New South Wales Electoral Commission

New South Wales
Electoral Commission

Agency overview
Formed| October 2006[1]
Preceding agency|

* State Electoral Office

Jurisdiction| New South Wales
Employees| 236 (2023–24)[2]
Annual budget| $192.82 million (2024)[3]
Ministers responsible|

* Chris Minns, Premier of New South Wales[5]
* John Graham, Special Minister of State[5]

Agency executive|

* Rachel McCallum, Electoral Commissioner[6]

Key documents|

* Electoral Act 2017[4]
* Constitution Act 1902[4]
* Local Government Act 1993[4]
* Electoral Funding Act 2018[4]
* Lobbying of Government Officials Act 2011[4]

Website| www.elections.nsw.gov.au
Logo used until 2018

The New South Wales Electoral Commission, known as the NSWEC or the NSW Electoral Commission is a statutory agency with responsibility for the administration, organisation, and supervision of elections in New South Wales. It reports to the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet.

## Responsibilities

[edit]

The NSW Electoral Commission is responsible for the administration, organisation and supervision of elections in New South Wales for state government, local government, industrial and Aboriginal organisations, as well as registered clubs and statutory bodies. It also manages the enrolment of electors and prepares electoral rolls. It also regulates the electoral environment in New South Wales, investigating possible offences and enforcing breaches of electoral, funding and disclosure, and lobbying laws

The Electoral Districts Redistribution Panel determines electoral boundaries conducting a redistribution, which provides for an approximate equal number of electors in each electoral district with a margin of allowance of plus or minus 10% of the average enrolment. The panel is made up of the Electoral Commissioner, in conjunction with a Judge of the Supreme Court and the Surveyor-General, who review and consider advice prior to determining electoral boundaries. To help carry out its functions, legislation allows the Redistribution Panel to use the staff of the NSW Electoral Commission. Electoral boundaries are reviewed after every second election or more frequently when required under legislation.[7]

The Commission is accountable to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters of the New South Wales Parliament.[8]

## History

[edit]

Until October 2006, the Commission was known as the State Electoral Office.[9]

The Commission was initially responsible for the administration of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912[10] until the Electoral Act 2017 came into force. The Commission's work is guided by the Electoral Act 2017, Electoral Regulation 2018, Local Government Act 1993, Local Government (General) Regulation 2021, Constitution Act 1902, Electoral Funding Act 2018, Electoral Funding Regulation 2018, Lobbying of Government Officials Act 2011, Lobbying of Government Officials (Lobbyists Code of Conduct) Regulation 2014, Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983, City of Sydney Act 1988, Industrial Relations Act 1996, Registered Clubs Act 1976, Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998, Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009, Public Finance and Audit Act 1983, Government Sector Employment Act 2013, and the Government Sector Finance Act 2018.[4]

In December 2021, technical failures in the iVote online voting system during the 2021 local elections led the NSW Supreme Court to void results in three Local Government Areas and require the elections to be re-run.[11] In March 2022, the NSW Electoral Commission announced that it would not use the iVote system for the 2023 state election. Advocates for blind and low-vision people subsequently accused the Commission of unlawful discrimination over the removal of the accessible voting platform.[12]

## See also

[edit]

* New South Wales portal

* Elections in Australia
* List of New South Wales government agencies

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Amendment Act 2006 (NSW)
2. ^ Annual report NSW Electoral Commission 2023–24 (PDF) (Report). Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW: NSW Electoral Commission. 31 October 2024. p. 34\. ISSN 1835-3282. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
3. ^ Appropriation Act 2024 (NSW) s 28
4. ^ a b c d e f "Our legislative framework". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
5. ^ a b Administrative Arrangements (Minns Ministry--Administration of Acts) Order 2023 (NSW) Schedule 1
6. ^ Special Minister of State (27 November 2024). "Appointment of Rachel McCallum as NSW Electoral Commissioner". nsw.gov.au (Press release). Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
7. ^ "Electoral boundaries". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
8. ^ "The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 20 January 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
9. ^ "SEO Information". State Electoral Office. Archived from the original on 10 August 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
10. ^ Parliamentary Electorates And Elections Act 1912 (NSW)
11. ^ NSW Electoral Commissioner v Kempsey Shire Council (No 2) (Supreme Court of New South Wales 17 March 2022), [www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/17f913a39e2ade551b821020 Text].
12. ^ Knaus, Christopher (1 August 2022). "Blind advocates allege NSW's removal of online voting system is a breach of human rights". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2022.

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Electoral commissions in Australia

| AUS| NSW| VIC| QLD| WA| SA| TAS| ACT| NT

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AEC

NSWEC

VEC

ECQ

WAEC

ECSA

TEC

ACTEC

NTEC

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Agencies of the New South Wales Government

Departments|

* Cabinet Office
* Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
* Communities and Justice
* Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport
* Customer Service
* Education
* Health
* Planning, Housing and Infrastructure
* Premier's Department
* Primary Industries and Regional Development
* Transport
* Treasury

Executive agencies|

* Aboriginal Affairs NSW
* Art Gallery
* Australian Museum
* Create NSW
* Crown Solicitor
* Destination NSW
* Fire & Rescue
* Greater Sydney
* Infrastructure NSW
* Institute of Sport
* Library Council
* Multicultural NSW
* Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences
* Property NSW
* Resilience NSW
* Rural Fire
* Service NSW
* State Emergency Service
* Sydney Opera House Trust
* Transport Asset Manager
* Venues NSW

State-owned corporations|

* Essential Energy
* Forestry Corporation
* Hunter Water
* Port Authority
* Sydney Water
* WaterNSW

State universities|

* Charles Sturt
* Macquarie
* New England
* New South Wales
* Newcastle
* Southern Cross
* Sydney
* UTS
* Western Sydney
* Wollongong

Other|

* Audit Office
* Crime Commission
* Education Standards
* Elections
* Environment Protection
* Health Care Complaints
* Independent Commission Against Corruption
* Judicial Commission
* Law Enforcement Conduct
* Police Force
* Pricing & Regulatory Tribunal
* Public Prosecutions
* Revenue NSW
* Technical & Further Education

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Government of New South Wales

Executive|

* Monarch
* Governor
* Lieutenant-Governor
* Executive Council
* Vice-President
* Premier
* Deputy Premier
* Attorney General
* Treasurer
* Leader in the Legislative Council
* Cabinet
* Entities
* Police
* Local Government

Legislative|

* Parliament
* Legislative Assembly
* Speaker
* Leader
* MPs
* Electoral districts
* Legislative Council
* President
* MLCs
* Opposition
* Leader

Judicial|

* Chief Justice
* Solicitor General
* Supreme Court
* District Court
* Local Court
* Other courts and tribunals

Elections|

* 2007
* 2011
* 2015
* 2019
* 2023
* 2027
* By-elections
* Electoral Commission
* Caretaker government

Political parties|

* Labor
* Coalition
* Liberal
* National
* Greens
* Shooters, Fishers and Farmers
* Animal Justice
* Legalise Cannabis
* Libertarian
* Other parties

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

People|

* Trove

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