Page 2266 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 1 August 2017
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Strait Islander Elected Body. Members of the elected body represent the interests and aspirations of local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and community. The ACT is the only Australian jurisdiction to have an elected representative body like the elected body embedded in the governing process through legislation.
Since 2008 the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body has been a strong voice for the community as it advocates for the rights, goals and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans. The elected body also ensures greater interaction between the ACT government and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community more broadly. The elected body continues to play a major role in government decision-making and in the development of government policies affecting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
As members would be aware, a new elected body has just been elected, and the government looks forward to working with them as we continue to implement the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement 2015-18, with its focus on stronger families and connected communities. During the next few months we will start a conversation with the elected body and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to develop a new agreement on the expiry of the current one. The conversation comes at an important time, as the federal government seeks to refresh the closing the gap framework, and the nation and our community debate constitutional recognition and a national representative voice.
In June this year I attended the Aboriginal affairs ministers roundtable, where we discussed and shared ideas and aspirations in the portfolio. I was able to discuss with my colleagues the work of the elected body, how they are assisting the ACTÂ government in the development of our service provision, providing advice to me as minister and their monitoring role through the hearings process.
MS CHEYNE: Minister, what are the results of the most recent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body election?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Cheyne for her supplementary question. Polling for the 2017 ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body took place during NAIDOC Week from 1 July to 8 July 2017. For this election we doubled the number of polling places to provide for increased voter participation. Four hundred and thirty two formal votes were cast for the election, which was a 15 per cent increase on the number of votes cast at the 2014 election, not as big an increase as I would have hoped, but an increase nevertheless.
The election results were declared by the Acting Electoral Commissioner on Thursday, 20 July 2017. The new members of the fourth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body are Carolyn Hughes, Katrina Fanning, Jo Chivers, Ross Fowler, Maurice Walker, Fred Monaghan and Jacob Keed.
These members were elected from 25 candidates who stood at the election. This was by far the largest number of candidates in the four elections held since 2008. This new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body brings a mix of experience and
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