LS6217 Released Document No. 3
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (FOUO)
ABS survey participation
ABS survey: entitlement to participation 16 and 17-year-olds
Issue
Will 16 and 17-year-olds participate in the ABS statistical collection?
Headline Statement
•
Speculation that 16 and 17 year olds will be able to participate in the marriage
equality statistical survey is not correct.
1982
Key Points
Act
•
While the
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Electoral Act) allows
16 and 17-year-olds to enrol, section 93(3) of the Electoral Act does not allow
them to be added to the Commonwealth electoral roll until they turn 18 years
old.
•
The AEC will continue to meet its lawful obligations to add 16 and 17-year-olds
to the Roll that is maintained under section 111 of Information
the Electoral Act.
•
The AEC will also continue its practice of on of
ly providing a version of the Roll
under sections 90A (public inspection) and 90B (to politicians, political parties
and others) which is the version of the Roll referred to in section 83 of the
Electoral Act which does not include persons who are not “electors” (e.g.
excludes 16 and 17-year-olds).
•
Any other approach wou
Freedom
ld raise serious issues about the contact details for
persons under the age of 18 years being made publicly available.
Policy Commitments
the
•
To give all participating Australian electors the opportunity to express a view
about wunder
hether the law should be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Released
Contact: Paul Pirani
Cleared by: Jeff Pope
Contact No: 6271 4474
Contact No:6271 4619
Division: Legal and Procurement
Cleared by Adviser:
Date Updated: 14 August 2017
PDR Number: QB17-000331
Date Last Printed: 12/09/2017 11:30 AM
1
LS6217 Released Document No. 3
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (FOUO)
ABS survey participation
Background
The provisions relating to the inspection and provision of the Roll in sections 90A and 90B
of the Electoral Act are there for the purpose of enabling the public, political parties and
candidates to examine the Roll to confirm the eligibility of electors to take part in an
election. This is clearly apparent from the terms of the items described in the table in
subsection 90B(1) of the Electoral Act.
As the Roll referred to in subsection 90B(1) is the same term that is used in subsection
1982
90B(4) and section 90A of the Electoral Act, the AEC has taken the view that t
Act
he references
to the Roll in these provisions are a reference to the Roll referred to in section 83 of the
Electoral Act i.e. it is only the Roll that includes electors it is only a Roll listing “electors”
who are entitled to vote at an election. To hold an alternative view would result in the
details of person under the age of 18 being available for public inspection under section 90A
which was clearly not the intention of the Parliament when the amendments were made to
enable provisional enrolment of persons under the age of 18 years.
The Act refers to different versions of the Roll in several p
ntained
Information
rovisions. The full version of the
Roll contains the additional information set out in subsection 90B(10) of the Electoral Act.
The full version of the Roll is required to be mai
of on a computer in section 111 of the
Act. However, the actual minimum Roll information is set out in section 83 of the Act
which only refers to the surname, Christian or given name and place of living of each
elector. Persons under the age of 18 years cannot be an elector (see subsection 93(1)).
Accordingly the Roll referred to in item 4 of the table in subsection 90B(4) of the Electoral
Act which can be provided to a “prescribed authority” is the Roll referred to in section 83 of
the Act. The additional informati Freedom
on which includes date of birth is clearly not part of the
Roll that is referred to in each item in subsections 90B(1) and (4). This results in only
electors on the Roll (i.e. persons over the age of 18 years) whose details can be provided to
the ABS for the purpos
the
es of the statistical survey.
The AEC will continue to meet its lawful obligations to add 16 and 17-year-olds to the Roll
that is maintained under section 111 of the Electoral Act. The AEC will also continue its
previous pr
under
actice of only providing a version of the Roll under sections 90A (public
inspection) and 90B (to politicians, political parties and others) which is the version of the
Roll referred to in section 83 of the Electoral Act which does not include persons who are
not “electors” (e.g. excludes 16 and 17-year-olds). Any other approach would raise serious
issues about the contact details for persons under the age of 18 years being made publicly
available.
Released
Contact: Paul Pirani
Cleared by: Jeff Pope
Contact No: 6271 4474
Contact No:6271 4619
Division: Legal and Procurement
Cleared by Adviser:
Date Updated: 14 August 2017
PDR Number: QB17-000331
Date Last Printed: 12/09/2017 11:30 AM
2
