Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters
The joint committee is one of 13 joint committees in the Commonwealth Parliament, and is established by a resolution of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Further information on the establishment, role and powers of House of Representatives committees including joint committees on which Members of the House serve can be found at the Committee Office home page.
In summary, the role of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral matters is to inquire into and report on such matters relating to electoral laws and practices and their administration as may be referred to it by either House of the Parliament or a Minister. The matters that may be referred by the House include reports by the Commonwealth Auditor-General. The Committee could also inquire into matters raised in annual reports of Commonwealth Government departments and authorities.
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- Inquiry into civics and electoral education
- Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2004 Federal Election
- Inquiry into Disclosure of Donations to Political Parties and Candidates
- Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2001 Federal Election
- Inquiry into the Integrity of the Electoral Roll
- Inquiry into Electoral Funding and Disclosure
- Inquiry into the Conduct of the 1998 Federal Election
- Inquiry into the Conduct of the 1996 Federal Election
- Inquiry into the Role of the AEC in Conducting Industrial Elections
Inquiry into civics and electoral education
On Friday 24 March 2006 the Special Minister of State, the Hon. Gary Nairn MP, asked the Committee to inquire into and report on civics and electoral education.
| Sub | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 72 | June 2006 | JSCEM Submission [818KB] |
| 115 | August 2006 | Supplementary to submission 72 [280KB] |
| 116 | September 2006 | Supplementary to submission 72 [586KB] |
Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2004 Federal Election
After every federal election, the Government provides the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) with a reference to inquire into the conduct of that election. The JSCEM, which consists of Members and Senators from all political parties, then advertises through its parliamentary secretariat in major national newspapers inviting written submissions from any interested persons. Public hearings are also held, mainly in Canberra, but sometimes in the major capital cities as well.
| SUB | DATE | TITLE |
|---|---|---|
| 74 | March 2005 | JSCEM Submission [PDF 494KB] |
| 165 | June 2005 | Supplementary to submission 74 [PDF 1894KB] |
| 168 | July 2005 | Supplementary to submission 74 [PDF 1894KB] |
| 172 | July 2005 | Supplementary to submission 74 [PDF 907KB] |
| 182 | August 2005 | Supplementary to submission 74 [PDF 485KB] |
| 205 | August 2005 | Supplementary to submission 74 [PDF 2035KB] |
| 216 | September 2005 | Supplementary to submission 74 [PDF 3661KB] |
| 221 | September 2005 | Supplementary to submission 74 [PDF 546KB] |
Inquiry into Disclosure of Donations to Political Parties and Candidates
| Sub | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | April 2004 | JSCEM Submission [PDF 212k] |
| 11A | April 2004 | Attachment A [PDF 652k] |
| 11B | April 2004 | Attachment B [PDF 67k] |
| 13 | May 2004 | JSCEM submission [1768KB] |
Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2001 Federal Election
| Sub | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 174 | 8 November 2002 | |
| 166 | October 2002 | |
| 165 | 6 August 2002 | Reports on Incidents of Possible Enrolment Fraud during the 29th Parliament [PDF 33k] |
| 147 | 12 July 2002 | |
| 147A | 12 July 2002 | |
| 147B | 12 July 2002 | |
| 147C | 12 July 2002 | |
| 147D | 01 July 2002 | |
| 147E | 01 March 2001 | |
| 147F | 03 August 2001 | |
| 147G | 17 October 2000 | |
| 147H | 03 August 2001 | |
| 147I | 12 July 2002 |
Inquiry into the Integrity of the Electoral Roll
After receiving a reference from the Government to inquire into and report on the Integrity of the Electoral Roll, the JSCEM advertised for submissions on 9 September 2000. The AEC has provided the following submissions.
