The Australian Electoral Commission has announced that Australia’s electoral roll has grown by another 75,000 people in the first quarter of 2023.
Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said that as of 31 March 2023 a total of 17,446,467 people were enrolled to vote.
“Australia’s enrolment sits at an estimated 97.2 per cent complete ahead of the referendum with further growth expected in the coming months,” Mr Rogers said.
“Importantly, the number of people estimated to be unenrolled has dropped in the first quarter of 2023 by another 7,000 – from 513,000 at the end of 2022 to approximately 506,000 now,” he said.
“Since the start of the year we’ve processed more than a million enrolment transactions – a combination of new enrolments and updates through direct enrolment, prompted by AEC communication and engagement activities as well as other societal motivations.”
Mr Rogers said that since 2014, the electoral roll had grown by more than 2.5 million people, reflecting not just population growth but also an enrolment rate rise from 92.7 to 97.2 per cent of eligible Australians.
“Feedback, research and our experience tells us that many of the people that remain unenrolled either wilfully choose to not enrol or lack a connection to politics or government that provides motivation to participate,” the Electoral Commissioner said.
“We know most democratic motivations are of course outside of our remit or control, but our enrolment efforts continue to make inroads,” he said.
“Enrolment is just one part of participating in the referendum – we’re actively looking at our voter services models and communication activities for the referendum to have as many people turnout to vote as possible,” Mr Rogers said.
