AUSTRALIAN statistician and former head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics David Kalisch has been appointed chairperson of the ACT Electoral Commission. 

Mr Kalisch has also been the non-judiciary member of the Australian Electoral Commission, director and chief executive of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and a productivity commissioner. In 2020 he made a significant contribution to a Commonwealth-State Working Group considering the security of electoral systems and options for improvement.

Mr Kalisch, who will bring a distinguished and extensive public sector career into the five-year role, which begins on September 10, was chosen following the resignation of outgoing chair Dawn Casey.

Ms Casey, who has committed almost 11 years of service to the ACT Electoral Commission, was first appointed as a member of the Commission in October 2010 and served in that capacity for more than six years before her appointment as chair in April 2017.

She oversaw the successful delivery of the 2020 election under the organisationally challenging requirements of the covid safe provisions.

In announcing the new chair, Ms Casey said: “Mr Kalisch has a deep understanding of the challenges facing organisations delivering critical government services through the use of technology-based systems.”

On her departure, she said that it’s been both a privilege and an honour to have served on the commission.

“I am particularly pleased that Mr Kalisch has been appointed as the new chair of the commission,” she said.

“I consider that the combination of his strategic leadership and management abilities, his governance experience and his appreciation of the importance of effective cyber security with his personal qualities will ensure that he will make an outstanding contribution to the work of the commission.”