In Australia, it is compulsory for Australian citizens aged 18 and over to enrol to vote. If you don't keep your enrolment details up to date, you may be removed from the electoral roll and unable to vote.
To help keep the roll as complete and correct as possible, we use information we receive from other government agencies, including electors’ contact details.
We might contact you about your enrolment by email, letter, SMS or phone if:
We will email you or send you a letter:
If we do need more information, the letter will include a new form. You can upload images of any forms you complete on the website instead of posting them back to us.
We will send you an SMS when we need to speak to you about an application you have submitted, such as enrolment form. It will be to either let you know that an AEC officer will call you or that they have already tried to call you. To help us process your application, please answer or return our call.
We also send text messages to:
When we need more information to process your application or any other request you have sent to us, we will give you a call.
Our emails are from addresses ending in @aec.gov.au and they prompt you to visit the AEC website to enrol or update your details.
Our emails contain links to the AEC website. But if you are concerned and don’t want to use the link, you can go to ‘Enrol to vote’ to check or update your enrolment online.
When we send you an SMS, it could be either from a mobile number or have AEC as the sender.
Our text messages don’t contain links.
If you want to check that a message you received is from us, please contact us. You will need to provide your name and the reference number from the message.
You might get a letter from us telling you that we intend to enrol you or update your address using information from another government agency. This might have been information from a transport authority, Centrelink or the Australian Taxation Office. We get this information when your situation changes, such as when you move or you become an Australian citizen.
If the details on the letter are correct, you don’t need to respond.
If the details aren’t correct, complete the form on the back of the letter. You can upload the form on the website instead of posting it back to us.
Find out about direct enrolment.
If you get an email, a letter or an SMS asking you to enrol or update your details, you can go online to:
If you have received a message with a reference number starting with AHT, please select either ‘enrol to vote’ or ‘get back on the roll’.
Go online:
Find out about special enrolment options.
If you are the relative of a person with a condition that prevents them from understanding the nature and significance of enrolling and voting, please contact the AEC.