Welcome from the Electoral Commissioner
The VEC’s primary focus in the reporting period was planning and delivering the 2022 State election, to elect Victoria’s 60th Parliament. This was the largest ever State election, with many new and complex challenges emerging. Despite these, our delivery of the election was a success, with the confidence rating for the VEC 8.6 out of 10 and 82% of voters satisfied with our services on election day.
Operating in a heated political environment meant we faced greater scrutiny from the public, the media and registered political parties. Staff safety was also a concern and we will continue to engage with stakeholders to ensure the safety of all participants at future elections.
The electoral climate also drove a significant increase in freedom of information requests and complaints, with over 3,300 submissions received. Our people responded to these with professionalism, resolving 99.1% within target timeframes.
This was the first State election where Victoria’s political funding and disclosure scheme (introduced in 2018) was operating fully. With registrations on our online portal increasing by more than 250%, VEC Disclosures facilitated a significant increase in political funding transparency.
We examined the outcomes of our expiring strategic plan, Strategy 2023, as it entered its final year. Key achievements from the strategy across its 4 pillars of people, technology, decision-making and relationships included:
- implementing a leadership capability framework
- upgrading and enhancing VEC core systems and platforms, including the Election Management System, Geographic Information System, and Funding and Disclosure system
- migrating all VEC applications and services to Microsoft Azure (cloud) and Microsoft 365 (desktop SOE and online services)
- establishing an enterprise risk management approach, project management office, an information and knowledge management framework, and an online research panel
- releasing a reputation management strategy, an electoral integrity framework and a Customer Feedback Policy
Earlier this year we launched Strategy 2027, our next strategic plan. We will continue to empower all Victorians to actively participate in their democracy by focusing on 4 strategic pillars: trust, voters, processes and systems, and our people.
In March this year, we bid a fond farewell to our longstanding Electoral Commissioner, Warwick Gately AM, at the conclusion of his 10-year term. We thank him for his fearless leadership – he will be greatly missed by all.
We extend our deep gratitude to all people in our organisation for their outstanding work this year and look forward to continuing our work together in 2023–24.
Sven Bluemmel
Electoral Commissioner
Dana Fleming
Deputy Electoral Commissioner
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