Some people may be considering whether or not it is safe to vote. Given that voting is compulsory, citizens should not have to choose between safety or a fine from the electoral commission. Below is some information about voting options that consider safety.
Voting options for people in refuges or temporary housing, and those with no fixed address.
Pre-poll voting - vote before an election
You can vote early at a pre-poll centre in your electorate for a range of reasons, including if you can’t get to a polling place on election day you can vote at an early voting centre.
Find out where you can vote early/ pre-poll or vote here -https://www.aec.gov.au/
Remote voting
The postal vote application form for the federal election will be available on the Australian Electoral Commission website, or from AEC offices.
No fixed address
If you are an Australian citizen (or an eligible British subject) and aged 18 years or over, and have no real place of living, you may be eligible to enrol as an itinerant voter.
You can apply if you are:
- itinerant – that is, living somewhere temporarily but do not have a place you intend to return to live
- homeless with no access to safe and secure housing
- homeless and living in crisis or transitional accommodation
Find out more HERE.
Not enrolled or wish to check your enrolment?
If you are not enrolled to vote or you are uncertain about your enrolment status, you can check this online:
If you are not enrolled to vote and/or you are concerned about providing an address to the electoral
commission, there are a couple of options you could consider:
-
Enrol as a ‘Silent elector’: https://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/pdf/forms/silent/er022sw-nsw.pdf
-
Enrol with ‘No fixed address’: https://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/pdf/forms/no-fixed-
address/er016nfaw-nsw-2019.pdf
Silent Electors
For future elections, you can apply to register as a silent elector if you believe having your address on the electoral roll would put you or your family's safety at risk.
If you are granted silent elector status only your name is shown on the publicly available electoral roll.
If you are already enrolled, you can register as a silent elector by selecting the silent elector form for your state or territory.
If you are not enrolled, you can enrol online or complete a PDF version of the enrolment form and then return it to the AEC with your silent elector form.
Find out more about registering to be a silent elector HERE.
Practice Voting
Here's an AEC link where you can practice voting.
*Based on/adapted from 'Safe to Vote', produced by Insight Exchange.