school program staff

project officer

operations team leader

assistant director

participant

Australian Electoral Commission

What is the best part of working at the company?
 Bit like  being a team player , maybe like the Matilda’s and representing  Australia at the olympics
You train and work hard together, and  motivate each other . Every player is a vital link in  moving towards the one big day that they worked for.  In my situation it was the 2023 Referendum not the olympics and we  felt like the winning team of the whole world. 

I  was so lucky to have the.experience of working in a small team , with  great supervisors getting everything ready and dispatched out to  the cities  suburbs  for voting day,
It was a great  4 months , The AUSTRALIAN ELECTORAL COMMISSION  are  a well oil machine, paddling like ducks underwater and they get the job done
Positive place to work 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The AUTRALIAN  ELECTORAL  COMMISSION had a big job to do , they  needed  their worker’s 
to be on time but to get there on time during morning peak hour traffic  on every small road and  freeway  was  not my best performance 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Perhaps too many middle management employees all in one large office/ wharehouse 
Their roles seemed to be blurred to each other and at times caused unnecessary conflict  with ego and blame  taking focus away from the original problem 
Maybe  Someteam player workshops for middle management, 
High security conditions meant all employees  work, behave  and comply to Those rules
Thii was always handled in a clear non threatening way 
Happy  and  full of  anticipation for the day 
Good  common area for tea breaks lunch created lots uoff. Bonding  between all   Levels of  employees 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I was a temporary worker  for about 4 months only   

Unfortunately it  finished but a typical day for me:
Sign on 9am, identity lanyard and.   Red  S eccurity vest on 
Hit the warehouse floor running 
Quick team meeting  with about5 temp employee and our. 3  warehouses  managers also temporary, they had different roles and responsibilities from each other  and could blend inn to  each other’s  areas  if neeeded,

 I would do
Ware house stock take
Preparation for polling day logistics 
Venue  Set up/ set down,  tressle tables 
D eliverieaa to electorates 
I worked on polling  day at local electorate
Once the count wa finalised  we began the pack down
The complete reverse of pre polling 
Lots of counting ,recycling, stock refreshed and boxed up and shelved away in the correct place ready for  the next election

What is the best part of working at the company?
Australian Electoral Commission via Hays specialist recruitment provided me with the opportunity to participate in a national event and gain experience in electoral duties as part of the scrutiny team successfully.


What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Ability to work with minimum breaks and with increased levels of concentration as the duties involved counting and checking for errors. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
A spacious warehouse with adequate seating arrangements and other amenities would be enough to describe the work environment. All involved were time conscious, task-focused, and goal oriented. Both experienced and inexperienced staff collaborated with one another and attributed their success to teamwork.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The day began at 4:00 PM with formalities such as signing, receiving electoral vests, lanyards with ID cards, and waiting in the allocated area until further instructions were given. I followed instructions and the AEC staff to the assigned work area where I had an allocated supervisor.  I participated in sorting ballot papers from ballot boxes, separating 'yes', 'no', and informal votes, bundling it for easy counting under the guidance of supervisors. A few minutes before closing time, I sealed the transport containers after transferring the double-checked bundles with the respective forms in the slots on the sides of the containers. Evening shift finished at 10:00 PM.

The following day, day shift commenced at 8:00 AM. I worked with a team member to check the envelope votes with their counter foils in the respective folders and double checked their total numbers besides separating the 
invalid ones or informal ones. The day shift which included an hour lunch break finished at 3:00 PM.

I commenced around 1984 at Federal Election as an ordinary polling assistant after around 5 elections I was upgraded to Declarations Officer and after 5 elections upgraded to 2nd in Charge then this last election as Officer in Charge of a polling place at Trevallyn.
I was taught by experienced officers in charge who made it a fun place to work even though it was taxing work given good breaks and position changes rotated during the day so I applied what I gleaned and applied the same principals so every person including myself took turns in positions relative to their experience. FYI my team achieved a perfect count 100% accurate, very proud as 40% of the team were first time workers. I gave good evaluations to all my staff.
The team worked cohesively and diligently all day and starred with the count and balance with just 2 hiccups, albeit minor and easily resolved. It proved that being well prepared in the preceeding days  doing as many tasks the day before  so one could enter at 06.30 am and complete tasks and briefings for staff prior to open doors  at 08.00 hours. This meant all duties on the check lists were completed in due form so nothing was overlooked.
I assisted a voter by taking the certified list and ballot papers to a lady in a car unable to enter the building due to mobility issues in the car park. Her husband was delighted. It made my day.
These small things an OIC does to assist all electors to have their say is rewarding. Her husband returned with me to place the ballot papers into the ballot boxes unseen by me so the vote was totally unseen.
There were others whom I assisted as they were illiterate.

This has to have been one of the worst jobs I've ever had.

Firstly there was the organisation particularly prior to work commencement. I received a phone call asking me whether I wanted to accept a position at the local pre-polling centre at about 8:30am on a Monday morning; I accepted and was told to monitor my email for details on when the training session was being held; at 2:30pm the same day I received the email telling me the training session was being held at 3:00pm and that i had thirty minutes to get to it. - The training if you could call it that was pathetic, consisting of a short PowerPoint presentation in which the supervisor couldn't even figure out how to get the sound running.

