Electoral Amendment

Overview of the Bill
This Bill amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Electoral Act) and related legislation restore the independence of the postal vote process by preventing political parties and candidates from using it to harvest data.

Restriction on application made by person on behalf of elector:
An application for registration as a general postal voter for a Division must not be made, in respect and on behalf of an elector,
by:
(a) a registered political party; or
(b) a candidate in a Senate election; or
(c) a candidate in a House of Representatives election.
Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

184AB Return of application forms
An application form for a postal vote must not be sent, on behalf of the applicant, to the Electoral Commissioner or Assistant Returning Officer by:
(a) a registered political party; or
(b) a candidate in a Senate election; or
(c) a candidate in a House of Representatives election.
Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

Electoral Amendment
Restriction on application for registration as a general postal voter must not be made by person on behalf of elector

Electoral Amendment
Restriction on application made by person on behalf of elector
An application for registration as a general postal voter for a Division must not be made, in respect and on behalf of an elector, by:
(a) a registered political party; or
(b) a candidate in a Senate election; or
(c) a candidate in a House of Representatives election.
Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

184AB Return of application forms
An application form for a postal vote must not be sent, on behalf of the applicant, to the Electoral Commissioner or Assistant Returning Officer by:
(a) a registered political party; or
(b) a candidate in a Senate election; or
(c) a candidate in a House of Representatives election.
Civil penalty: 100 penalty units.

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM and STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Circulated by authority of Kate Chaney MP

OUTLINE
1. Retaining trust in our electoral process is important.
2. The number of postal votes has more than tripled since 2004.
3. The integrity of our electoral process is being undermined by political parties and candidates using the postal voting application process to harvest personal data.
4. This practice involves parties and candidates sending voters a postal vote application form and an addressed envelope with a generic addressee such as ‘Processing Centre’. Voters unknowingly return the form to the party or candidate, not the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). The party or candidate can then legally capture the voter’s personal information before sending the application on to
the AEC.
5. The AEC states "The distribution and collection of PVAs (postal vote applications) by candidates and parties creates eligibility confusion and privacy concerns amongst voters".
6. This Bill amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act to protect voters’ personal information, by removing the role of political parties or candidates in submitting postal vote applications. It does this by ensuring that postal vote applications may not be sent to the AEC on behalf of voters by candidates or parties.

Constitutionality
7. Any electoral law reform must not violate the implied freedom of political communication guaranteed under the Australian Constitution.
8. The reforms sought do not violate the implied freedom of political communication.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Bill will have no financial impact.

NOTES ON SCHEDULE Postal voting process
The number of postal votes has increased from 5.1% of total votes in 2004 to a high of 14.6% of total votes in 2022. In 2025, 13.6% of voters voted by postal ballot. This means the integrity of our postal voting process more important than ever.

Part XV of the Electoral Act sets out the postal vote process.
The Australian Electoral Commission (‘AEC’) sends postal vote ballot papers to a voter after receiving a written application in approved form. The approved form includes the voter’s name, address, telephone number, email address and a security question and answer.
The ballot paper and postal vote certificate must then be validly completed by the voter and posted or delivered to the AEC.

Current practice

Recently it has become more common practice for political parties and candidates to send a package of unsolicited mail to voters that includes a postal vote application form, a reply-paid envelope and campaign materials.
The reply-paid envelope has a generic-sounding addressee, such as ‘Processing Centre’, but is associated with or controlled by the party or candidate.
The party or candidate can then record all personal information contained in the application form for future unregulated use.
Once the personal data has been collected, the party or candidate sends the application form on to the AEC so the AEC can send a postal vote ballot paper to the voter.

The issue

Most voters believe they are sending their application form directly to the AEC. They are unaware that they have inadvertently provided their personal details to the party or candidate for unregulated future use. There is nothing to prevent a party or candidate from using this data to contact the voter in the future, or from selling this data.
This process gives rise to a significant number of complaints to the AEC. In a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Reform the AEC said:
"The distribution and collection of PVAs (postal vote applications) by candidates
and parties creates eligibility confusion and privacy concerns amongst voters" (see JSCEM submission 330 by AEC at page 8).
On 16 April 2022, the AEC Commissioner, Tom Rogers, wrote to all registered political parties warning against distributing “potentially misleading” postal vote applications to residents. He referred to reports of incorrect forms being distributed to voters, the AEC’s purple colour being used on some forms and voters being directed to generically named websites en masse with the potential to mislead.
In part, the AEC Commissioner said
“… the use of colour and wording means someone who doesn’t examine the material in detail could mistake it for a piece of AEC communication” and "Our message couldn’t be clearer – vote in person if you can, apply for a postal vote through us if you need one".
Recommendation 21 of the final report of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters provides:
“5.158 The Committee recommends that section 184 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 be amended to clarify that postal vote applications must be sent directly to the Australian Electoral Commission’s nominated addresses.”

The solution

This Bill amends the Commonwealth Electoral Act to protect voters’ personal information, by removing the role of political parties or candidates in submitting postal vote applications. It does this by ensuring that postal vote applications may only be sent to the AEC by voters, and may not be sent to the AEC on behalf of voters by candidates or parties. It will remove the ability for political parties or candidates to use this important process to harvest personal data from voters, which will help to rebuild trust in our electoral processes.
This is a simple fix that fully responds to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters report recommendation 

Human rights implications
This Bill is compatible with human rights because it does not limit any human right.

Kate Chaney MP