Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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ELECTORAL AND REFERENDUM REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1998 NO. 57

Statutory Rules 1998 No. 57

Issued by the authority of the Special Minister of State

Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918

Electoral and Referendum Regulations (Amendment)

Section 395 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

The amendments are to Schedule 2 of the Electoral and Referendum Regulations in force under the Act.

Schedule 2 sets out the Commonwealth Departments and Authorities, specified for the purposes of subsections 91(10) and (11) of the Act and Regulations 7, 8 and 9, that are entitled to receive information set out in subsection 91(9) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, that is, information which discloses the particulars of occupations, gender or dates of birth of electors.

The names of the Department of Administrative Services, Department of Community Services and Health (now the Department of Health and Family Services (DHFS)) and the Department of Social Security (DSS) should be deleted from Schedule 2 as one organisation has been abolished and the other two no longer require access to confidential elector data. Further, the name, 'Department of Employment, Education and Training' should be replaced with 'Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs', 'Department of Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs', should be replaced with 'Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs', 'Department of Transport and Communications' should be replaced with 'Department of Transport and Regional Development', and, 'Australian Government Retirements Benefits Office' should be replaced with 'ComSuper', to reflect the current names of those organisations.

The amendments to Schedule 2 of the Electoral and Referendum Regulations will commence on gazettal.