Richard Kidd

RICHARD KIDD B.A. Brief re Experience Richard Kidd is Director / Principal of Australian Election Company. Richard was formerly: • General Manager, Elections, for a competitor service provider, until March 2006. • Principal of Ballot & Election Solutions & Director Operations, election.com 1998- 2003. • Possessed 26 years experience with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) in ballot/election management, 20 years in Executive Management. His final position was that of Queensland State Director, Industrial Elections. • Richard possesses specific knowledge and experience of the logistics associated with the conduct of remote area elections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. • As well as parliamentary elections, legislation, policy and procedure, Richard also has experience in the administration, management and conduct of Industrial Elections and other non-parliamentary elections, including the consideration of relevant Court precedents and the analysis and interpretation of organisations’ rules. • Richard conducted the 2001, 2003 & 2005 NRMA Board of Directors’ Elections (combined Internet and Postal Ballot) as Operations Project Manager and Returning Officer. These are Australia’s largest private-side Elections; larger than some Australian State and Territory Elections. • Richard prepared a formal submission to the Victorian State Parliamentary Inquiry into Electronic ‘e’ Democracy, appearing before the Committee of Inquiry in Canberra. • Richard has prepared and referred detailed Submissions to the Queensland Department of Local Government, Planning, Sport and Recreation and the Law, Justice and Safety Committee in regard to the Review and Conduct of Queensland Council Elections. • In March 2004, Richard was the Returning Officer for the Maroochy Shire Council Elections. Concurrently he project managed Elections for nine (9) other significant scale Queensland Shires, together with 32 Department of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Community Council Elections. • Richard was contracted as Project Co-ordinator to Electoral Commission, Queensland, to project manage and co-ordinate the conduct of the March 2008 Queensland Local Government Elections in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. • Richard was Returning Officer for the outsourced 2010 Mackay Regional Council By-Election. At that Election, “admitted” ballot papers (some 53,000) were electronically scanned; this was a “first” for Queensland Public Elections. • Richard has managed and/or conducted Elections for Police Credit Union New South Wales, Service One Credit Union, Australian Medical Association NSW, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australian Dental Association NSW, Australian Institute of Project Managers, City of Blacktown RSL, and the Lismore and District Workers Club Ltd. • As Returning Officer or Project Manager, Richard has conducted Enterprise/Collective Agreement Employee Ballots for numerous Australian Government Agencies and corporate entities including Australia Post, Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Electoral Commissio., BHP Billiton, Centrelink, Commonwealth Bank, Comalco Aluminium, the Dept. of Employment and Workplace Relations, Ergon Energy, HCF, the Dept. of Climate Change, Mission Australia, Australian Public Service Comm., Qantas, Rio Tinto, Singapore Airlines, Suncorp, Thiess Pty Ltd, and United Airlines, to name but a few. • In predecessor roles as a Consultant and Director, Operations election.com, Richard conceived, developed, implemented and applied many Ballot and Election intellectual property initiatives including derivation of specialist documents, forms, processes and procedures manuals, briefs and submissions. • Richard provides consultancy services to clients to review/re-constitute their Ballot/Election governance requirements. • In 2012 personally funded and Project managed 10 fully outsourced NSW Local Government (Council) Elections; assisted with the conduct of a further three NSW Council Elections. Designed, supplied and distributed all necessary election forms, documentation, Manuals for Returning Officer and Polling Officials, training materials for Polling Officials and a Candidate Guide and presentations. • • Richard is appointed to the United Nations Consultant Roster of Electoral Expert PO4 level.

Thematic Areas of Expertise