The 2024 election to elect 7 members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body for the ACT will commence on 20 May 2024.

More information:

• Election timetable
• Nominations
• Voting
  • Who is eligible to vote?
  • Liaison officer and review panel appointment and qualifications
  • Role of the polling place liaison officer
  • Role of the review panel in challenges to voter eligibility
  • Voting at a polling place
• Polling places
• Postal voting
• Employment
• ATSIEB web site - atsieb.com.au

Election timetable

Nominations

Nominations for this election open on Monday, 20 May 2024 and close at 12 noon on Monday, 3 June 2024.

Candidates are advised to submit their nomination forms well before the close of nominations to allow time for any errors to be corrected before nominations are closed.

Nomination forms will be available from this webpage once nominations open on 20 May 2024.

To be eligible to vote, or to be nominated as a candidate for the election you must be an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander, at least 18 years old, and on, or entitled to be on, the ACT electoral roll.

In accordance with the dictionary under the ATSIEB Act, an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person means a person who:

• is a descendant of an Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander person; and
• identifies as an Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander person; and
• is accepted as an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander person by an Aboriginal community or a Torres Strait Islander community.

Candidates cannot be under sentence of imprisonment for 1 year or longer for an indictable offence.

The candidate must be nominated by four people who declare that:

• they are an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander; and
• are at least 18 years old; and
• are enrolled, or entitled to be enrolled, on the ACT electoral roll; and
• are not under sentence of imprisonment for 1 year or longer for a conviction for an indictable offence.

To be entitled to be on the ACT electoral roll, a person must have a current place of living in the ACT and have lived at that place for at least the preceding month.

A person is not entitled to be on the ACT electoral roll if:

• because of unsound mind, he or she is incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting;
• he or she has been convicted of treason and has not been pardoned; or
• under the Migration Act 1958, he or she is the holder of a temporary visa or is an unlawful non-citizen.

The declaration of nominations and draw for position on the ballot paper is a public event where all candidates and community members are invited to attend.

Under the legislation, late nominations cannot be accepted under any circumstance. This includes nomination forms submitted prior to the close of nominations that do not comply with the requirements and are not corrected by the close of nomination at 12 noon, 3 June 2024.

Voting

Who is eligible to vote?

To be eligible to vote, a person must be:

• an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander; and
• at least 18 years of age; and
• on, or entitled to be on, the ACT electoral roll – that is, they must be living in the ACT for at least the last month.

In accordance with the Dictionary under the ATSIEB ACT, an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person means a person who:

• is a descendant of an Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander person; and
• identifies as an Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander person; and
• is accepted as an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander person by an Aboriginal community or a Torres Strait Islander community.

Eligible electors may vote in person at any polling place, or can cast a postal vote if they are unable to vote at a polling place.

As the electoral roll does not identify whether an elector is an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander, the ATSIEB Act uses a combination of polling place Liaison Officers and a Review Panel to determine whether someone is entitled to vote at the election.

Liaison officer and review panel appointment and qualifications

Liaison Officers and the three Review Panel members are appointed by the ACT Electoral Commissioner, after consultation with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body.

There must be one Liaison Officer for each polling place during the hours of polling on each day. Polling cannot take place without a Liaison Officer present.

Liaison Officers and members of the review panel must be:

• an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander; and
• at least 18 years of age; and
• on, or entitled to be on, the ACT electoral roll; and
• must not be a candidate in the election.

Although not a statutory requirement, the Liaison Officers and Review Panel members should have a good knowledge of the Indigenous community in the ACT.

The role of the polling place liaison officer

The role of the Liaison Officer is to sight all voters entering a polling place and to decide on the balance of probabilities whether or not each voter is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. If the Liaison Officer believes that a voter is not an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander and challenges the voter’s right to vote, the voter cannot have an ordinary vote but may elect to cast a declaration vote.

If the voter elects to cast a declaration vote then the details of the Liaison Officer’s challenge will come to the Review Panel for investigation and decision on eligibility.

This information will be provided to the Review Panel within three business days of the voter casting a declaration vote. No action will be required of the panel if the voter does not cast a declaration vote.

Role of the review panel in challenges to voter eligibility

The role of the Review Panel is to determine voters’ eligibility for all postal votes and all declaration votes that are cast.

The Review Panel must undertake any investigations that it considers necessary in order to determine the voter’s eligibility. This may include phoning the voter to establish family history, contacting relatives of the voter, contacting elders of the community, etc.

If any member of the panel decides on the balance of probability that the voter is an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander then that voter’s declaration vote envelope will be admitted and the voter’s ballot paper will be counted.

The panel will advise the Electoral Commissioner and the voter in writing of:

• its decision; and
• if there is no unanimous decision – the decision of each panel member.

Voting at a polling place

At a polling place, electors will be issued with an ordinary vote or a declaration vote.

Ordinary voting

If a person is on the roll, and not already marked as voted, and the Liaison Officer does not challenge the eligibility of the person to vote, then the roll is marked and the ballot paper is issued. The person votes and puts the ballot paper in the ballot box.

Declaration voting

A voter will be issued with a declaration vote if:

• Their name is not shown on the electoral roll; or
• Their right to vote is challenged by the Liaison Officer; or
• Their name is already marked as having voted on the roll.

If the voter’s name is not shown on the electoral roll

In the case of a voter’s name not being on the electoral roll, the voter must provide evidence of their living in the ACT to the Electoral Commissioner, within three business days after the last day of voting, that is, by 5pm Wednesday 17 July 2024.

To do this the voter can:

• provide evidence to the issuing officer at the polling place; or
• provide evidence of their address to the Electoral Commissioner at his office within three business days after the last day of voting, that is, by 5pm Wednesday 17 July 2024.

Evidence of living in the ACT can be a driver’s licence, vehicle registration, purchase or lease papers, utility statements, student card etc.

If evidence of living in the ACT is provided, then the person is taken to be entitled to be enrolled for the purpose of the election.

If evidence is not provided, then the ballot paper will not be admitted to the final count.

Polling Places

A full list of voting locations for the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body 2024 election will be available at this location shortly.

Postal voting

The postal vote application form will be available from this location shortly.

Employment

The ACT Electoral Commission is seeking expressions of interest from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to work as Liaison Officers and as members of the Review Panel on the election .

To apply:

Complete the two page expression of interest document and send it to elections@act.gov.au by 14 June 2024.

Expression of interest - Liaison officer - 2024 ATSIEB election

Eligibility:

A person is eligible to be appointed as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Liaison Officer if the person is:

1. • an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander; and
   • at least 18 years old; and
   • enrolled, or entitled to be enrolled, for an electorate in the ACT; and
2. is not a candidate in the election.

Availability:

Voting in the election will coincide with NAIDOC week celebrations in the ACT. Voting will commence on Saturday 6 July and continue until Saturday 13 July at a number of venues across Canberra.  Locations and times for voting will be listed on the Elections ACT website.

The ACT Electoral Commission is looking for Liaison Officers to work shifts at varying times between 6 July and 13 July 2024. Liaison Officers will also be required to attend a one-day training course during the last week in June 2024.

Remuneration:

Liaison Officers will be paid at the Senior Election Casual hourly rate: