• How can I view the electoral roll?
• Can I buy the Electoral Roll?
• Is the electoral roll on the internet?
• A relative has died. How do I have their names removed form the electoral roll?
• A relative has dementia. How do I have his/her name removed from the electoral roll?
• How is the electoral roll kept up to date?
• Following an electoral roll review, can electors be removed from the electoral roll?
• To whom does the AEC provide access to the electoral roll?
• How can a direct mailing house obtain my details from the electoral roll?
• Do disabled electors have to be on the electoral roll?
• Can I have my name removed from the electoral roll?
• Are politicians and political parties provided with the electoral roll?
• How do I change the provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act?
• What percentage of the Australian population is on the electoral roll?

How can I view the electoral roll?

Every AEC office has the Commonwealth electoral roll available for viewing in electronic format. To find your nearest office please see our Contacts page.

The publication of the roll is integral to the conduct of free and fair elections, enabling participants to verify the openness and accountability of the electoral process and object to the enrolment of any elector.

Note:The AEC does not keep historic electoral rolls for public viewing.

The National Library in Canberra has available microfiche of the Commonwealth Electoral Rolls from 1901. The library also holds a limited number of State electoral rolls on microfiche for the time prior to Federation. Further, you can check with your State Reference Library to find out what provisions of microfiche, if any, they have available.

Can I buy the Electoral Roll?

The roll is not available for sale in any format.

Is the electoral roll on the internet?

A verification facility is available on the AEC website that allows you to verify your enrolment details online. You can access this facility from our home page, by clicking on ‘Check your Enroment Details’.

A relative has died. How do I have their names removed form the electoral roll?

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is notified by the State Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for each State and Territory in Australia of deceased persons. The AEC can also obtain this information from relatives of the deceased.

Relatives need to provide the following information to AEC staff.

Information about the deceased:

• Surname/Family Name
• Given/First Names
• Last Enrolled Address
• Date of Birth
• Date of Death

Information about the caller:

• Your Name
• Your relationship to the deceased
• Your contact phone number

A relative has dementia. How do I have his/her name removed from the electoral roll?

An elector may be removed from the Commonwealth roll where a registered medical practitioner has certified in writing that the person is incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting because of unsound mind. (Section 93(8) of the CEA 1918).

If a person believes a relative or friend should be removed from the roll for this reason, they need to include with the certified document, a completed 'claim that an elector should not be on the electoral roll' form. This form is not available on our internet site, however we can post or email them out.

How is the electoral roll kept up to date?

Continuous Roll Update (CRU) commenced in 1997 and is now an established process by which the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) systematically reviews the Commonwealth electoral to ensure its ongoing accuracy and currency.

Under the authority of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, the AEC obtains information for this exercise from other agencies, who supply the AEC with change of address data and new clients details.

Regular and ongoing CRU reviews of electoral enrolment are conducted by mailing letters to selected electors at addresses. However, where mail review is not effective or appropriate a residence may be reviewed door knock by a fieldwork officer who actually visits the residence.

Following an electoral roll review, can electors be removed from the electoral roll?

In order to maintain an accurate and up-to-date electoral roll, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is required under Section 92 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (CEA) to conduct regular reviews. Reviews can take the form of door knocks at all residences in an area or the mailing of review letters to electors and to addresses where the AEC considers that the roll may need updating.

The AEC sends review letters to residents to ensure their enrolment is current. If the AEC receives information that a person is no longer living at their enrolled address, a notice is sent to the elector’s enrolled address advising that their name will be removed if a satisfactory reply is not received. When the elector completes an electoral enrolment form for their new address, the elector is then placed back onto the electoral roll.

To whom does the AEC provide access to the electoral roll?

Under provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the CEA), members of the public may inspect the electoral roll electronically at AEC offices.

Under provisions of the CEA, Members of Parliament, political parties, approved medical researchers and public health screening programs may also be supplied with confidential roll information. For medical health researchers, this may, include electors’ gender and age range information.

