The AEC has a three-tiered structure:

• a national office in Canberra
• state and territory offices
• divisional offices (stand alone and larger work units).

National office

The Electoral Commissioner is responsible for management and strategic leadership of the AEC. The Deputy Electoral Commissioner and two First Assistant Commissioners assist him.

The national office has eight branches:

• Education and Communications
• Elections
• Finance and Business Services
• Information Technology
• Legal and Compliance
• People Services
• Roll Management
• Strategic Capability

Assistant Commissioners head six branches, the Chief Finance Officer leads the Finance and Business Services Branch and the Chief Legal Officer leads the Legal and Compliance Branch.

Three Assistant Commissioners are also national program managers:

• The Assistant Commissioner, Education and Communications Branch, has national program responsibility for public awareness, information and education programs.
• The Assistant Commissioner, Elections Branch, has national program responsibility for parliamentary and Torres Strait Regional Authority elections.
• The Assistant Commissioner, Roll Management Branch, has national program responsibility for electoral enrolment.

Figure 1: Electoral divisions

State offices

State managers run the seven state offices, including the Northern Territory office. They are responsible for electoral activities in their jurisdictions. Two state managers are also national program managers:

• The state manager for NSW/ACT has national responsibility for the conduct of industrial elections and protected action ballots
• The state manager for Victoria has national responsibility for fee-for-service elections.

Divisional offices

Divisional offices are responsible for electoral administration in each electoral division. (An electoral division corresponds to representation in the House of Representatives.) In particular, they administer the conduct of elections, roll management, and public awareness activities. Some divisional offices stand alone, while others are co-located in larger work units. Figure 1 shows Australia’s electoral divisions.

Organisation chart