The Australian Electoral Commission has announced that the nation’s electoral roll has grown by 75,000 people in the first quarter of 2023.
Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said that as of March 31, a total of 17,446,514 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,” he said.
“Importantly, the number of people estimated to be ‘unenrolled’ has dropped in the first quarter of 2023 by another 11,350 — from 513,000 at the end of 2022 to approximately 502,000 now.”
Mr Rogers said that since the start of this year, the AEC had processed more than a million enrolment transactions.
“In my time as Commissioner since 2014, the electoral roll has 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,” he said.
“It is a source of agency pride that we’re able to continually seek and achieve greater enrolment and provide such a remarkable base for participation in democratic events for Australia.”
Citing feedback and research from the AEC, Mr Rogers said those people who were not enrolled either chose not to enrol or lacked a connection to politics or government to motivate them to participate.
“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 turn out to vote as possible.”