History and Structure
The AEC was first established in 1902, as a branch of the Department of Home Affairs. In 1973 it became the Australian Electoral Office, a name it retained until 21 February 1984 when it became the Australian Electoral Commission, a Commonwealth statutory authority.
The AEC consists of a Chairman (a Judge or a retired Judge of the Federal Court), the Electoral Commissioner and a non-judicial member (usually the Australian Statistician). The Electoral Commissioner has the powers of a Secretary of a Department under the Public Service Act 1999 and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1998. The Chairperson and the third, non-judicial member both hold their offices on a part-time basis.
AEC has a National Office in Canberra and State Offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Each federal electorate has a Divisional Returning Officer responsible for administration of House of Representatives elections within their division. Each State also has an Australian Electoral Officer responsible for administration of Senate elections.
Read more about this topic: Australian Electoral Commission
Famous quotes containing the words history and/or structure:
“The history of his present majesty, is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations ... all of which have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Agnosticism is a perfectly respectable and tenable philosophical position; it is not dogmatic and makes no pronouncements about the ultimate truths of the universe. It remains open to evidence and persuasion; lacking faith, it nevertheless does not deride faith. Atheism, on the other hand, is as unyielding and dogmatic about religious belief as true believers are about heathens. It tries to use reason to demolish a structure that is not built upon reason.”
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–1986)