Voting

Voting in Australia

In Australia you must vote if you:

• are an Australian citizen,
• are aged 18 years or over.

There are different types of elections that you get to vote in. Some examples are:

• federal elections
• state, territory, or local government elections
• referendums.

You must sign up (enrol) to vote; it does not happen automatically. It is compulsory for you to enrol and to vote. If you do not you may receive a fine.

Federal elections in Australia are organised by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

State, territory and local government elections are usually run by state electoral bodies and not by the AEC. However, you can enrol for all elections using the AEC enrolment form.

Enrolling to vote

You can easily enrol to vote online through the AEC website.

If you are 16 or 17 you can enrol now so you’ll be ready to vote when you turn 18.

There are different enrolment options for different needs. Different needs mean things like if:

• you don’t have a fixed address
• you are living or going overseas
• you are unable to attend a polling place.

You can find out about these special enrolment options on the AEC website.

Updating and checking your enrolment

It is important to check your details are up to date so that you are correctly enrolled to vote.

If you move house or change your name, you need to update your enrolment. If you’re ever unsure about your enrolment, you can easily check online.

How to vote

There are different ways you can vote in a federal election. This includes if you’re:

• outside your local area
• working on the day
• can’t get to a polling place.

There is also information available in different languages and accessible formats.

To make sure your vote counts, you will need to follow the instructions. You can practise voting on the AEC website.

Mis and disinformation

During elections, you might see information that isn’t true or that tries to tell you who to vote for. It’s important that you consider what you see, hear and read.

It can be hard to know what information is trustworthy and up to date. The AEC website has some helpful tips to help you ‘stop and consider’ what you see, hear and read during an election.

Work opportunities

The AEC employs around 100,000 people to help deliver elections. If you want to work at an election, you can register your interest today!

Need more help or have questions?