| Sub | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | 17 October 2000 | |
| 66 | 9 February 2001 | |
| 73 | 23 February 2001 | |
| 74 | 23 February 2001 | |
| 76 | 28 February 2001 | |
| 81 | 27 March 2001 | |
| 86 | 20 April 2001 |
Inquiry into Electoral Funding and Disclosure
After receiving a reference from the Government to inquire into and report on Electoral Funding and Disclosure, the JSCEM advertised for submissions on 9 September 2000. The AEC has provided the following submission.
| Sub | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | 17 October 2000 |
Inquiry into the Conduct of the 1998 Federal Election
After receiving a reference from the Government to inquire into and report on the conduct of the 1998 federal election, the JSCEM advertised for submissions on 23 January 1999, and received 261 submissions. Public hearings were held in Canberra, Brisbane, Darwin and Alice Springs.
The Australian Electoral Commission has made 11 formal written submissions to the JSCEM as listed below. The major submission has a number of attachments that cannot be formatted electronically and anyone interested in obtaining printed copy should contact the Secretary of the JSCEM at Parliament House in Canberra on 02 6277 2374.
| Sub | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 88 | 12.03.99 | The Conduct of the 1998 Federal Election [PDF 399k] |
| 159 | 23.03.99 | The Admissibility of Provisional Votes [PDF 14k] |
| 176 | 04.05.99 | AEC Responses to Other Submissions and Hearings [PDF 462k] |
| 210 | 23.07.99 | Further AEC Responses to other Submissions & Hearings [PDF 337k] |
| 232 | 28.09.99 | Petitions to the Court of Disputed Returns [PDF 140k] |
| 238 | 15.10.99 | Second Preference How-to-Vote Cards [PDF 152k] |
| 239 | 15.10.99 | Dual and Multiple Voting [PDF 170k] |
| 243 | 12.10.99 | Response to Submission No 228 [PDF 9k] |
| 245 | 18.11.99 | AEC Responses to Hearings of 19 October 1999 [PDF 43k] |
| 257 | 03.05.00 | AEC Responses to JSCEM Inquiries of 17 April 2000 [PDF 102k] |
| 258 | 31.05.00 | AEC Responses to Further JSCEM Inquiries [PDF 68k] |
The Report of the JSCEM inquiry into the conduct of the 1998 federal election, entitled "The 1998 Federal Election: Report of the Inquiry into the conduct of the 1998 Federal Election and matters related thereto", was tabled in Parliament on 26 June 2000. A copy may be obtained from Ausinfo or viewed on the Australian Parliament website.
Inquiry into the Conduct of the 1996 Federal Election
After receiving a reference from the Government to inquire into and report on the conduct of the 1996 federal election, the JSCEM advertised for submissions on 22 June 1996, and over a period of a year, received some 135 written submissions, and held seven public hearings, in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane.
The Australian Electoral Commission made 21 formal written submissions to the JSCEM as listed below. Some of these submissions have attachments that cannot be formatted electronically and anyone interested in obtaining printed copy should contact the JSCEM secretariat at Parliament House in Canberra on 02 6277 2374.
The Report of the JSCEM inquiry into the conduct of the 1996 federal election, entitled "The 1996 Federal Election: report of the inquiry into the conduct of the 1996 federal election and matters related therto", was tabled in Parliament on 16 June 1997. A copy of this report can be viewed on the Australian Parliament website. The Government Response to this JSCEM report was tabled in Parliament on 8 April 1998 and copy may be obtained through the Hansard record.
Inquiry into the Role of the AEC in Conducting Industrial Elections
After receiving a reference from the Government to enquire into the role of the AEC in conducting industrial elections, the JSCEM advertised for submissions on 2 November 1996, and the AEC provided the following major submission.
| Sub | Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | 21.01.97 | The Conduct of Industrial Elections [PDF 138k] |
The Report of the JSCEM inquiry, entitled "Industrial Elections", was tabled in Parliament in October 1997 and copy may be obtained from the Commonwealth Bookshop or on the Australian Parliament Internet site. The Government Response to this JSCEM report was tabled in Parliament on 10 November 1998.
