Assets management

Physical assets

The AEC has three major asset groups: IT software and hardware; office fit-outs; and office machines and equipment.

The IT Branch manages all IT assets, including the agency's servers, desktop computers, printers, scanners and operational software.

The AEC National Property Team manages all accommodation and fit-outs, on a rolling 'end of life' or 'end of lease' schedule. A commercial property manager is engaged to assist with commercial property management.

The Workforce Services and Systems Section manages the AEC's office equipment and machines. It uses an 'end of life' schedule and asset database to manage the replacement of those assets. Annual service and maintenance agreements are used to ensure that all assets are fully functional and operating optimally.

The major asset purchase in 2010–11 was the purchase of cardboard equipment for polling places, in preparation for the next federal election.

Information assets

The AEC's major computer applications are the general enrolment, elections support and information system (GENESIS), the roll management system (RMANS), and the election management system (ELMS). These backbone processing systems:

• support initiatives to grow the electoral roll,
• underpin the conduct of federal election events, and
• ensure that the AEC continues to meet the core objectives of maintaining an effective roll and supporting an impartial and independent electoral system.

In addition, the AEC's sophisticated Virtual Tally Room, including a media feed application, publishes election results to keep the public informed in real time during electoral events.

Two important additions were made to the AEC's suite of computer applications during 2010–11:

• eReturns, which allows political parties, associated entities, donors, third parties, candidates and Senate groups to prepare and lodge their financial disclosure returns online, and
• AEC Employment, an online facility to support the recruitment and management of temporary staff for federal elections.

A range of smaller information processing and dissemination applications – such as the AEC website, the elector information access system, the election call centre application and the online enrolment verification facility – play an important role in ensuring that the AEC's diverse stakeholders remain well informed about the information and services provided by the AEC.