legislative Assembly elections. 
The Modernisation Bill includes a provision that allows for the provisional enrolment of 16 year olds (who will not be able to vote until they turn 18).  This provision will also apply to ACT electors. 
Only one set of amendments to the ACT’s Electoral Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly in 2009/2010. 
The ACT Surveyors Amendment Act 2010 made amendments to the Electoral Act by replacing references to the chief surveyor with references to the surveyor-general.  The amendments took effect on 3 March 2010. 
An amendment to the Electoral Regulation 1993 was also made during the year.  The regulation reduced the amount of information required to be provided by an associated entity in its annual returns under section 231B of the Electoral Act 1992 by excluding the requirement for disclosure of the names and addresses of members where the 
membership fee is less than $50 per financial year. 
KEY RESULT AREA 2.2 ELECTORAL ENROLMENT 
Joint roll arrangement  
Under the ACT/Commonwealth joint roll arrangement the AEC maintains a joint electoral roll for Commonwealth and ACT purposes.  The ACT Electoral Commissioner and 
the Australian Electoral Officer for New South Wales constitute a Joint Management 
Committee, which oversees the operation of the joint roll arrangement. 
The Commissioner pays the AEC a yearly fee for maintaining the joint roll.  This fee is adjusted yearly for CPI and enrolment changes, and is due to be renegotiated every 3 years.  Negotiations on revising the joint roll fee were concluded during 2009/2010 for the period from 2009/2010 to 2011/2012.  A fee of $0.69893 per elector (up from $0.6885 per elector in 2008/2009) was set for 2009/2010.  Joint roll payments for the year totalled $172,026 (excluding GST).  The new rate was calculated by dividing the average of actual costs incurred over previous years by the number of electors on the roll at 30 June 2009, 
and then halving that figure (these costs are shared with the AEC).  
Continuous Roll Update 
CRU is the term used to describe a range of methods used to update the electoral roll.  These methods are described in detail in the Commission’s Annual Report 2002/2003. CRU was introduced nationally in 1999.  
Change of address data provided by Centrelink, Australia Post, the Office of Regulatory 
Services (rental bond and death data), the ACT Motor Registry, the ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies and ActewAGL continued to be used in 2009/2010 to generate letters to households where electors may need to update their enrolment.  This constituted the main enrolment stimulation activity during 2009/2010, supplemented with targeted activity such as: 
Sending birthday cards to 17 and 18 year olds on a weekly basis inviting them to enrol; 
The national enrol to vote week from 27 July to 2 August 2009; and 
The national enrol to vote week from 17 to 23 May 2010. 

With the next federal election expected in the second half of 2010, the AEC highlighted that there were approximately 1.4 million people who were not on the national electoral roll, including approximately 15,000 in the ACT.  It is expected that the 21 August 2010 federal election will provide a stimulus for people to enrol or update their enrolment. 
Two amendments made by the Commonwealth government to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 in June 2010, but not implemented as at 30 June 2010, will impact on the enrolment of electors on the ACT electoral roll. 
The first amendment will enable those electors already enrolled to update their address 
on the roll by electronic means. In practice, this will mean that they will be able to update their address on-line at the AEC website.  It is anticipated that this facility will result in a more accurate roll, as it will be a much easier and quicker method for electors to update 
their address than the current requirement to fill in, sign and post or fax an enrolment 
form. 
The second amendment will allow for the provisional enrolment of 16 year olds on the electoral roll.  Currently 17 year olds can enrol and then vote once they turn 18.  Allowing 16 year olds to enrol (but not vote until they are 18) will enhance the ability of the AEC and the ACT Electoral Commission to target young people in schools, other educational institutions and at youth events.  This initiative is aimed at addressing the under-enrolment of young people. 
Completeness and accuracy of the ACT electoral roll 
As noted in the 2008/2009 annual report, the percentage turnout of voters for the 2008 election (90.4%) was less than the performance target (92.0%) and the turnout for the 2004 election (92.8%).  The annual report also noted that voter turnout is currently measured by comparing the number of voters with the number of electors on the electoral roll, and that it is apparent that the turnout result is dependent to a large extent on the accuracy and completeness of the electoral roll.  At the same time the Commission recognises that the estimated number of eligible citizens is also subject to the limitations of the input data for such estimates. 
That annual report also reflected on indications that this apparent drop in voter 
participation was due in part to a change in roll management practices adopted by the AEC in 2007.  That change was the adoption by the AEC of a policy of delaying the removal of electors from the roll where the AEC was aware that an elector had left their enrolled address, while attempting to contact the elector at their new address and secure an updated enrolment at that new address.  Before this policy was introduced, electors were more likely to be removed from the roll earlier where the AEC was aware the elector had left their address.  As a result of that policy change, it appeared that the roll for the 
2008 election may have been inflated with the names of electors who had left the ACT, 
but who in past years would have been removed from the rolls before the election.  
These indications as reported in the 2008/2009 annual report appear to have been 
confirmed with over 10,500 being removed from the roll in 2009/2010 as having left their 
address.  This large number of deletions, together with the usual cyclical post-election (both federal and ACT) year reduction in additions to the roll has resulted in a decline in enrolment between 30 June 2009 and 30 June 2010, both in actual numbers and in percentage enrolment terms.  While on the surface this appears to be a poor result, it 
should be remembered that the enrolment figures appear to have been inflated at the 
2008 ACT election and at 30 June 2009.  The result may be a return to a more normal position at 30 June 2010.  However, the percentage enrolment of 93.6% at 30 June 2010 
does not meet the expected target of 95%.  This is reflective of the national trend of 
general under-enrolment, although the ACT result is better than the national average. 
The following table shows actual enrolment figures by age group as at 19 September 2008 
(the date of the close of rolls for the 2008 Legislative Assembly election), 30 June 2009 and 30 June 2010, compared to estimates of the eligible population in those groups.  The eligible population excludes estimated numbers of non-citizens and other people ineligible to enrol in the ACT.  
The ACT roll has declined from 245,024 at 30 June 2009 to 242,415 at 30 June 2010.  The percentage enrolment has declined from 97.0% to 93.6%. 
The table indicates that the proportion of 18 year-olds enrolled in the ACT has decreased from a high of 79.9% at the close of rolls for the 2008 election (after increasing from 61.0% at 30 June 2008) to 60.5% at 30 June 2009, to 69.3% at 30 June 2010, although 
this latter figure is an improvement on 30 June 2009.  This outcome is consistent with 
observed trends that indicate that high proportions of young people do not enrol unless an election is imminent.  It is probable that the increase in participation observed in 2010 was due in part to increased publicity of the likelihood of a federal election being held later in 2010. 
The percentage of enrolment in every age group, except for 18 year olds, has declined from 30 June 2009 and 30 June 2010.  This is indicative of the high level of enrolment 
following the federal election in November 2007 which was reflected in the close of rolls figures, and the enrolment stimulation activities undertaken throughout calendar year 
2008 prior to the 2008 ACT election, and the low enrolment stimulation activity following 
the ACT Legislative Assembly election in 2008.  As noted above, it also reflects the 
change of policy by the AEC not to remove people from the roll until attempts had been made to contact them to update their enrolment, with a large number of those being removed from the roll in 2009/2010. 
Table 9 — Enrolment by age group 2008-2009 