The next day, the first day of work, I arrived at 7:30am, the work was tiring but bearable, during the day i was told there was an online training component I should have completed prior to work commencement, I received no such email. By the end of the day i was absolutely exhausted.

The next day as i was getting ready to go in to work, i got held up which would have made me ten to fifteen minutes late, as i was traveling to work i got a phone can telling me not to bother coming in as i had been replaced for the day.

About an hour later I received another phone call asking me to come in and fill out some paperwork, when I had finished filling out said paperwork i was simply to 'my services were no longer required' because I didn't meet expectations and because someone tried to call me and i had to silence my phone.

So I basically was used for a single day then discarded.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Not really a best part because we are going non stop only for a very small break and lunch and keep going till the minute we go home.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Managers or 2nd incharge not knowing what to do. When ask questions they give you vague answers in return it confuses us and worst the voters.
Voters get upset with us. The managers or persons in charge need to be train properly. Once I've ask the 2nd in charge why he choose this position he said more money. They may get pay more money but they don't care the STRESS they put on the rest of us and voters

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
On some occasions I've work on early voting elections and the environment and culture itself is good, you always get the odd worker that is a bit lazy. but most of us work hard, non stop till we finished and go home. (other than small break and Lunch)

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Well is always stressful when dealing with hundreds of different people, specially early voting when it goes for a week or so. But for one day is ok.
I don't have a permanent job for the "company" so I can't talk more than what it is on those few days I have worked since 2019 to the last one last year.

Staff arrived 15 to 20 minutes before Voting Opening time at 9a.m. Sign in for our team of friendly, cheerful staff.
Prepare Voting Venue, place display signs, receive, count and record ballot papers issued, man voting table just before opening time.
All staff were rotated through the day with different duties, eg. ballot paper issuing, ballot box guarding, queue controlling.
I learnt: at all times accuracy is vital in identifying voters and marking off their names correctly on the electoral roll, accountability for ballot papers received and issued is important, pleasant service with respect for voters an important representation of Electoral Commission.
Management and work culture, efficient and supportive team. Pleasant work culture maintained even though inundated by the volume of voters turnout.
Hardest part of the job, tiring at end of day.
The busy-ness was very interesting and our supportive team a pleasure to be a part of.

The AEC is without doubt a very important part of the Australian Government. It is an apolitical work environment but there are as in any workplace , politics in the workplace! It is a relatively small agency which only really gets attention from Government when there is an election. This means there is not a lot of capacity for growth and career progression and development is limited. It is also means that some functions that might be present in a state office in other departments are centralised in Canberra. This means the potential to contribute within the states can be limited to line functions with very limited opportunities for staff functions. Some specialist roles are now focussed in a specific state eg. Industrial Election, Commercial Elections and Special Category processing. Overall it is an invigorating and exciting place to work at Election time but there are limited opportunities for growth and development at non election time. 

At AEC, I was appointed as a reception officer on the Election Day. Being attention to detail, a quick learner and ability to read different kind of hand writing, my line supervisor has appointed me as a team assistant (data entry) on the same day. My main duty was to read postal votes with different types of hand writing and update voters’ information in AEC database to make document batching for some reports. My ability of transferring information correctly and quickly, understanding the needs and respecting others’ opinion in the team has contributed the work place until the project was completed successfully. I had enjoyed great support from my team and supervisor. The hardest part of the job was long standing while counting the votes. It was my longest time at work to start from 7:00am to 11:00pm. The most enjoyable part of the job was service to the people and having been amazed by the transparency and plurality of the Australian democratic system.

A very controlled environment, regimented with strict guidelines. Starting early 6.30 am and finishing at 10 pm or later.
The setup needs some preparation the previous day around 2-3 hours. Then at least 1-1.5 hours prior to open and after briefings from the O I C and myself as 2 I C . to the various positions. The day is full of pressure to the staff to ensure complete accuracy. Although one can and does encourage to be happy and light hearted in your approach to the day. Rotating into different positions to give staff relief and a break is very important for morale, also changing roles so the staff become better educated also important and gives variety. When you get a person not speaking English and relating to them to make their vote easy and fun. The most loved part are the relationships you forge it is all about making the day great engaging and fulfilling.

I only worked for AEC for a brief period during elections. It was a wonderful working culture and people were friendly and cooperative. Would recommend others to work here. Hardest part of the job was handling the queue and administrative side/aspects. However, coffee was on the team, it was a lovely working culture and management side was also great. The interesting aspect was renting out the Baby bunting store, that was quite interesting location. Regardless, everyone was interactive, fun and engaging and as a team, we were all able to coordinate the fair share of work amongst ourselves. The most important aspect is to submit your expression of interest through the AEC official website or contact them directly when spots are available or when the company is looking for team members to help out during an election period. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
School program staff 46 salaries reported	$30.01 per hour
Project officer 7 salaries reported	$89,418 per year
Operations team leader 1 salary reported	$95,750 per year
Assistant director 8 salaries reported	$126,755 per year
Participant 3 salaries reported	$102,086 per year

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