Local Government Electoral Resources
Web Site
Table of Contents
1. Ward Boundaries - Objective
This web site has been developed to provide information required by Local Government Authorities (LGA) to management their obligations under section 211 of the Local Government Act 1993 No 30.
The council of an area that is divided into wards is required by section 211 of the Act to keep ward boundaries under review. Circular 02-36 and 42 below outline the details of the review process. Note reference to providing information to the AEC directly in 02-42 has been superseded, all information related to ward alterations should now only be provided to the NSW Electoral Commissioner (see “Ward Alterations Advice” section below).
Local Government Circular to Councils 02-36
Local Government Circular to Councils 02-42
If an alteration to ward boundaries is undertaken, the council is required to, among other things, to consult the Electoral Commissioner. The Electoral Commissioner has advised DLG that any council seeking to refer a FINAL APPROVED alteration of ward boundaries must do so by 31 December 2007 (see circular 07-30 below).
Local Government Circular to Councils 07-30
The enrolment data contained on this website has been sourced from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). This data reflects the electoral roll held by the AEC at the date of extraction shown in the file or directory name. The ward coding on the LG roll data provided on this site currently reflects the wards as at the 2004 LG Elections. It is not anticipated that the roll’s ward coding will be updated to reflect newer ward alterations until early 2008. Note CCDs shown in all files on this website use the 2006 Census CCDs (see ABS link below).
1.3 Enrolment
by Variance of Wards
The link below identifies the percentage variance between the highest and lowest ward enrolment for each LGA with wards. The calculation has been done in accordance with Department of Local Government Circular to Councils 97-53.
1.4 Enrolment
by LGA/Ward and CCD
The link below provides access to all the AEC’s EX35 files for NSW for given dates of extraction. These files contain LGA/ward Enrolment Statistics by CCD. A new file is added approximately monthly. The file shows the number of electors within a given CCD for all LGAs and Wards in NSW. The file also identifies the total number of electors by LGA and if appropriate by Ward. It is suggested files are downloaded to local drive by right clicking on the file name and selecting “Save Target As”. Files with “.txt” extensions are semi-colon ; delimiter, while files with “.xls” file extensions can be opened directly in MS Excel by double clicking. The data is extracted from the AEC’s live database and therefore is only current as at time of extraction.
The link below contains AEC Address Register files for each LGA. These files contain details of addresses used by the AEC to construct the roll at the time of an election. The file shows the number of electors resident at each address. The files can be used by Councils to determine the number of electors in “split” 2006 CCDs. File updates are made periodically. It is recommended that files be downloaded to a local drive by right clicking on the file name and selecting “Save Target As”. The files are tab delimited and can be either opened in MS Excel (using the File/Open menu and following the import wizard), or for large files over 5,000,000 Bytes imported into MS Access (by using the File/Get External Data/Import menu and following the import wizard). The first record in the file contains the field names. The data is extracted from the AEC’s live database and therefore is only current as at time of extraction.
1.5 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2006
CCD Mapping Data
The link below provides access to 2006 ABS CCD mapping data. This data must be used by all Councils when submitting final ward alterations to the NSWEC after July 2007. The AEC moved its enrolment system to 2006 CCDs in mid July 2007 and as such all boundary information after this date uses 2006 CCD coding.
Councils are required under section 210A of the Local Government Act 1993 No 30 to consult the Electoral Commissioner before dividing a Council’s area into wards. See below;
210A Consultation,
public notice and exhibition of proposals regarding ward boundaries
Before
dividing a council’s area into wards or altering a council’s ward boundaries,
the council must:
consult the Electoral Commissioner and the Australian Statistician to ensure
that, as far as practicable, the proposed boundaries of its wards correspond to
the boundaries of appropriate subdivisions (within the meaning of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912 - Subdivision means subdivision of a district and includes also any unsubdivided
district) and census districts, and to ensure that the proposed boundaries
comply with section 210 (7), and
prepare
and publicly exhibit a plan detailing the proposed division or alteration (the
ward boundary plan).
To fulfil the consultation requirement of this section, Councils are required to complete the spreadsheet provided below BEFORE public exhibition is completed. Subsequently, Councils are required to complete the spreadsheet provided below AFTER ward alterations are approved by Council. This second submission is to provide the Commissioner with sufficient information to code electors correctly to the roll. In both cases the spreadsheet and accompanying plan files should be emailed to ian.brightwell@elections.nsw.gov.au. Details on how to populate the spreadsheet report is contained in the “Help” tab.
Ward Boundary Report Template
(excel file) Completed
Ward Boundary Reports
In addition to the “The Ward Boundary Report” spreadsheet Councils must provide a plan of ward boundaries (the ward boundary plan). This plan needs to be provided to the Commissioner in both electronic form (Mid/Mif or other suitable format for Mapinfo) and paper form. The plan should clearly show the LGA and ward boundaries and the 2006 CCD boundaries. Note the information requested above is needed to assist the AEC to coded electors correctly into the enrolment system. Provision of incomplete or inaccurate information will potentially result in electors being coded into incorrect wards and not constitute “consultation” with-respect-to the Local Government Act.
Councils should note that the Electoral Commissioner does NOT provide a consulting service to Councils to fulfil their obligations under the act. Councils are advised that they should seek the services of either the Department of Lands or other suitably qualified organisation if they are unable to provide the required information to the NSWEC with internal resources.
The link below provides maps of each LGA. The maps show the current LGA boundary and where appropriate the boundary of wards within the LGA. Only LGAs that have finalised their wards and passed resolutions have their maps published. The site is being continually updated with ward boundary information. It is anticipated that all LGAs will have their wards finalised by the 31/12/07.
Regional/Returning Office Localities
2. Manly Poll & 2004 Detailed Results
The links below are for poll held in relation to the use of the Seaforth TAFE Site and Town Centre to be held on Saturday 3 May 2008.
2004 Detailed Results Amalgamated Council Elections Results
3. Non-Residential Roll Claim Form Template
(Not for use in the
Council of the City of
The link below provides a template of the LG.127 claim form template to allow Councils to modify the form for their purposes and then include on their website for the use of non-residential roll claimants.
Last updated 17/07/2008 2:19 PM