Note 1:  19 September 2008 was the date of the close of rolls for the 2008 Legislative Assembly election. 
Note 2:  As 17 year old enrolment is voluntary, the number of 17 year olds and the percentage of those eligible for this age group are not included in the calculation of the total for the ACT for 30 June 2009 and 2010.  
Note 3:  This includes 266 17 year old electors who turned 18 after the close of rolls and on or before polling day, and were therefore entitled to vote.  There were other 17 year olds enrolled at this date, but who were not 18 years old on or before polling day – these electors are not included in this column.  
The percentages in the above table showing the proportion of electors who are actually enrolled compared to the estimated number of people eligible to enrol need to be treated with caution as they are based on various assumptions about residency and eligibility.  The estimates for the 2 years shown are post-censal estimates based on 2006 census data updated by birth and death registrations, and estimated interstate and overseas migration.  The fact that some age groups show participation rates greater than 100% is 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
likely to be due to the nature of the estimates, and because the AEC delays the removal of people from the roll, where it has information that people may have left their enrolled address, pending further investigation of these enrolments. 
Electoral Council of Australia 
The ECA is a consultative council of Electoral Commissioners from the electoral authorities of the Commonwealth, States and Territories. 
The ECA considers issues related to the maintenance of the electoral rolls, the operation of new electoral legislation, best practice in the management of elections and other matters of common interest.  The ACT Electoral Commissioner attended 2 of the 3 meetings held during 2009/2010, while the Deputy Electoral Commissioner attended the third. 
Main issues discussed by the ECA in 2009/2010 included the management of the joint electoral rolls, the continuing Commonwealth Government’s green paper process aimed at a joint Commonwealth, State and Territory approach to reforming and modernising electoral processes, and opportunities for cooperation between jurisdictions, particularly with respect to research. 
State and Territory Electoral Commissioners meetings 
Since 2007 the State and Territory Electoral Commissioners have convened their own forum to: 
discuss and consider electoral policy and operational matters of mutual interest; 
promote best practice electoral administration by considering policies and procedures within Australia and overseas electoral jurisdictions; 
promote and/or undertake research into contemporary electoral issues aimed at improving access and equality for all eligible electors; 
encourage mutual and co-operative development and sharing of information technology electoral administration systems and intellectual property associated with such systems and procedures to minimise costs to each member; 
publish or distribute any reports or research and may seek input from any person or organisation that it considers appropriate; and 
work co-operatively with the Electoral Council of Australia (ECA) on relevant matters. 

The State and Territory Electoral Commissioners met twice in 2009/2010.  Issues discussed included electronic electoral rolls in polling places, web-based training of polling 
officials, performance assessment and recruitment of polling officials. 
KEY RESULT AREA 2.3 ELECTORAL EDUCATION 
Electoral education program 
The key objectives of the Commission’s electoral education program are: 
To ensure that the voters of the ACT know at election time when the election is to be held, where and when they can vote, how to vote and when a timely, accurate and transparent result is expected; and 
To facilitate school and community programs that place elections within a civics and citizenship framework, illustrate the process of the Hare-Clark electoral system and encourage enrolment. 

Elections ACT staff provide ongoing electoral education to school, community and professional groups.  This activity is aimed primarily at raising community awareness of the ACT’s electoral system.  Sessions include mock elections for school and community groups, conduct of school representative council elections and public service seminars. 
Elections ACT has a dedicated electoral education/information officer with formal teaching qualifications.  Other Elections ACT staff also assist with the conduct of electoral 
education sessions. 
The Commission’s education sessions are often conducted in cooperation with the 
Legislative Assembly Education Officer at the Assembly.  Participants at these sessions 
are shown how the Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected and how the Assembly functions.  The Assembly has prepared audio-visual material that includes material on the electoral system.  An education session can be taken into schools using these same materials. 
The following table lists electoral education sessions conducted by Elections ACT staff in 2008/2009 and 2009/2010.  

In addition to conducting face-to-face education sessions, Elections ACT has developed a range of printed electoral education resources for distribution to schools and community groups.  This material is primarily aimed at providing teachers with the ability to conduct electoral education in their own classrooms.  This service is a contribution to an Australia-wide incorporation of electoral education and civics education into compulsory school curricula. 
All electoral education material is available from the Elections ACT website. 
A campaign to encourage secondary schools to elect members to their Student Representative Council by conducting their own elections using the Hare-Clark system 
                     ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
continued in 2009/2010. 
A series of documents is available on the website to guide teachers through the electoral process so they can run their own school elections.  The documents include: 
Instructions on the election process, the voting system, election day and counting the votes; 
A nomination form; 
Ballot papers; and 
A scrutiny sheet that calculates the Hare-Clark system automatically. 

The Commission’s education program is promoted, in conjunction with the Legislative Assembly, by direct mail-out to schools and by referral from other organisations. A review of the program commenced in 2009/2010 and is expected to conclude in 2010/2011. 
Elections ACT continued its relationship with the ACT Department of Education and Training in the area of curriculum development.  A new curriculum framework was implemented in ACT schools in 2008 including a detailed Essential Learning Achievement titled “The student understands and values what it means to be a citizen within a democracy”. Information on Elections ACT education resources and education services was presented to a Teachers’ Professional Development Day attended by teachers from four colleges and to the Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) Teachers’ Network to assist teachers in programming for this Essential Learning Achievement. 
KEY RESULT AREA 2.4 OTHER ELECTORAL STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS 
Registration of political parties 
The Electoral Commissioner keeps the register of political parties for the purposes of ACT Legislative Assembly elections. 
At 1 July 2009, there were 9 parties on the register of political parties. 
The Electoral Act provides that the Commissioner must cancel the registration of a party on the request of the secretary of the party.  Two registered parties requested deregistration during the reporting year. 
In a letter to the Commissioner dated 20 October 2009, the secretary of the Richard Mulcahy Canberra Party requested that the party be removed from the list of registered parties for the ACT.  The necessary instrument was prepared and the cancellation of the registration of the party took effect from 20 November 2009. 
In a letter to the Commissioner dated 28 January 2010, the secretary of Free Range Canberra requested that the party be deregistered in the ACT.  The necessary instrument was prepared and the cancellation of the registration of the party took effect from 5 February 2010. 
An application to change the name of the registered officer of the Australian Labor Party 
(ACT Branch) was received during the reporting year.  The application was publicly 
notified, as required by the Electoral Act, inviting any objections to the change.  As no 
objections were received, the register of political parties was amended accordingly.  There were no other changes to the register of political parties during the year.  
As at 30 June 2010, the following 7 parties were listed on the register of political parties. 

            ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
Funding and disclosure scheme 
Election funding 
The ACT scheme for public funding is a formula based direct entitlement scheme, involving automatic payments to parties and candidates calculated by multiplying the 
total number of first preference votes received by a prescribed amount, adjusted each 
six months by the all groups consumer price index issued by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.  The prescribed amount for the 2008 election was 147.722 cents per eligible vote.  The amount that applied for the July 2009 to December 2009 period was 151.365 cents per eligible vote, for the January to June 2010 period was 153.551 cents per eligible vote, and for the July to December 2010 period is 155.737 cents per eligible vote. 
There were no public funding payments made in the 2009/2010 year.  
Annual returns 
Under the funding and disclosure provisions of the Electoral Act, registered political parties, MLAs and associated entities were required to lodge an annual return for the 
2008/2009 financial year by October 2009.  As 2009 was not an election year, persons 
who donated more than $1000 to a party, MLA or associated entity were required to lodge their annual returns by November 2009. 
For the 2008/2009 financial year, 9 annual returns were received from political parties, 25 from MLAs, 1 from an associated entity and 72 from donors.  Of the 25 returns from MLAs, 8 were from former Members who were either not elected at, or did not contest, the 2008 election. 
These returns were made public on 2 February 2010.  Copies of the returns can be viewed at the Elections ACT website. 
The following table shows a summary of the receipts, payments and debts for the 3 
parliamentary parties and other parties for the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 financial years. 
Note 2008/2009 figures are subject to updating following audits underway at the time of 
reporting.  
The total of receipts and of payments for 2008/2009 are the largest amounts in these categories since reporting began.  The highest totals of receipts generally occur during 
the financial year that includes an Assembly election or a federal election.  
The following tables show the totals of receipts, payments and debts for ACT election 
financial years since 1994/1995. 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010

Table 14 – Summary of payments made by registered parties from annual returns for ACT election years 

            ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
Public funding of parties compared to private funding 
The following table shows the sources of funding by the three parliamentary parties 
for the 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 financial years, broken down into private and public 
funding, and the private funding further broken down into those funds for which the donor is disclosed and the amount for which the donor is not disclosed.  
Note 1: The disclosure threshold for 2007/2008 was $1,500 and for 2008/09 was $1,000 
Note 2: Public funding is received from the ACT or Australian Electoral Commissions under relevant public funding schemes 
Note 3: Private funding – disclosed is the total amount declared where the person making the payment, and the amount, is disclosed 
Note 3: Private funding – undisclosed is the total amount declared where the person making the payment, and the amount, is not disclosed 
The information in the above table demonstrates that there is a substantial amount of funding received by the registered parties with respect to which the donor is not known.  Audits of party returns show that much of this amount is made up of small donations, parliamentary levies, membership fees and fundraising activities where the individual amounts paid are less than the disclosure threshold.  Parties are required to disclose only the identity of those people/organisations making individual payments of $1,000 or more as a single amount.  However, some of the amounts received are from people/ organisations making a number of payments of less than the threshold that when summed add to more than the threshold.  If these payments that sum to more than $1,000 are donations, the donor is required to lodge a return with the Commissioner. 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
The Commission observes that the aggregate level of public funding provided to political parties and candidates (based on a payment per vote) has lagged well behind aggregate 
actual declared expenditure on election campaigning.  While there are significant 
differences between parties, in general, expenditure by the major parties has grown much more rapidly than public funding, but for smaller parties and independents public 
funding can still provide a significant proportion of their funding.  The Commission 
notes that Graphs 1 and 2 below show that, particularly at the most recent elections, the level of public funding provided has been considerably outstripped by the level of expenditure in most cases.  Graph 1 shows a graphical comparison of the overall public funding payments and election expenditure at ACT elections from 1995 to 2008.  This Graph indicates that the gap between public funding provided and expenditure incurred has increased dramatically over time, with this gap growing from $164,773 in 1995 to $2,054,119 in 2008.  Graph 2 shows a graphical comparison of the public funding received by each party and candidate at the 2008 election compared to their declared expenditure. This Graph shows that the bulk of the expenditure undertaken in addition to the public funding provided was made by the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party. 
More detailed information and analysis is in the Commission’s Report on the ACT Legislative Assembly Election – 2008, which is available from the Commission’s website at www.elections.act.gov.au. 
Graph 1 – Total public funding compared to election expenditure, 1995-2008 elections 

Graph 2 – Public funding compared to election expenditure by party, 2008 election 

Audit of 2008/2009 annual returns 
In early 2010 the Commissioner engaged auditors to undertake an audit of the 2008/2009 annual returns of the Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch), the Liberal Party of Australia 
(A.C.T. Division), The ACT Greens and the Canberra Labor Club.  As at 30 June 2010 a 
draft report of the audit had been received.  While some matters identified in the draft 
report required follow-up by the auditors, and by the parties and the Canberra Labor Club, the matters are not of a nature that would lead the Commissioner to consider further action. 
Redistribution of electoral boundaries 
The Electoral Act requires a redistribution of ACT Legislative Assembly electoral boundaries to commence as soon as practicable after the start of the period 2 years before each scheduled general election for the Assembly. 
The most recent redistribution of boundaries was completed in September 2007 and the boundaries determined were those used at the 2008 election. 
The next redistribution is due to commence as soon as practical after 21 October 2010. 
Goal 3 - To support high quality electoral services by efffective management 
Performance indicator summary 

            ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
KEY RESULT AREA 3.1 HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 
Continuous improvement 
Elections ACT endeavours to foster an environment of continuous improvement and strives to provide satisfying work and development opportunities for its staff. 
Permanent staff are encouraged to pursue secondments to other agencies to contribute to international, interstate and national electoral projects and to develop new skills through on-the-job training and external training courses. 
During 2009/2010, Elections ACT staff had several opportunities to undertake a range of learning and development activities (see Learning and Development on page 56). 
Elections ACT also uses industrial democracy to enhance the quality of work for Elections ACT staff.  As Elections ACT is a small organisation, all staff meet in regular forums to participate in decision-making processes.  These include regular staff meetings and corporate and strategic planning workshops. 
In early 2009/2010, Elections ACT staff held a planning session focusing on forward planning for the next four years.  Further planning sessions were held to review and update this plan. 
Planning sessions were also held to begin the processes for the redevelopment of the Elections ACT ICT business systems, capital funding for which was provided in the 2009/2010 Budget. 
All Elections ACT staff had a performance management plan for 2009/2010. The plans incorporated a formal review schedule, with one-on-one performance reviews. 
For further information on human resources management in Elections ACT and in particular staff improvement and development opportunities, see pages 53 to 56. 
KEY RESULT AREA 3.2 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 
The Commission is included in the JACS portfolio for budgetary purposes.  However, the Commission continues to manage and monitor its internal operating budget performance. In 2009/2010, the Commission’s expenditure was over budget by approximately $79,000. 
Analysis of the Commission’s budget performance in 2009/2010 is included above under Management discussion and analysis on page 12.  
The Shared Services Unit of the Department of Treasury has responsibility for processing 
all the Commission’s finances on the Commission’s behalf.  
See Financial report on page 13 for more information on the Commission’s finances. 
KEY RESULT AREA 3.3 RECORDS MANAGEMENT 
As required by the Territory Records Act 2002, Elections ACT has in place a records management program. 
Elections ACT has an identified Records Management Policy that has been approved by the Electoral Commissioner as the agency’s Principal Officer.  Records management 
procedures have been created and implemented.  Appropriate training has been provided to staff. 
Elections ACT has its own internal files as well as ACT Registry Files. 
All active files, including internal and ACT Registry files, are stored within the Elections ACT office.  Inactive files that are to be stored long-term in accordance with the 
Commission’s Records Disposal Schedule are archived by ACT Registry.  An in-house 
database records the names and details of all files held by Elections ACT.  
Elections ACT’s electronic records are stored on a centralised server maintained by InTACT, the ACT Government information technology management agency.  InTACT is responsible for backing-up Elections ACT’s data. 
Elections ACT does not create or hold records containing information that may allow people to establish links with their Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage. 
The Elections ACT Records Disposal Schedule is listed on the ACT Legislation Register as follows: 

ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
KEY RESULT AREA 3.4 INFORMATION/COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT 
ICT applications 
Since the conduct of the Commission’s first election in 1995, Elections ACT has 
progressively introduced a range of information and communications technologies aimed at better, faster electoral services to the ACT community.  Elections ACT has led Australia in the adoption of many electoral ICT innovations, notably the electronic voting and counting system introduced at the 2001 election and the ballot paper scanning system introduced at the 2008 election. 
Elections ACT continues to maintain a wide range of databases and other ICT applications. In 2009/2010, Elections ACT, working closely with InTACT, commenced a review of all current ICT business systems in preparation for a series of redevelopment and upgrade projects aimed at preparing the suite of applications and systems for use at the 2012 ACT Legislative Assembly election. 
The business systems involved in the ICT Business Systems upgrade project are: 
eVACS® - Elections ACT’s Electronic Voting and Counting System; 
The Ballot Paper Scanning System; 
The Election Results System; 
The Electronic Certified List Mark-off System; and 
TIGER – Elections ACT’s Election Management System. 

Another significant ICT project in 2009/2010 included the commencement of a project 
designed to create an online voting system for use by Elections ACT when running fee-forservice elections for ACT organisations. 
ICT resources 
InTACT, the ACT Government information technology management agency, continued to provide ICT resources to Elections ACT in 2009/2010. 
Internet 
Elections ACT continued to maintain and update the Elections ACT website during 2009/2010, with all work being completed in-house.  The Elections ACT website address is www.elections.act.gov.au. 
For more detail on the Elections ACT website see Information service on page 21. 
Triple Bottom Line Report 
The ACT Government is committed to initiatives to shape the development of a sustainable ACT, with sustainable ACT Government operations at its heart.  The ACT Government framework for sustainability is laid out in People, Place, Prosperity, which was updated in 2009.  People, Place, Prosperity uses a triple bottom line approach to sustainability, recognising the interdependence of social, economic and environmental well-being. 
All ACT agencies have been directed to use the following table format. The table sets out performance in 2009-10 and 2008-09 for comparison.  The table gives the percentage change in the 2009-10 result relative to the 2008-09 result. 

            ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
Part B Consultation and scrutiny reporting 
Community engagement 44 Internal and external scrutiny 44 Legislative Assembly Committee inquiries & reports 44 Legislation Report 45 
Community engagement 
This section is intended to outline major or significant community consultations undertaken 
during the year. 
An ACT Legislative Assembly election can be taken to be a community consultation process.  The Electoral Act also requires Elections ACT to consult the community in the lead-up to each Assembly election in relation to various statutory processes.  The next Assembly election is in October 2012 
The electoral boundaries redistribution process undertaken in the lead-up to every ACT 
Legislative Assembly election is one of the most significant community consultation 
activities carried out by the Commission in the election cycle.  The next redistribution process is expected to commence in 2010/2011.  See Redistribution of electoral boundaries on page 36. 
Applications to register a political party or to change the register of political parties 
must be publicly notified, and members of the public have the right to object to such 
applications.  This process is discussed above under Registration of political parties on page 30.  
Elections ACT also consults with stakeholders through its Electronic Election Systems Reference Group (formerly the Electronic Voting and Counting System Reference Group), consisting of representatives of political parties, MLAs and other special interest groups.  The Commissioner expects to convene this group early in 2010/2011 as part of the redevelopment of its ICT systems. 
Internal and external scrutiny 
The Commission was not subject to significant internal or external scrutiny in 2009/2010. 
Legislative Assembly Committee inquiries & reports 
The Commission made a submission to the ACT Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety inquiry into Campaign Finance Reform in 2009/2010. The Electoral Commissioner also represented the Commission at a hearing of the Committee.  The committee inquiry was continuing at 30 June 2010. 
The Electoral Commissioner also represented the Commission at hearings of the following committees: 
The Select Committee on Estimates; and 
The Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety in relation to the Commission’s 2008/2009 annual report. 

The Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety presented its report number 4 titled Report on Annual and Financial Reports 2008-2009 in February 2010.  The report made one recommendation with respect to the Commission’s reporting as follows: 
Recommendation 24 
That the ACT Electoral Commission include in future annual reports more information 
and analysis about election funding, annual returns and election returns. 
The Commission has provided more information on these matters in this annual report commencing at page 31. 

