Voter registration in Australia

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In Australia, voter registration is called enrolment. Enrolment is a prerequisite for voting at federal elections, by-elections and referendums, as well as all state and local government elections; and it is generally compulsory for enrolled persons to vote unless otherwise exempted or excused. Enrolment is compulsory for Australian citizens over 18 years of age who have lived at their current address for at least one month.[1] Enrolment is not compulsory for persons with no fixed address who are not already enrolled.[2] Residents in Australia who had been enrolled as British subjects on 25 January 1984, though not Australian citizens, continue to be enrolled, and cannot opt out of enrolment. (These comprise almost 163,000 voters in 2009.[3]) For local government elections, an elector generally does not require to be an Australian citizen. Once enrolled, a person cannot opt out of enrolment. Enrolment is optional for 16- or 17-year-olds, but they cannot vote until they turn 18,[1] and persons who have applied for Australian citizenship may also apply for provisional enrolment which takes effect on the granting of citizenship.[4]

Once enrolled, every enrolled person must update their address details within 8 weeks of the change. This also applies to persons enrolled with no fixed address, and enrolled British subjects.

A person who has been convicted of treason or treachery and has not been pardoned, or who is serving a sentence of three years or longer for an offence against the law of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory, is not entitled to be enrolled on the federal roll.[5] They are removed from the federal electoral roll and must re-enroll when their disqualification ceases. The states may have different disqualifying periods, such as Victoria which has a disqualifying period of five year imprisonment.

Though enrolment is compulsory, at the close of rolls prior to the 2013 federal election, about 1.3 million people otherwise eligible to vote had not been enrolled, about one-third of whom were aged between 18 and 24.[6] At June 2014, there were 14.9 million electors on the federal roll, and the number not enrolled was 1.2 million, resulting in a "participation rate" of 92.5%,[7] up from 91.4% at 30 June 2013.[8] At the close of roll for the 2019 federal election, the participation rate was 96.8%.[9] At the 2013 federal election, there were 14,723,385 registered electors,[10] of whom 93.2% actually voted (called the “turnout”). At the 2019 federal election, there were 16,419,543 registered electors, and the turnout was 91.9%.

  1. ^ a b AEC, Enrol to vote
  2. ^ Enrolment for persons with no fixed address in Victoria
  3. ^ "British citizens may lose voting rights". Smh.com.au. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  4. ^ Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, s. 99A.
  5. ^ "Electors". Aph.gov.au. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  6. ^ Hall, Bianca (9 August 2013). "Enrol to vote or you'll miss out, AEC warns". The Age. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  7. ^ Case study Eight days, six hundred thousand enrolments (28 October 2014). "AEC Annual Report 2014". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  8. ^ Report on performance - Active electoral roll management
  9. ^ "The best electoral roll in history". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  10. ^ "First house preference by party". Virtual Tally Room: 2013 election. Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). 4 November 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.