Commencement of the redistribution of federal electoral boundaries in the ACT

The Acting Electoral Commissioner, Mr Tom Rogers, announced today the redistribution of federal electoral boundaries in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has commenced.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 requires that a redistribution of federal electoral boundaries is to occur once seven years has elapsed since the last redistribution. The ACT redistribution was due in December 2013 but was deferred at the time as population projections suggested the ACT might possibly gain a third seat.

"It was determined on 13 November 2014, based on population figures, that the House of Representatives entitlement for the ACT remains unchanged at two members," Mr Rogers said.

An independent Redistribution Committee will be appointed to undertake the redistribution in the ACT and the Committee will be supported by a small secretariat of staff from the AEC.

The redistribution process provides opportunities for individuals and organisations to propose where the electoral division boundaries could be located, or the name of an electoral division.

Members of the public will be invited to submit their suggestions about the redistribution during April. Guidelines are available to assist people or organisations interested in submitting their suggestions.

An indicative timetable for the federal redistribution process in the ACT is available at www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2014/act/index.htm.

Further information about redistributions can be found at www.aec.gov.au/redistribution.

Editor's notes:

• A redistribution is a redrawing of electoral boundaries to ensure that, as near as is practicable, there is a similar number of electors in each electoral division for a given state or territory.
• The enrolment quota is determined by dividing the number of electors enrolled in the ACT by 2, which is the number of House of Representative seats to which the ACT will be entitled to at the next federal election.
• Federal redistributions are also commencing in Western Australia and NSW. Information regarding these redistributions can be found at www.aec.gov.au/redistribution.