Legislation Report 
The Commission and the Electoral Commissioner are responsible for the conduct of the elections and referendums and for the provision of electoral advice and services under the following legislation: 
Electoral Act 1992; 
Electoral Regulation 1993; 
Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1994; 
Proportional Representation (Hare-Clark) Entrenchment Act 1994; 
Health Professionals Regulation 2004; and 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008. 

The Commission’s role in providing advice on amendments to this legislation is discussed above at Electoral Legislation on page 23. 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010

Part C 
Legislative and policy based reporting 
Risk management & internal audit 48 Fraud prevention 48 Public interest disclosure 48 Freedom of information 49 Internal accountability 52 Human resources performance 53 
Staffing profile 54 
Learning and development 56 Workplace health and safety 57 Workplace relations 57 Strategic asset management 57 Capital works 58 Government contracting 58 Community grants/assistance/sponsorship 58 Territory records 58 Human Rights Act 2004 58 Commissioner for the Environment 59 ACT multicultural strategy 59 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reporting 60 Ecologically sustainable development 61 ACT Women’s Plan 64 Model litigant guidelines 64 
Risk management & internal audit 
Under the direction of the Electoral Commissioner, Elections ACT undertakes risk management assessments for all its major projects and contracts.  The Commission takes a strategic interest in these assessments where they bear on its statutory duties. During the reporting period the Commission and Elections ACT continued the task of assessing 
risks as part of the preparation of business requirements and specifications for the 
development or re-development of its ICT election systems. 
As Elections ACT is too small to undertake its own internal audit processes, it takes part in the JACS internal audit arrangements.  See the JACS Annual Report for details on these arrangements. 
The Commission’s finances are also audited as part of the JACS portfolio. 
Fraud prevention 
Prevention strategies 
This is a matter for which the Electoral Commissioner is responsible.  Elections ACT employed the following fraud prevention strategies in 2009/2010: 
Adherence to fraud prevention procedures in office administration; 
Inclusion of fraud prevention procedures in the Commission’s operational plans; 
Avoidance of potential conflicts of interests; 
Analysis of risk assessments in all major contracts; 
Use of a code of conduct relating to the use of information technology, particularly as it relates to electoral roll information; 
Secure storage of ballot material for all elections; and 
Secure website. 

Elections ACT also continued to work closely with the AEC and the ECA on strategies and performance measures related to detection and prevention of electoral enrolment fraud.  
Detection strategies 
Elections ACT’s election procedures include many mechanisms designed to provide for transparency.  In particular, scrutineers appointed by candidates are entitled to be present throughout polling and the count for Legislative Assembly elections and for most fee-for-service elections. 
There were no reports or allegations of fraud or corruption received in 2009/2010. 
Public interest disclosure 
The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1994 requires each ACT Government agency to establish and maintain procedures to facilitate the making of public interest disclosures.  The Commission has adopted procedures implemented by JACS. 
During 2009/2010 no public interest disclosures related to the Commission were lodged. 
Freedom of information 
Section 7 statement 
Section 7 of the Freedom of Information Act 1989 (the FOI Act) requires agencies to publish a statement showing functions of the agency, how the public can participate in the work of the agency, categories of documents in the possession of the agency, and facilities provided for access to the agency’s documents. 
The Chairperson of the Commission is the principal officer of the Commission for the 
purposes of the FOI Act in relation to functions and powers vested in the Commission. 
The Electoral Commissioner is the principal officer of the office of the Electoral 
Commissioner for the purposes of the FOI Act in relation to functions and powers vested in the Electoral Commissioner. 
Establishment and powers 
The ACT Electoral Commission is an independent statutory authority established by the Electoral Act 1992. 
The Commission and the Electoral Commissioner exercise powers under the Electoral Act, the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1994, the Health Professionals Act 2004 and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008. 
Arrangements for external participation 
There are several avenues available under the Electoral Act for external participation in electoral matters. 
Members of the public are invited to make suggestions, comments and objections regarding proposed changes to electoral boundaries; 
Members of the public are invited to lodge objections to applications for registration of political parties; 
An elector may object to the enrolment of a person on the grounds that the person is not entitled to enrolment; and 
Approaches from the community on any electoral matter are welcomed by the Commission. 

Documents 
Extracts, updated at least once each year, from the ACT electoral roll are made available 
for public inspection (but not purchase) without charge at the office of the Commission. 
Lists of registered practitioners eligible to vote in health professionals boards elections are 
made available for public inspection (but not purchase) without charge at the office of the 
Commission during the relevant election period. Records related to the issue of declaration votes for ACT Legislative Assembly elections are 
made available for public inspection (but not purchase) without charge at the office of the 
Commission during the relevant election period. The following documents are available for inspection and purchase: 
The register of political parties; 
Annual returns of donations, expenditure and debts submitted by political parties, MLAs, associated entities and donors; and 
Election returns of donations and expenditure submitted by political parties, candidates, broadcasters and publishers, donors and other political participants. 

