By Grace Jones | posted on November 21, 2019
THE Shire of Denmark admitted during their monthly council meeting on Tuesday night to breaching a state privacy regulation during the recent local election.
During the September 17 council meeting, resident John Sampson asked the Shire whether ratepayers’ private information had been “unnecessarily divulged” in the Owners and Occupiers Roll given to election candidates earlier this year.
Candidates running for Council during a local election are given a copy of the Owners and Occupiers Roll for their locality that is compiled by the WA Electoral Commission (WAEC).
The official roll includes the name, address and date of birth for each elector in order to check for duplications when consolidating with the State Electoral Roll.
The roll is usually altered by the Shire for each candidate in order to not disclose the date of birth in accordance with Regulation 16 of the Local Government (Elections) Regulations to protect the privacy of voters.
Shire Acting Chief Executive Officer David Schober said after it was discovered that candidates had received the original copy of the roll and not the redacted copy, the Shire advised the WAEC as soon it was aware of the breach and ordered the Returning Officer to recall the list from all candidates and conducted an internal review.
A member of the WAEC media team said the maintenance and provision of the information in the Owners and Occupiers roll is the responsibility of the CEO of each Local Government under the Local Government Act 1995.
“The matter has not been formally brought to the attention of the Acting Electoral Commissioner and such administrative functions performed by a local government fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, not the Commission,” they said.
A spokesperson from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries said non-compliance with Regulation 16 does not create an offence under the Local Government Act 1995 or associated regulations, and that the non-compliance was an uncommon occurrence.
