Public Information Campaign

The AEC conducted an extensive, integrated public information campaign for the 2004 federal election to increase awareness, public understanding of, and participation, in the election.

The campaign aimed to ensure all eligible electors were informed and understood what was required of them to fully participate in the election and the range of services available. The major messages conveyed in the campaign were:

• how, when and where to enrol and vote
• how and when to vote using services such as pre-poll and postal voting
• how to correctly complete the two ballot papers; and
• the role of the AEC in the election.

The AEC developed and implemented a set of integrated strategies to communicate to electors including advertising, public relations, publications and promotional products, call centre service and the website. There were also a number of specific activities directed at the key target groups of electors from non-English speaking backgrounds, electors with a disability, young electors and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander electors.

Advertising

The AEC’s advertising campaign for the 2004 federal election consisted of national and State and Territory based advertising. The advertising campaign which ran throughout the election period was designed to reach all eligible electors. The national advertising campaign involved the use of internet, television, radio and press advertisement versions and was in three main phases:

• encouraging enrolment
• explanation of voting services
• explanation of how to vote formally.

The national campaign consisted of nine television commercials, 11 radio commercials and ten press advertisements. An AEC enrolment advertisement first appeared on television in every major capital city on Sunday 29 August 2004, the day the election was announced. The final AEC television advertisement was aired on Friday 8 October, the day before election day.

The State and Territory based advertising was designed to support the national advertising by providing local information. It included the press advertising of pre-poll voting arrangements and polling places in State, regional and local press.

National advertising was translated into 17 languages in the ethnic press, 26 languages on ethnic radio and five languages for ethnic television. In addition, radio advertisements were translated into 24 indigenous languages and advertisements were broadcast on Radio for the Print Handicapped.

Of the total media budget, 63 per cent was spent on television, 8.5 per cent on radio, 27.5 per cent on press and 1 per cent on internet advertising. Expenditure in ethnic and indigenous media accounted for approximately 7 per cent of total advertising costs.

Public relations

The AEC planned and implemented a large scale public relations campaign for the election to complement the advertising and other elements of the public information campaign.

Public relations activities included:

Media Releases

The AEC released over 200 national, State and Territory and localised media releases during the election period. A series of media backgrounders detailing key aspects of the election were also distributed. Several key media releases were translated into six community languages and distributed to the ethnic media.

Media Interviews

AEC staff participated in approximately 2000 media interviews for national, metropolitan, local and ethnic radio and television during the election. AEC staff also fielded numerous enquiries from the print media representing Australian and overseas press.

Information Briefings

Information briefings for candidates and the media were held by several AEOs in their State or Territory following the announcement of the election. Federal election 2004 information kits containing election information were distributed to attendees. Monitoring of print and electronic media coverage directly related to AEC activities and messages identified extensive press and broadcast coverage during the election campaign.

Photo Opportunities

Numerous photo opportunities provided to the media gained national and international coverage, including naval submariners pre-poll voting aboard HMAS Farncomb located off-shore of Adelaide, and the commencement of remote polling at Wallace Rockhole, an isolated indigenous community 117 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. These particular photos were used extensively throughout the Australian media.

Other national coverage included press coverage of Shane Warne, acclaimed Australian bowler, pre-poll voting in Mumbai during the Australian Cricket Team’s test tour of India and Australian Antarctic staff at Casey Station casting their votes in the election. National broadcast coverage included preparation of the National Tally Room in Canberra on morning television; AEC NSW Head Office staffer appearing as a guest on Channel V (pay TV youth network) detailing how to vote for the House of Representatives and the Senate in the election; and behind the scenes at the National Tally Room on election night telecast on a national Sunday program the day after election day.

Other PR Initiatives

Prior to the federal election, the AEC conducted an integrated public awareness campaign to support the major mail-out of AEC electoral roll review letters in May and June 2004.

This involved the placement of advertisements about the electoral roll review in major metropolitan and selected regional newspapers including selected ethnic press. A public relations campaign at national, State and Territory and divisional levels supported this initiative and disseminated the key messages to the media. The AEC website was integral to the campaign as a source of general information and for providing users with access to enrolment forms to enrol or update their details.

The enrolment review campaign achieved wide media coverage, generating talkback and promotion on radio in regional and metropolitan areas.