The documents listed under Publications on page 21 are provided free of charge (except for electronic voting data on CD-ROM; however this data is available for free download from the Elections ACT website). 
Facilities for access 
Publicly available documents can be obtained from Elections ACT’s office.  FOI requests should be directed to the Deputy Electoral Commissioner.  
Most items are also available on the Elections ACT website at www.elections.act.gov.au. 
Section 8 Statement 
Section 8 of the FOI Act requires the Commission to publish a statement of documents used for the purpose of making decisions or recommendations.  This statement is available on request and is included on the Elections ACT website at www.elections.act.gov.au/ about/foi.html and in the statement published by JACS. 
Section 79 Statement 
Section 79 of the FOI Act states that each responsible Minister must prepare an annual report on the operation of the FOI Act in relation to each agency for which the Minister is responsible. 
The Commission did not receive any FOI requests in 2009/2010, nor were any FOI matters outstanding at 1 July 2009. 
Contact officer 
For further information about the ACT Electoral Commission, FOI or any other matters raised in this annual report, contact: 
The Electoral Commissioner ACT Electoral Commission Ground Floor, North Building London Circuit, Civic Square Canberra City ACT 2601 
Telephone: (02) 6205 0033 Fax: (02) 6205 0382 Or write to: PO Box 272, Civic Square ACT 2608 Or email: elections@act.gov.au Website: 
www.elections.act.gov.au 
Internal accountability 
As a very small agency, the Commission does not have complex internal accountability structures and processes. 
The full Commission, consisting of the Chairperson, the Electoral Commissioner and the third Member, oversees the operation of the Commission, sets general directions and approves reports to the Legislative Assembly.  The Commission adopted new internal governance guidelines in 2006/2007. 
Under the Electoral Act, the Commission is also responsible for undertaking internal 
reviews of a range of decisions that can be made in the first instance by the 
Commissioner or by his or her delegate.  
The full Commission forms part of the Augmented Electoral Commission, together with the members of a redistribution committee.  The Augmented Electoral Commission 
considers objections to proposed electoral boundaries and makes final determinations of 
electorate names and boundaries. 
The Electoral Commissioner performs the legislative role of chief executive officer of the 
Commission.  The Commissioner is empowered to make a wide range of decisions under the Electoral Act and the Public Sector Management Act.  The Commissioner generally approves all major projects undertaken by Elections ACT staff, including contracts, legislative instruments, publications and memorandums of understanding for fee-forservice elections.  The Commissioner also carries a delegation under the Financial Management Act 1996 to commit expenditure up to the limit of the Commission’s budget. 
The Deputy Electoral Commissioner performs a range of management functions in 
support of the Commissioner, including contracts manager, funding and financial 
disclosure manager and registrar of political parties.  The Deputy Electoral Commissioner carries a standing delegation to perform the Commissioner’s functions should the Commissioner be unavailable. 
The Commission’s management structure is described under Organisational Structure on page 4.  Details of the Commission’s corporate and operational plans can be found at Corporate Plan 2009-2013 on page 5.  Details of the Commission’s performance reporting arrangements can be found at Performance indicators at page 6. 
Remuneration of the Commission members is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal. 
For administrative purposes the Commission is an independent statutory authority within 
the Justice and Community Safety portfolio.  The Commissioner exercises financial 
powers under the Financial Management Act as a delegate of the Chief Executive of the Department of Justice and Community Safety, who retains legislative responsibility for and maintains an oversight role of the Commission’s budget.  The Commissioner is a member of the Department’s consultative management committee, JACSCOM, and the 
JACS Statutory Officer Holders Forum. 
Human resources performance 
Elections ACT is a small agency with a small permanent work force.  
There were no changes to the number of permanent staff employed by Elections ACT in 2009/2010.  During the year, one staff member was appointed to a permanent position in Elections ACT to replace a staff member who had transferred to another agency. With the injection of capital funding for the upgrade of the elections IT systems, two permanent staff members undertook project management training which, together with their electoral experience and expertise, enabled them to act as the project managers for the projects involved in the upgrade. Due to budget constraints, Elections ACT opted to not 
backfill one of the positions. The other position was backfilled by another officer. However, this officer’s position was only partially backfilled for a short period of time. An additional 
staff member was appointed part-time on short-term contract from April to June 2010 for this purpose. 
Casual staff are employed by the Commissioner as required to assist with fee-for-service elections and other State general elections. 
Elections ACT maintains an in-house database of applicants for casual and temporary 
employment.  Casual staff appointed under the Electoral Act, including polling officials, 
are employed following a merit selection process based on equal employment opportunity principles, previous experience and performance ratings. 
Staffing profile 
The following tables set out details of permanent staff employed during 2009/2010, including the Electoral Commissioner.  As required by the annual report directions, the 
figures presented are as at pay 26, 21 June 2010. The tables do not include the 2 part-
time Commission Members or the various casual and temporary staff employed during the year to assist with the conduct of other elections. 

Table 21 - Employment type 

Table 23 - Employment category by gender 

                          ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 

Table 26 - Age profile 

ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
Learning and development 
During 2009/2010, Elections ACT permanent staff participated in learning and development activities, including attending various courses and seminars. To facilitate Elections ACT’s learning and development strategy, each staff member is allocated an average of $1,000 in the Commission’s budget each year.  
Each Elections ACT staff member maintains a formal personal achievement and development plan.  These plans are regularly reviewed. Through weekly meetings with all staff, the Commissioner also monitors and updates Elections ACT’s performance as a team. 
The ACT Government introduced a new initiative for young people working in the ACT Public Service. The Young Professionals’ Network (YPN) aims to connect young professionals across the ACT Public Service through professional development and training events. Elections ACT had one employee who was a member of the YPN during 2009/2010. 
Learning and development opportunities undertaken in 2009/2010 are shown in the following table. 

            ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
Workplace health and safety 
In all of its activities Elections ACT gives careful consideration to occupational health and safety (OH&S) principles and practices.  Elections ACT has adopted the JACS OH&S policy and has access to JACS OH&S representatives.  During 2009/2010, Elections ACT staff also participated in JACS health and wellbeing programs including the health expo. 
Incoming post is scanned by the ACT Government Registry before being opened by Elections ACT staff. 
Elections ACT has two fire wardens, one designated first aid officer and one staff member 
undertaking the role of deputy health and safety representative for the designated work group which the organisation is part of.  
A number of OH&S initiatives were undertaken during the 2009/2010 period including: 
◊ A workplace safety inspection by the deputy health and safety representative which identified a small number of hazards, most of which were quickly and easily remedied 
at no cost to the organisation; 
Insertion of a small window in a solid door that had been identified as a hazard to through traffic; 
Information session for all staff with a physiotherapist to identify and address workstation and work habit hazards; 
Replacement of all office chairs due to their age and condition; and 
Purchase of protective gloves for use when shifting furniture or similar items to avoid injuries. 

There were no workers compensation claims during the reporting period. 
Workplace relations 
Collective agreements 
The Justice and Community Safety Union Collective Agreement 2007-2010 was lodged with the Workplace Authority on 30 November 2007 and became operational from that day.  The Electoral Commissioner is a signatory to this Agreement, which covers Elections ACT staff employed under the Public Sector Management Act. 
Australian Workplace Agreements 
No Elections ACT staff were employed under an Australian Workplace Agreement. 
Special Employment Arrangements 
No Elections ACT staff were employed under a Special Employment Arrangement. 
Strategic asset management 
Elections ACT’s assets, accommodation details and energy reduction strategies are included in the JACS asset management strategy and reported on in the JACS Annual Report. 
To assist with tracking computing and office equipment Elections ACT uses the InTACT ATLAS system, which is updated to reflect any equipment changes. 
Capital works 
The Commission did not undertake any capital works projects in 2009/2010. 
Government contracting 
Procurement principles and processes 
The processes used to select and manage all contractors during 2009/2010 complied with the Government Procurement Act 2001 and the ACT Government Procurement Principles and Procurement Circulars. 
External sources of labour and services 
In 2009/2010, the Commissioner did not enter into any reportable contracts for labour and services that exceeded $20,000 for the reporting period. 
An amount of $5,522 was spent on services involving contracts of less than the $20,000 reporting threshold.  These services were for professional auditing of the funding and disclosure returns. 

