LS5881 Released Document No. 14
VERSION 1
DIVERGENCE
ROLL MANAGEMENT
ESTIMATES BRIEF – Back Pocket
Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration
Budget – May 2015
SUBJECT: DIVERGENCE OF THE ELECTORAL
ROLL
ISSUE 1: What is Roll divergence?
SUGGESTED RESPONSE:
Divergence occurs where an elector is enrolled on either the federal or
state/territory roll and has no enrolment, or an enrolment at a different
address, on another roll.
Divergence can cause considerable confusion for affected electors with
regard to their enrolment status for forthcoming electoral events.
ISSUE 2: What causes Roll divergence?
SUGGESTED RESPONSE:
Divergence is caused when there is either a difference in legislation or a
difference in practice between the Commonwealth and a state/territory.
Direct enrolment – NSW, Victoria and WA
The
largest cause of divergence is the parallel running of direct enrolment
programs, run by the Commonwealth, NSW and Victoria. The
Commonwealth does not recognise NSW and Victorian direct enrolment,
while WA legislatively cannot recognise Commonwealth direct enrolment.
Age and witnessing – Victoria and WA
In Victoria and WA the minimum enrolment age is 17.
A witness is still required for electors new to the Victorian roll, whereas
Federal enrolments have not required a witness since 2006.
Other causes of divergence
Differences in eligibility for prisoners, other territories (such as
Norfolk Island), British subjects and overseas electors.
Evidence of identity requirements in federal legislation can result in
state-only enrolment for first time enrolments and re-enrolments where
evidence of identity has not been provided.
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State requirements in some jurisdictions for an elector’s signature and a
witness mean that voters changing their address details online will be
updated for federal purposes where they are currently enrolled and if
electronic signatures are not provided. That is, they will be enrolled at their
new address for federal purposes and their old address for state/territory
purposes.
ISSUE 3: How much divergence is there?
SUGGESTED RESPONSE:
Approximately 658 000 electors have divergent enrolments due to
procedural reasons (see Table 1).
The
highest numbers of divergent enrolments are concentrated in NSW,
Victoria and WA.
Victoria and NSW have the
highest levels of divergence, due mostly to
different state direct enrolment processes.
WA has the next largest divergence, as WA legislation does not recognise
changes made via the Commonwealth’s direct enrolment and update process.
The remaining states have comparatively lower levels of divergence which
primarily relate to
differing entitlements for particular groups.
The number of electors who have divergent enrolments due to entitlement is
19 718 nationally (18 503 federal only and 1 215 state only) and these are
shown in Table 2.
The difference in the size of the Commonwealth and State/Territory rolls is
much smaller (see Table 3) because 380 551 electors have
dual enrolments
(see Table 1)
where they are enrolled at both Commonwealth and
state/territory level, but at different addresses. There will also be some
electors who can only vote in Federal elections, while others will only be
able to vote in state/territory elections.
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Table 1: Approximate procedural divergence as at 31 March 2015 (a)
Single enrolment
Dual enrolment (b)
Federal
Federal
Total
only
State only
leading
State leading
NSW
1
140 533
87
120 956
261 577
VIC
48 217
47 800
56 799
127 262
280 078
QLD
0
0
1
0
1
WA
39 069
697
74 702
328
114 796
SA
8
909
69
347
1 333
TAS
0
0
0
0
0
ACT
0
0
0
0
0
NT
1
0
0
0
1
Total
87 296
189 939
131 658
248 893
657 786
(a) Includes enrolments of 16 and 17 year olds
(b) Excludes electors who have dual enrolments at the same address
Table 2: Approximate entitlement divergence as at 31 March 2015 (a)
Single enrolment
Federal only
State only
NSW
236
125
VIC
9 654
80
QLD
141
529
WA
7 797
241
SA
164
240
TAS
53
0
ACT
458
0
NT
0
0
Total
18 503
1 215
(a) Includes enrolments of 16 and 17 year olds
Table 3: Commonwealth and State rolls compared as at 31 March 2015 (a)
Commonwealth
Who is
%
Roll
State Roll
Difference larger
difference
NSW
4 886 803
5 033 203
146 400 State
3.0%
VIC
3 811 049
3 809 826
1 223 Federal
0.0%
Qld
2 956 722
2 955 008
1 714 Federal
0.1%
WA
1 513 263
1 471 896
41 367 Federal
2.7%
SA
1 150 909
1 151 818
909 State
0.1%
Tas
366 283
366 230
53 Federal
0.0%
ACT
272 153
271 688
465 Federal
0.2%
NT
129 445
129 444
1 Federal
0.0%
Australia
15 086 627
15 189 113
(a) Does not include enrolments of 16 a
nd 17 year olds
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ISSUE 4: What data sources do the direct enrolment
programs use?
SUGGESTED RESPONSE:
Table 2 outlines the data sources currently, previously and considered
for use by the three direct enrolment programs in operation in Australia.
Table 2: Data sources used in direct enrolment and update processes in
Australia
AEC
NSWEC
VEC
Current
Driver’s licence data Driver’s licence data Driver’s licence data
obtained from
obtained from NSW
obtained from
NEVDIS
Roads and Maritime
VicRoads
Centrelink
Services
Year 12 students
Board of Studies
from the Victorian
NSW
Curriculum and
Assessment
Authority – used
once a year
Previously
NSWEC SmartRoll
NSW TAFE
used
data
1st Home Owners
Victorian direct
grant information
enrolment data
Under
Rental Bonds
consideration
Date:
April 2015
Cleared by (SES):
Tom Rogers
Group/Branch:
Roll Management Branch
Contact Officer:
Andrew Gately
Telephone No:
6271 4506
Consultation:
Nil
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