Record high enrolment continues ahead of next federal election

Key points:

• Pre-election enrolment has never been higher.
• 97.9% of all eligible Australians are enrolled to vote (as at 30 June 2024).
• This is higher than the 96.2% leading into the previous federal election in 2022 (as at 30 June 2021)
• 96.8% was recorded at the close of rolls for the 2022 federal election (previous record high for a federal election, likely to be eclipsed in 2024/25)
• An estimated 92.9% of Indigenous Australians are enrolled to vote (as at 30 June 2024).
• This is significantly higher than the 79.3% leading into the 2022 federal election. (as at 30 June 2021)
• An estimated 90.2% of youth (18-24YOs) are enrolled to vote (as at 30 June 2024).
• This is also significantly higher than the 84.5% leading into the 2022 federal election.(as at 30 June 2021)

What does it mean?

The high levels of pre-election enrolment point to the likelihood that the 2024/25 federal election will have the highest level of overall, Indigenous and youth enrolment of any federal election in Australia’s history.

Youth and Indigenous Australians are two cohorts that have historically been under-represented on the electoral roll. Recent increases in these areas have largely been maintained, with the gap to overall enrolment rates remaining relatively small.

The release of these statistics comes with the federal election window open. A standard House of Representatives and half-Senate federal election can be held on any Saturday between now and 17 May 2025 (with a minimum of five weeks’ notice from announcement). 

While slight decreases in enrolment rates have been seen in recent months, this is much less than what has sometimes previously been experienced at this stage of the federal electoral cycle. The trendlines predominantly show the continuation of a high status quo achieved after years of significant enrolment growth – the result of hard work by the AEC. 

Quotes

• Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers

“Australia’s enrolment is in great shape. It’s never been better leading into a federal election.”

“I am confident the next federal election will once again break enrolment records. It is likely to be the best base for participation in a federal election since federation.”

“What we know for sure is that a greater proportion of young people and Indigenous Australians will be enrolled than ever before for a federal election – and by some margin as well.”

“I’m just so proud of the team for the hard work and innovation to get such a high integrity and complete electoral roll.”

“It is a globally enviable position for Australia’s democracy.”

“We’ve worked hard to introduce initiatives that have led to this success – the inclusion of Medicare Cards as a form of identification and the expansion of direct enrolment initiatives are just two areas that are helping typically under-enrolled cohorts.”

“A relatively flat year on year graph may look boring but this is a case of boring being good news – it shows that after recent years of explosive growth, Australia’s estimated enrolment rates are holding steady. Historically, that hasn’t happened.”

“While we still have work to do to bring the enrolment of some groups of Australians to parity with the national rate, this year’s numbers demonstrate that the high levels of enrolment between elections is being sustained.”

Editor’s notes:

• While Australia’s national enrolment rate is updated every quarter, Australia’s Indigenous enrolment rate is estimated as at 30 June every year.

• Fluctuation in the enrolment rate is a natural part of Australia’s electoral cycle, and reflects natural attrition as well as a broad trend of new voters not enrolling until presented with an enrolment deadline at a federal election.

• The date of Australia’s next election is not known. When a writ is issued for the next election, voters will have seven days from the issue of the writ to enrol or update their enrolment.

• In the seven days following the issue of a writ for the 2023 referendum, approximately 79,000 people were added to the roll. An additional 376,000 voters updated their enrolment details during this period.

Enrolment Trend Visuals