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Australian Electoral Commission
You are eligible to apply for a postal vote if you are unable to get to a polling place on election day. We encourage you to apply as soon as you know you are eligible.
Postal vote applications must be submitted to the AEC by no later than 6pm Wednesday 18 May 2022.
If you are a registered general postal voter and your postal address has changed or you have been affected by events such as natural disasters, you can update your postal address online.
Your 2022 federal election postal vote pack will contain:
Note: Don’t miss out! Remember to follow the full instructions provided and sign your postal vote certificate.
Ballot papers must be completed and witnessed on or before election day. We encourage you to do this as soon as possible after receiving your vote. Please follow the instructions on the inside of the postal vote certificate. Once you have completed your postal vote, return it inside the white return envelope provided. The address to use to return your postal vote will be printed on the materials you received.
To be included in the count – postal votes must be received by the AEC by Friday 3 June 2022.
If you are overseas you will need to provide an overseas address that enables you to receive and return your completed ballot papers to Australia in time to be counted.
We encourage you to apply as early as possible to ensure that you receive your voting materials in time. We recommend that you complete and return your ballot papers as soon as possible so your vote can be counted. You have only 13 days after the election for your ballot papers to be received by the AEC.
See voting from overseas for a list of overseas locations to vote or to return your postal vote.
If you cannot show the unsigned Postal Vote Certificate and blank ballot papers to an authorised witness, please complete the Overseas postal vote: witness declaration alternative.
Yes, you will need to apply again. The AEC does not run state elections and the postal vote application you provided to the state electoral commission is not shared with the AEC.
If you are already registered as a general postal voter with the AEC, you don’t need to apply again. A general postal voter is an eligible person who has pre-registered to automatically receive their ballot papers in the mail after an election has been announced.
If you are not a registered general postal voter, you will need to apply for a postal vote for the 2022 federal election.
In accordance with s.193 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, an authorised witness for postal voting may be:
Please read the information in your postal voting guide for further instructions if you are unable to find a witness.
A person who is a candidate for the 2022 federal election cannot be an authorised witness.
Candidates or political parties may have sent you a postal vote application which contains their branding, logo or other materials. Candidates and political parties are allowed to send postal vote applications to households.
The party or candidate must forward your form to the AEC for processing if you decide to use the form sent to the AEC. The AEC has no control over what political parties do with the personal information you provide on your application form before they forward it to us.
You can return the application form directly to the AEC instead of the party or candidate:
You don’t have to use the postal vote application sent to you by a political party or candidate. You can apply for a postal vote through the AEC.
You can also apply for a postal vote downloading and completing the paper postal vote application form.
Once you have filled out and signed the application, email it to applications@pva.aec.gov.au.