Community grants/assistance/sponsorship 
The Commission does not fund or receive community grants, assistance or sponsorship. 
Territory records 
A description of the Commission’s compliance with the Territory Records Act is set out at Key result area 3.3 – Records management on page 39. 
Human Rights Act 2004 
Respect for human rights is a key driver behind the Commission’s statutory functions and its organisational mission and goals. 
The focus on customer service contained in Elections ACT’s mission, key goals and training programs is intended to ensure that all staff respect, protect and promote human rights in the course of their duties. 
The Commission considers that its conduct of elections under the Electoral Act gives effect to section 17(b) (Taking part in public life) of the Human Rights Act 2004, which provides that every citizen has the right, and is to have the opportunity, to vote and be elected at periodic elections that guarantee the free expression of the will of the elector. 
Human rights principles are taken into account in the Commission’s regular reviews of the electoral legislation.  The JACS Human Rights Unit is consulted on proposals to amend the electoral legislation. 
            ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 
Commissioner for the Environment 
The Commission did not contribute to the State of the Environment Report in 2009/2010.  The Commission has not been the subject of an investigation or recommendations made by the Commissioner for the Environment. 
ACT multicultural strategy 
Elections ACT has integrated the key focus areas of the Multicultural Strategy 2010-2013 into its strategic and operational planning processes insofar as they are relevant.  This strategy addresses the needs of Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and members of the ACT community who have a disability or who are aged 
and infirm. 
Elections ACT is committed to client focused service delivery in a culturally diverse society. 
The special needs of Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are given particular attention in the Commission’s election information strategy.  
The Telephone Interpreter Service information panel is printed on the Commission’s major election publications, encouraging electors with limited ability in English to make use of the service to assist with understanding electoral information.  Professional interpreter services are used as required. 
In the lead-up to an ACT election, electoral services and information are advertised in various community newsletters.  Bi-lingual educators are engaged to communicate electoral information to their communities. 
Elections ACT takes a range of steps intended to ensure that its services are accessible to members of the ACT community who have a disability. 
Elections ACT maintains office space where public documents can be viewed.  This space 
is accessible to people who have a disability. 
All staff at all polling places are trained in providing appropriate service to people who have a disability.  Special provision is made to provide assistance to any person who is unable to vote without help. 
All lists of polling places provided in the Commission’s public information material indicate which polling places are accessible to people using wheelchairs.  Polling place locations are chosen to maximise the number of polling places that have wheelchair access.  All pre-poll voting locations are accessible by wheelchair. 
Elections ACT’s electronic voting system is designed to allow people with disabilities to vote in secret, without assistance.  Every electronic polling place is equipped with a voting terminal that can be used by a person seated in a wheelchair or in the supplied seat.  Each of these terminals has a 21 inch monitor (compared to 17 inch monitors used in standard voting screens).  These terminals are also equipped with headphones that broadcast spoken instructions.  Using this system, people with visual impairment are able to vote in secret using a keypad.  On-screen voting instructions are also provided in 12 languages.  
Electronic voting was used for the first time at a parliamentary election in Australia at the 
2001 ACT Legislative Assembly election, and again used at the 2004 election.  It was used at the 2008 ACT election in 5 pre-poll voting centres and 5 polling places on polling day.  
Electoral staff are engaged at Assembly elections to visit nursing homes and hospitals 
to enable those who are aged and infirm to vote without having to leave the institution 
in which they are located.  Where necessary, the visitors will attend to the voter in their room.  The visitors carry with them all the material, required for the voter to exercise their franchise, as if they were in a polling place. 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reporting 
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Act 2008 was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 6 May 2008.  This Act established an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body in the ACT and provides for the conduct of an election every 3 years to elect members to the body.  
The first election for the Elected Body was conducted by Elections ACT in May-July 2008. 
The next election is due to be held in the first half of 2011.  Elections ACT commenced discussions with the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in August 2009 
regarding implementing possible improvements to the election process. 
Ecologically sustainable development 
The Environment Protection Act 1997 requires agencies to report on how its actions accorded with the principles of ecologically sustainable development. 
Elections ACT’s delivery of service is generally office based.  Elections ACT staff are very 
mindful of waste management. Elections ACT staff adhere to the following environment-friendly practices: 
Power to computers, printers, photocopier and lights is turned off every night; 
Movement activated lights turn lights off when rooms are not used; 
Recyclable consumables are used when available and recycled paper is used for normal office work and for publications where appropriate; 
Office waste paper and toner is recycled; and 
Election material is reused or recycled where possible. 

In aligning with the Government’s commitments to waste minimisation, greenhouse 
emission reductions, water efficiency and transport efficiency, agencies are required 
to provide relevant data on their resource use. Unfortunately, resource data from the time Elections ACT was located at the O’Connell Centre (July 2008 to February 2009) is unobtainable. The following table outlines data extracted with respect to the Commission’s occupancy in the North Building. The 2008/2009 data only represents occupancy from 1 March to 30 June 2009 where as the 2009/2010 data represents occupancy for the full 
financial year. 

ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010 

Notes 
1) The resource data from the time Elections ACT was located at the O’Connell Centre (July 2008 to February 2009) is unobtainable. Therefore the 2008/2009 data only represents the Commission’s occupancy in the North Building from 1 March to 30 June 
2009 where as the 2009/2010 data represents occupancy for the full financial year. 
2) According to the ACT Property Group, the Commission’s occupancy is 1.94% of the 
total North Building office space. 
3) The electricity, gas, renewable energy and water data was calculated as a percentage 
(1.94%) of the total North Building usage. The ACT Property Group provided these figures. 
4) The Commission does not have an executive or fleet vehicle. 
5) The estimate of general waste is calculated as a percentage (1.94%) of the total North Building usage. This is based on 1 x 720litre bin emptied twice a month. 720L x 2=1440. 1440 x 12months = 17280 litres. 1.94% of 17280litres = 335.23litres 
6) There are no processes in place at the North Building to recycle comingled material. 
7) RECALL secure destruction services provide the paper recycling figures in a sustainability report, however, they are unable to provide the figures in Litre units, and therefore the figures provided are in tonnes. 
ACT Electoral Commission Annual Report 2009/2010
8) RECALL secure destruction services are unable to split paper recycling into ‘secure recycling’ and ‘waste paper recycling’. Therefore, the amount recorded under waste is for both secure and waste paper recycling. 
9) The emissions data was calculated using the Australian Government Department of Climate Change ‘Online System for Comprehensive Activity Reporting’ (OSCAR) for tracking energy and greenhouse data. 
ACT Women’s Plan 
The ACT Women’s Plan 2010-2015 sets out the ACT Government’s vision for working with the community to improve the status and lives of all women and girls, and provides a shared approach for working towards this vision across ACT Government agencies. 
Two of the priority areas set out in the Women’s Plan are related to the work of the Commission:  Leadership and decision making; and Safe and respectful relationships. 
Elections ACT aims to conduct elections in which women are free to participate as electors and as candidates.  At the 2008 election, 26 candidates were women and 60 candidates were men.  Of the 17 elected Members of the Assembly, 7 were women.  At 30 June 2010, there were 242,415 electors on the electoral roll aged 18 and over; 125,452 were women (estimated to be 95.7% of the eligible population) and 116,963 were men (estimated to be 91.5% of the eligible population). 
In order to promote a safe community, Elections ACT continues to work with the AEC to ensure that silent enrolment is available and offered to community members who, for reasons of safety, do not want their addresses published on the electoral roll. 
Model litigant guidelines 
Section 5AA of the Law Officer Act 1992 requires all ACT agencies to comply with the Law Officer (Model Litigant) Guidelines 2010 (No 1).  The model litigant guidelines apply to all 
Territory legal work, including conduct that may lead to litigation in the future, even if 
advice has not been sought from the ACT Government Solicitor’s office. 
Under section 5AC of the Law Officer Act, agencies must report on measures to ensure compliance with the model litigant guidelines.  Agencies must also report on any breaches of the guidelines.  . 
The Electoral Commissioner has the following procedures in place to ensure that Elections ACT staff are aware of and complying with the model litigant guidelines: 
All instructions in relation to disputes are passed through the Electoral Commissioner and the Deputy Electoral Commissioner; 
The Commission’s legal services are provided by the ACT Government Solicitor’s office, which would if required review the Commission’s instructions to ensure 

compliance with the guidelines; 
◊ The Commission is able to rely upon the ACT Government Solicitor’s office to identify 
those matters where a question arises as to compliance with the model litigant 
guidelines and to address it as appropriate;  and 
◊ All staff involved in claims procedures or other decisions which may at some point become the subject of litigation are informed of the guidelines and instructed to 
comply with them, referring any queries to the ACT Government Solicitor’s office.  
No breaches of the model litigant guidelines by the Commission occurred during the 
financial year. 
Compliance index 
Transmittal Certificate iii 
PERFORMANCE AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT REPORTING        1 
The organisation 2 Overview 8 Highlights 9 Outlook 11 Management discussion and analysis 12 Financial report 13 Statement of performance 14 Strategic Indicators 14 Analysis of Agency Performance 15 Triple Bottom Line Report 41 CONSULTATION AND SCRUTINY REPORTING                                                                            43 
Community engagement 44 Internal and external scrutiny 44 Legislative Assembly Committee inquiries & reports 44 Legislation Report 45 LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY BASED REPORTING              47 
Risk management & internal audit 48 Fraud prevention 48 Public interest disclosure 48 Freedom of information 49 Internal accountability 52 Human resources performance 53 
Staffing profile 54 
Learning and development 56 Workplace health and safety 57 Workplace relations 57 
Strategic bushfire management plan N/A 
Strategic asset management 57 Capital works 58 Government contracting 58 Community grants/assistance/sponsorship 58 Territory records 58 Human Rights Act 2004 58 Commissioner for the Environment 59 ACT multicultural strategy 59 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander reporting 60 Ecologically sustainable development 61 ACT Women’s Plan 64 Model litigant guidelines 64 

Alphabetical index 
A 
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body 3, 9, 11, 45, 49, 60 Advice to Government  8, 9, 11 Australian Electoral Commission  vii, 6, 9, 10, 11, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 33, 48, 64 Australian National University  vii, 19 
C 
Capital works 58 Casual vacancy  7 Collective agreements  57 Commissioner for the Environment  59 Consultants 4 Continuous Roll Update  vii, 10, 24 Contractors  58 Corporate Plan  5, 9, 52 CRU. See Continuous Roll Update 
D 
Declaration vote  50 Department of Justice and Community Safety  vii, 2, 6, 12, 13, 14, 38, 42, 48, 50, 52, 57, 58 
E 
ECA. See Electoral Council of Australia Ecologically sustainable development  61, 62 Election funding 9, 31, 44, 45 Election returns 44, 45, 50 Electoral Act 1992  iii, vii, 2, 3, 21, 23, 45, 49 Electoral Council of Australia  vii, 10, 11, 27, 48 Electoral education  5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 20, 28 Electoral roll  vii, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 24, 25, 27, 48, 50, 64 Electronic Voting and/or Counting  11, 16, 21, 40, 44, 50, 59 Enrolment 5, 6, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 48, 49, 64 Environment  29, 37, 41, 42, 59, 61 Equal employment opportunity  53 EVACS. See Electronic Voting and/or Counting 
F 
Financial statement 13 FOI. See Freedom of Information Fraud prevention  iii, 48 Freedom of Information vii, 21, 49, 50, 51 Funding and Disclosure 2, 5, 21, 22, 31, 58 
H 
Hare-Clark vii, 3, 20, 28, 29 Health professionals board 5, 10, 18, 19, 50 
I 
InTACT  vii, 39, 40, 57 Internet 20, 22, 40 Interstate elections 10, 18 
J 
JACS. See Department of Justice and Community Safety 
Joint roll arrangement  24 
L 
Learning and development  37, 56 Legislation iii, 2, 3, 8, 16, 22, 23, 27, 39, 45, 58 
M 
Members of the Legislative Assembly  vii, 2, 5, 9, 11, 21, 22, 28, 31, 44, 50 
MLAs. See Members of the Legislative Assembly 
N 
Non-voters  9, 17 
O 
Occupational health and safety  vii, 57 
P 
Performance indicators  6, 7, 14, 52 
Political parties  vii, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 22, 30, 31, 34, 44, 49, 50, 52 
Pre-poll voting  18, 23, 59 
Publications 16, 21, 22, 50, 52, 59, 61 
Public interest disclosure 48 
R 
Redistributions  vii, 5, 7, 20, 22 Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1994  vii Referendums  2, 3, 5, 7, 15, 18, 22 Review of the Electoral Act  21 
S 
Staffing 4, 9, 54 
T 
Training  9, 18, 27, 29, 37, 39, 53, 56, 58 
W 
Website  9, 11, 16, 20, 21, 22, 24, 28, 29, 31, 34, 40, 48, 50, 51