There were also a number of other new initiatives used to communicate key messages to target audiences including:

• A public awareness strategy designed to address the high levels of informal voting in non-English speaking communities in southwest Sydney. The AEC, in conjunction with Migrant Resource Centres, conducted enrolment and voting information sessions in various electorates in southwest Sydney in the lead-up to the election. These sessions were designed to educate key community leaders and service providers, who in turn would inform their communities about how to participate in the election process and make their vote count
• Online strategies to raise awareness and interest levels among overseas electors through the use of website banner advertising and tailored editorial. Websites targeted included those which were popular expatriate/community websites accessed by overseas Australians and those designed for Australians either currently overseas or planning to go overseas, such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s website smartraveller.gov.au
• Enrolment banner advertising and editorial targeted at young people and first time voters eligible to vote in the election. This advertising appeared on electiontracker.net, an election information website developed by Vibewire.net-an online community created for young people.

Publications

The AEC produced a series of publications for the 2004 federal election including:

• Nominations Pamphlet
• Election 2004 Candidates’ Handbook
• Election 2004 Scrutineers’ Handbook
• National Electoral Division Profiles
• A series of Electoral Backgrounders
• 2004 Federal Electoral Boundaries Wall Map
• Election 2004 National List of Candidates
• Election 2004 series of Electoral Newsfile
• 2004 Election Night Guide
• Fact sheets series:
  • Going overseas
  • Australian Defence Force Services Electoral Guide
  • Prisoner voting
• Information leaflet; Your official guide to the federal election

Descriptions of these and other publications produced for, or following the election are outlined in Appendix D.

Promotional products

A range of promotional products was produced to promote enrolment and voting for the 2004 federal election. Products included information kits, media release letterhead, badges, stickers, and t-shirts.

Elector leaflet

The AEC distributed a multi-page election information leaflet, Your official guide to the federal election, to more than 7.5 million households throughout Australia before election day.

A different version of the leaflet was produced for each State and Territory containing electoral information on how and when to vote, how votes are counted and important AEC contact details. Delivery of over 7.5 million leaflets began three weeks before election day. The leaflets were wrapped in plastic to protect them and keep them separate from party political and other advertising material being delivered. A summarised version of the elector leaflet was translated into 15 languages and made available on the website and in hardcopy on request. A version of the leaflet was produced on audio cassette, Braille, large print and audio file and distributed to blind and other print handicapped electors.

Election 2004 call centre service

For the 2004 federal election the provision of the call centre service was outsourced to Centrelink. This allowed the AEC to reap the benefits of Centrelink’s significant IT platform and national telephony systems. The AEC business line operated as a single virtual call centre from seven Centrelink sites with an AEC developed web based content delivery application that allowed inquiries to be answered promptly, accurately and consistently.

The national ‘13 23 26’ number operated from 8.00am to 8.00pm local time seven days a week to provide information and assistance to the public. A sophisticated Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) system was utilised that significantly reduced the number of inquiries that required operator assistance. Call centre operators answered over 480,000 calls nationally during the election period.

Telephone interpreting service

A telephone interpreting service for electors from non-English speaking backgrounds was also provided throughout the 2004 federal election period. The service had 15 language specific telephone lines and one line for electors who did not speak any of the 15 specific languages available. A caller to one of the language specific lines was greeted by a recorded electoral message in their own language and could be connected to an operator speaking their language if they required further information.

During the 8 week period surrounding the election, over 7 000 interpreting services calls were made with almost half of these callers choosing to speak further to an operator. The language lines that received the most calls during the period were the Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese lines.

The table below illustrates the number of calls each of the language lines received during the 2004 election period.

Telephone Interpreting Service Usage

Language	Calls	Interpreter Requests
Arabic	553	209
Cambodian	68	19
Cantonese	1664	960
Croatian	119	43
Greek	378	179
Italian	249	82
Macedonian	90	22
Mandarin	1755	988
Polish	105	48
Portuguese	47	15
Russian	239	89
Serbian	219	104
Spanish	349	155
Turkish	113	45
Vietnamese	702	376
Other	734	260

Internet

The AEC website consisted of large amounts of current and historical electoral information with extensive cross-referencing to make it easy for users. The website at www.aec.gov.au was first launched at the 1996 federal election.

The website proved to be an important way for the AEC to provide information on the 2004 election to many people including the media, Australians overseas, candidates and parties and members of the public. During the election period, the website received over 843 000 visits, with nearly 7 million page views.

