Reputation hit from 2021 state election caused WA Electoral Commission to outsource polling day staff recruitment, documents suggest

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19 hours ago

The WA Electoral Commission took the unprecedented step of outsourcing almost all of its election workforce recruitment, in part because it was concerned the previous state election had damaged its reputation.
In reality, the 2025 poll experienced far more reported issues, including reports of long wait times at polling booths and some locations running out of ballot papers.
Those problems were so great the government ordered a special inquiry to probe what went wrong and why the commission contracted labour hire company PERSOLKELLY.
Documents released to the ABC under Freedom of Information laws show, for the first time, why that decision was made.
The documents also highlight how the WAEC and PERSOLKELLY downplayed the scale of the outsourcing in the days following the election.
It comes after the ABC revealed the chaos inside the commission in the lead-up to the state election, with one senior official saying they had warned of issues with the labour hire company as much as four months before the poll.
In a procurement plan compiled in the first half of 2023, the WAEC set out its reasons for wanting to outsource its temporary election workforce.
It noted an audit after the 2021 election, which found there were "some issues", including with a different labour hire company used in a limited capacity under a government-wide contract.
"Service delivery expectations were not met, [temporary election workforce] staff expressed deep dissatisfaction and the WAEC's reputation and performance suffered," it reads.
The plan noted the commission did "not have the internal resources available (human resources and systems) to best manage projects of this size".
"The aim of this [tender] is to address the recommendations made to the WAEC … to ensure that elections are run cost effectively and to a high standard into the future," it reads.
But a senior WAEC source who worked both the 2021 and 2025 elections said the earlier poll was "positively functional".
"Delivery of materials was underdone, the logistical side of things," they said.
WA's Shadow Electoral Affairs Minister Shane Love agreed while there were a few issues in 2021 it was "nothing like the collapse that we saw in 2025".
"What I can see here is a commission just outsourcing, washing their hands and saying, not our problem. Well, it is your problem," Mr Love said.
In the days after the election, as the full scale of problems came to light, both the WAEC and its contractor sought to play down the role outsourcing could have played.
"There have been a number of election events where the WAEC has engaged contractors for the provision of recruitment services," a spokesperson told the ABC about a week after the election.
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"This is not a new or uncommon practice. Previous state and federal electoral commissions have appointed recruitment companies to provide support staff in a similar way," a PERSOLKELLY spokesperson said the following day.
But the procurement plan shows that was not the full picture.
While it noted other states have had similar issues trying to staff elections themselves, none had outsourced the entire job.
"The approach of the WAEC to outsource a significant part of the requirement is new and is not currently being undertaken in any other jurisdiction," the plan reads.
In a statement to the ABC, PERSOLKELLY maintained its position that the scale of outsourcing was not new or uncommon.
The WA Electoral Commission said it would be inappropriate to comment until the special inquiry report was released publicly.
The tender document rated the overall risk of outsourcing as "low/moderate".
But it noted one of the most significant risks was "contractor unable to provide sufficient staff at relevant locations" and that potential impacts included "public unable to vote" — with some voters complaining that long delays and a shortage of ballot papers discouraged voting.
The plan identified one of the controls for that risk was "the contractor has experience in an electoral process, preferably in WA", which it said would help reduce the risk from "significant" to "moderate".
PERSOLKELLY said it had supported the Australian Electoral Commission to run federal elections in WA in 2013, 2017 and 2025, as well as the New South Wales state election in 2015, on top of decades of experience providing staff to all levels of government.
"This includes support to government agencies, including elections, locally and nationally along with similar experience in multiple countries outside of Australia," the company said.
In a statement following the election, the WAEC said PERSOLKELLY had "deployed the personnel requested … in line with the project's requirements" and that all 682 polling locations were staffed and operational.
It said its role was limited to recruiting and onboarding staff.
The document also indicated "appropriate funding has been confirmed by Robert Kennedy — Electoral Commissioner" to cover the estimated total value of $30 million.
But government records show the value of the contract awarded was more than double that at $86.9 million.
The WAEC said the initial figure "reflected all relevant information available to the Western Australian Electoral Commission at that time".
"The final contract award estimate … reflects the maximum value of the contract if all extension options are exercise based on the agreed pricing structure with PERSOLKELLY Australia."
An earlier version of the procurement plan, also released to the ABC, shows the commission had initially planned to offer a six-year contract for the outsourcing, which would run until after the 2029 state election.
However, a Department of Finance staffer managing the tender noted that would require an "internal exemption" to go over a five-year limit.
Future versions of the document refer to a four-year contract with the option of a two-year extension.
The future of the contract is uncertain though, with the Acting Electoral Commissioner telling budget estimates earlier this month the contract would be reviewed after local government elections in October.
"Part of that process will involve looking at what the future looks like with PERSOLKELLY," Dennis O'Reilly said.
On Monday, Premier Roger Cook confirmed the contract was "addressed in the context of the report" without providing specific details.
"We certainly need to make changes to ensure that the WA Electoral Commission can conduct the local government elections which will take place in October this year, but we'll table the report first and then our response," he told reporters.
Questions have been raised about the commission's ability to conduct those elections after its Director of Election Operations resigned.
Commissioner Robert Kennedy and Deputy Commissioner Courtney Barron are on leave.
Both commissioners have been temporarily replaced by senior public servants, with staff brought in from the Australian Electoral Commission to help run local government elections.
"We look forward to the outcome of the special inquiry into the planning and delivery of the 2025 WA state election, and welcome learnings that will come as a result," a PERSOLKELLY spokesperson said.
That report is expected to be released when parliament next sits in mid-August.