Enrol to vote at elections

Introduction

If you're an Australian citizen aged 18 years or over, you are legally required to enrol to vote with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

Once you have enrolled to vote, it is your responsibility to keep your enrolment details up to date.

You must vote in federal, state and local elections. If you fail to vote without a valid reason, you could be fined.

To find out about upcoming elections in NSW, visit the NSW Electoral Commission.

You can enrol to vote with the AEC if you:

are an Australian citizen
are a British citizen who was enrolled to vote in Australia on or before 25 January 1984, and
are aged 16 years or older, and
have lived at your current address for at least one month.

Note: You can enrol when you turn 16 years of age but cannot vote until you’re 18.

You can enrol to vote online.

If you cannot enrol online:

Complete and print Enrol to vote or update your details – PDF. If you need a paper form, contact the AEC.
Return your completed and signed form by:
1. scanning and saving the form (PDF, JPG, JPEG, BMP, TIFF or GIF formats only), then uploading it to the AEC website
2. visiting an AEC office in person
3. mailing it, without a stamp (if posted in Australia), to:
  Australian Electoral Commission
  Reply Paid 9867
  Sydney NSW 2001

For help updating your enrolment details, call 13 23 26.

You only need to complete one form for local, state and federal government elections.

If your circumstances affect your ability to enrol to vote (for example, you are living overseas, have no fixed address or are in prison), you may be eligible to use the special enrolment options.
If you enrolled online, you can use the receipt number provided to check the progress of your enrolment.
To get back on the electoral roll, visit the Australian Electoral Commission website.