Enrolment Verification Facility

In the lead up to the 2004 federal election the AEC introduced an enrolment verification service for electors to confirm their enrolment over the internet. Electors can now access the AEC website-provide their exact name and the town or suburb they are enrolled for, and the web service will confirm their enrolment. In the ten day period between the announcement of the election and the close of rolls over 255,000 enrolment searches were undertaken.

Internet Virtual Tally Room

The AEC hosted a website election results system known as the ‘Virtual Tally Room’. For this election the Virtual Tally Room underwent a major redevelopment which included a large increase in the number of results and analysis screens. This allowed people visiting the site on election night and in the weeks following to access progressive House of Representatives results, figures from the Senate count for all States and Territories together with a comprehensive range of summary and analysis screens.

On election night the ‘Virtual Tally Room’ provided up to the minute election results that were updated almost immediately. Votes were telephoned in from polling places and entered into the AEC’s election management system. Following election night these figures continued to be regularly updated and included results down to the local polling place level.

The software and technology necessary to host the ‘Virtual Tally Room’ was developed especially for the AEC. An electronic feed was taken from the AEC’s computerised election management system database and distributed to a comprehensive web hosting solution. Over the three week period following and including election night the system handled more than 39 million hits, comprising over 150 thousand visitors that undertook over 10 million page views.

Special target groups

The AEC’s public information campaign included a number of activities to meet the needs of specific elector groups. Targeted activities were aimed at minimising any impediments these electors had in receiving and understanding information and to assist them in participating in the election.

Electors from Non-English Speaking Backgrounds

In addition to the placement of election advertising in ethnic media, the AEC provided a national telephone interpreting service in 15 languages and key election information was sent to ethnic media and community organisations throughout the election period.

Election and voting information was translated into 18 community languages and available from the AEC website or by calling the AEC’s national enquiry service. Selected polling places located in divisions with large numbers of electors from non-English speaking backgrounds and past high informal voting rates also displayed translated how to vote messages in key community languages and in English, and translated how to vote posters were available for issuing to electors on election day.

In the lead up to the federal election, the AEC in conjunction with Migrant Resource Centres conducted election information sessions in NSW electorates which had a high level of informal voting at the previous election. The sessions were designed to provide enrolment and ‘how to vote’ information and educate key ethnic community leaders who could assist their communities to fully participate in the election process in a meaningful and correct way.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

In the lead up to the 2004 federal election the AEC undertook a pre-election Remote Area Information Program in the remote areas of all states except Tasmania. The program employed mainly indigenous people for a period of six to eight weeks to visit remote indigenous communities to explain our electoral system and how to fully participate. A video featuring Cathy Freeman and actor David Ngoombujarra plus a brochure reinforcing the messages from the video were used to support the program. Posters and stickers featuring Indigenous personalities were also produced and distributed. The posters were inserted in four editions of the Koori Mail. Television and radio advertising were also broadcast on indigenous media during the 2004 election.

Electors with a Disability

The AEC provided information on the election in a range of print alternative formats to meet the needs of electors with a print disability. In consultation with the National Information Library Service, the AEC distributed audio cassettes, Braille and large print versions of the householder elector leaflet to individuals, disability organisations and libraries. This information was also made available on the AEC website in audio format, large print and in text for screen reader capability. The availability of these products was promoted through the Radio for the Print Handicapped network and other disability media.

Young Electors

The AEC conducted a number of campaigns to encourage young people to enrol and vote in the 2004 election.

Rock Enrol, a national youth enrolment promotion, was conducted in early 2004 as a joint initiative with Triple J, the national youth radio network. The promotion centred around the Big Day Out concerts held across Australia during January and February 2004 and was effective in encouraging young people to enrol for the first time. Print and broadcast media coverage in metropolitan and regional areas also helped raise awareness of the promotion and the dedicated Rock Enrol website was successful in generating new enrolments. The promotion generated over 4,500 enrolments with first time electors enrolling via the Rock Enrol website, at one of the Big Day Out concerts or through subsequent school and youth community events.

A youth television advertisement designed to encourage young people to enrol was placed during youth programming in the close of rolls week. Four youth radio commercials were also broadcast throughout the election period. As part of the public relations campaign, targeted media releases and youth specific case studies were issued to media and the AEC website was heavily promoted as an access point for election information.

The AEC also worked with Vibewire.net, an online youth community, to develop enrolment banner advertising and editorial for their electiontracker.net website for promotion during the enrolment phase of the election campaign.