Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, I present the report of the committee entitled Review of certain aspects of the administration of the Australian Electoral Commission. I seek leave to move a motion in relation to the report.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, I have pleasure in presenting the committee’s second report for 2007: Review of certain aspects of the administration of the Australian Electoral Commission. With a federal election approaching, it has been a timely exercise for the committee to review certain aspects of the administration of the AEC. The terms of reference for the inquiry required the committee to direct much of its focus on the staffing arrangements across the AEC’s divisional office network. Currently, there are 150 AEC divisional offices in 135 locations across Australia. The AEC is somewhat unique as an organisation because its business cycle is influenced by the relatively unpredictable timing of key electoral events and federal elections, which determine workload peaks and impact significantly on staffing requirements. The impacts of the election cycle are a key consideration for the AEC in determining the most appropriate staffing model for divisional offices.

The committee received evidence which raised a number of concerns regarding workforce issues in some AEC divisional offices. These concerns related to employment structure, staffing levels, career opportunities for staff, retention issues and the effectiveness of co-located divisional offices. Some of these concerns are a result of the AEC implementing a new divisional office staffing profile. To coincide with this new staffing profile, the AEC also introduced a process of workload sharing in an effort to combat the diversity of workload across each of its divisional offices, where some offices are tasked with processing up to three times the number of enrolment transactions as others. Specific concerns came from the co-located divisional office in Chatswood, New South Wales, which services four electoral divisions. The committee conducted a site visit of the Chatswood office as part of its inquiry and appreciated the opportunity to speak directly with AEC employees about some of the issues identified in submissions.

Without an extensive body of evidence to draw on, however, it is difficult for the committee to determine whether the concerns raised during the inquiry are symptomatic of widespread issues within the AEC. While the committee is not in a position to draw comprehensive conclusions, it considers the concerns which were raised to be significant enough to warrant further investigation. Therefore, the committee has recommended that the Auditor-General examine the issue of workforce planning in the AEC in further detail.

The committee was also asked to consider whether the national tally room should be maintained beyond the next federal election. The committee supports the continuation of the tally room and is of the view that the abolition of the tally room would have a negative impact on the perception of the transparency of elections. Furthermore, the committee notes the value and logic of having a central tally room in the nation’s capital, which extend beyond any dollar or logistical considerations. The committee has, therefore, recommended that the government ensures the national tally room is retained for future federal elections.

I take this opportunity to thank my fellow committee members for their contribution to this inquiry. I also wish to thank those organisations and individuals who gave their time to prepare submissions and appear as witnesses before the committee. On behalf of my committee colleagues, I commend the report to the Senate.

Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I wish to add some comment, following on from Senator Fierravanti-Wells. The inquiry took in a number of submissions. As Senator Fierravanti-Wells mentioned, we did a site visit to Chatswood, but I would like to add a different perspective on it.

When we got to Chatswood, we had the ability to talk to employees. I noticed at Chatswood that there were a number of employees who had been casual for many, many years. We understand that the load of the Electoral Commission is all go at certain stages, and then there is not a heck of a lot of work to do for the employees afterwards, but I had some concern that no-one had a happy story amongst the employees at Chatswood.

A lot of the employees said that they had come from smaller divisional offices before the co-location and they found in the co-location that, for some reason, there were going to be superoffices to look after members, senators and inquiries and to enrol people on the electoral roll. In their presentation, the employers told us what great employers they were and how happy everyone was. When we actually got to speak to the employees, it was a completely different story. The employers had said, ‘We do our best to give thousands and thousands of people some work.’ I understand that the workload of the Australian Electoral Commission is enormous, but you cannot expect workers to hang on by their fingernails, getting a couple of hours a week, and to be waiting on the end of a telephone line for a call from the Australian Electoral Commission.

I commend the report to the Senate. I think there is a heck of a lot more work to do. I note that in the last election, in 2004, there were some 420,000 voters who enrolled at the last minute. As we know, draconian laws were passed by the Senate not long ago that overturned the ability to do that. For some reason, and I do not know why, the government wanted not to make it as easy as possible for voters to get on the electoral roll but to make it harder for them. It is a travesty, unfortunately, that under this government it is easier to donate to political parties without too much transparency and accountability than it is, sadly, for new voters to get on the electoral roll. We have a lot more work to do. I will be looking forward to doing a lot more work on this committee after the election. On that note, I commend the report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.