About the EEC
Q: What is the Electoral Education Centre?
The Electoral Education Centre (EEC) is run by the Western Australian Electoral Commission as a facility dedicated to the improvement of electoral education and awareness in Western Australia.
Q: Where is the Electoral Education Centre?
The Electoral Education Centre is located at 40 Havelock Street, West Perth, within the Constitutional Centre of Western Australia and close to Parliament House.
Q: What services does the Electoral Education Centre offer?
The Electoral Education Centre offers the following services:
- in house presentations and activities for casual and group visitors
- external presentations (incursions) for your school or community organisation
- resources and information for teachers
- conducting student council elections.
Visit the EEC
Q: When is the Electoral Education Centre open?
The Electoral Education Centre (EEC) is open on weekdays. With prior arrangement, groups wishing to visit the EEC on weekends or in the evening can generally be accommodated.
Q: How much does it cost to visit the Electoral Education Centre?
Admission to the Electoral Education Centre is free.
Q: How long is a standard visit?
Teachers should allow around 1 hour for a standard group visit, however times can be varied to suit a particular group's needs. It is usually possible to combine your EEC visit with learning experiences with the Constitutional Centre and Parliament House, to make a whole day of engaging civics education.
Q: Is there public parking available at the Electoral Education Centre?
No. Metered parking is available on Parliament Place and on Havelock Street. There are two ACROD parking bays available to Electoral Education Centre visitors with valid parking permits.
Q: Where can our school bus park?
School buses can park out the front of the Constitutional Centre on Havelock Street.
Q: Where should I assemble my group when we arrive at the Electoral Education Centre?
On arrival, please make your way to the large black archway gates facing Parliament Place to the left of the Constitutional Centre main entry, where we will greet you and direct your group(s) to their first allocated program location.
Q: Where can we store our lunches?
When you arrive at the Electoral Education Centre, please ask one of our friendly staff members about storing your lunches. Your lunches can be put in one of the display rooms until they are required.
Q: Where can students eat their lunch?
Students can eat their lunches in the courtyard area or on the lawn area at the front of the building. There are toilet facilities in the courtyard as well as a drink fountain and bench seats. Students and teachers will need to be aware that there are offices with people working in them around the courtyard, so noise should be kept at a polite level.
Q: Does the Electoral Education Centre have Public Liability / Insurance cover?
The Western Australian Electoral Commission - Electoral Education Centre has the appropriate insurance cover. Visit our Facilities page to access a copy of the Certificate of Currency.
Q: Does the Electoral Education Centre provide resources to student and community groups?
Yes. Please contact the Electoral Education Centre (EEC) with your request. We generally do not send class sets of resources through the mail, but on request, we can provide class sets to groups who visit the EEC.
Q: Can programs be run as an incursion at our school or college?
Yes. Bookings can be made for Electoral Education Centre staff to visit schools and other educational settings to present electoral programs within the classroom. These sessions usually run for one hour. See EEC Comes to You for more information or make a booking enquiry.
EEC Comes to You
Q: How much does it cost to have an Electoral Education Centre presenter come to our school?
There are no costs associated with booking an Electoral Education Centre presentation for your school.
Q: How long does a presentation usually last?
A typical presentation lasts an hour, but can be adapted to suit your requirements.
Q: Can presentations be booked for a number of class groups on the same day?
Yes. You can arrange to have multiple presentations for different class groups during a visit. Please discuss this with the Electoral Education Centre's friendly staff.
Q: Can the Electoral Education Centre conduct presentations for schools in regional and remote areas?
Occasionally the Electoral Education Centre conducts presentations in conjunction with the Parliamentary Education team. If a visit to a regional area is not possible, we can organise access to our Online Voting Program.
Q: Does the teacher have to remain in the room during a presentation?
Yes. Teachers are required to supervise their class group and may be called upon to assist the presenter.
Student Elections
Q: What type of elections can the Electoral Education Centre conduct?
The Electoral Education Centre can help with any student election, such as a student council election. This service is provided free of charge.
Q: Can the Electoral Education Centre help with student elections in regional or remote Western Australia?
Yes, it may be possible but if the staff are unable to visit your school, the EEC can still assist by preparing all the ballot papers and sending them to you. After voting, the ballot papers are returned to the EEC, where staff will conduct the counts and notify you of the results.
Q: How are student elections conducted?
Student elections are conducted at your school. Electoral Education Centre (EEC) staff will create your ballot papers and email them to you for printing. They will then bring a ballot box, pencils and voting screens to your school on polling day and explain the voting process to the students.
Once voting is completed, the ballot box containing the votes will be taken back to the EEC where the count will be conducted.
Q: How are the votes counted?
A school can choose either first-past-the-post or preferential voting for their election. Electoral Education Centre staff will use the selected voting system when creating ballot papers and conducting the count.
Q: When will we get the results?
Results are usually available within a week depending on the workload.
Q: Can we conduct our own student elections?
Yes. Resources are available to help teachers conduct their own elections, including instructions and templates for creating nomination forms and ballot papers.
You can always contact the Electoral Education Centre for help and advice.
Online Voting Program
Q: What is included in the Online Voting Program?
This program includes an informative and entertaining 15-minute video based on the video students watch as part of their excursion to the EEC. In addition, a PowerPoint presentation is provided along with teacher notes and templates that allows you to conduct a comprehensive lesson on the electoral process which includes running a mock election with your students.