In addition, certain government agencies (prescribed authorities) may be supplied with confidential roll information under the CEA, for the prescribed purposes that are set out in the Electoral and Referendum Regulations 1940. Further information about the prescribed authorities that are entitled to receive confidential roll information and the purposes for which they may use of the information is available on the AEC website.

The Commonwealth also has arrangements in place with each State and Territory for maintenance of the joint Commonwealth and State and Territories electoral rolls. This joint roll arrangement assists in improving roll accuracy by matching electors moving between States and Territories.

In accordance with the CEA, the electoral roll may be provided to persons or organisations prescribed in the Electoral and Referendum Regulations 1940, such as those that have identity verification obligations under certain Commonwealth legislation.

How can a direct mailing house obtain my details from the electoral roll?

In the past mailing houses were able to purchase the electoral roll and use the information for non-electoral purposes. The roll is no longer available for sale in any format.

Do disabled electors have to be on the electoral roll?

All Australian citizens over the age of 18 are required to enrol and vote under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, however anyone who is incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting by reason of being of unsound mind can request to be removed from the roll. (Your request must be certified by a medical practitioner and be accompanied with a completed 'claim that an elector should not be on the electoral roll' form. This form is not available on our internet site, however we can post or email one out to you.)

Can I have my name removed from the electoral roll?

The Electoral Act allows for the removal of names from the roll only for a number of specific reasons. These include: death of elector, elector of unsound mind (medical certificate required), elector not an Australian Citizen and elector moving overseas indefinitely/permanently.

More information can be found in our publication No. 17 - Compulsory Voting [PDF 61k] (This edition is currently being revised and updated).

Are politicians and political parties provided with the electoral roll?

Section 91A of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the CEA) states that the AEC must provide to Members of the House of Representatives, Senators and federally registered political parties regular updates of the electoral roll in electronic format. Specifically the AEC must adhere to the following entitlements:

• A Member of the House of Representatives is entitled to receive elector information for the division for which they were elected and any other division, following a redistribution, which contains a part of their elected division;
• A Senator is entitled to elector information for the State/Territory for which they were elected; and
• A federally registered political party is entitled to elector information for the States/Territories in which they are organised.

The use of this data is restricted to:

• any purpose in connection with an election or referendum
• research regarding electoral matters
• monitoring the accuracy of information contained in a Roll; and
• the performance by the Senator or member of the House of Representatives who is a member of the party of his or her functions as a Senator or member in relation to a person or persons enrolled for the Division, State or Territory to which the disk relates.

Medical researchers are required to provide the AEC with a copy of an institutional ethics committee approval for their project. Public health screening surveys must be approved by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing and a copy of the approval must be provided to the AEC.

The final decision regarding release of elector information for medical research projects and public health screening surveys rests with the AEC.

How do I change the provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act?

The provisions of the CEA are determined, not by the AEC, but by the Parliament. Persons wishing to recommend changes to the legislation should write to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, contact details below:

Committee Secretary

Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters
Department of House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA

Phone: 61 2 6277 2374
Fax: 61 2 6277 4710
email: JSCEM@aph.gov.au

What percentage of the Australian population is on the electoral roll?

Not all of the resident population of Australia is entitled to electoral enrolment. Entitlement to be on the Commonwealth electoral roll applies only to Australian citizens, 17 years and over, and those British subjects who were enrolled on 25 January 1984. Non-citizens are not entitled to be enrolled. (While 17 year olds can have their names placed on the roll, they cannot vote until they are 18.) AEC research indicates that 95% of eligible people are enrolled at any given time. Those not enrolled may be accounted for by a number of factors of which the major ones are:

• those disqualified from enrolment - because they are of unsound mind or have been convicted of treason or treachery and not pardoned.
• those who have moved from an address and not yet notified the AEC of their new address and have consequently been removed from the roll.

There are also a number of people who are not currently resident in Australia but who remain enrolled. Eligible people who are temporarily resident overseas for a period of up to six years and have registered as an overseas elector, retain their entitlement to enrolment.

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