It is important that every eligible person aged 18 and over votes at local, State and Federal elections.
Voting is about having a say on who you think should represent you in Parliament. Parliament makes decisions on all sorts of
issues that affect your life, such as housing, hospitals, public transport, employment and education. You should vote for
who you think will make the best decisions on the issues that are important to you.
In order to vote, you must be enrolled. If you don't vote, then you miss out on having your say!
There are a number of enrolment options available if you do not have a home or you are living in temporary accommodation.
No Fixed Address enrolment
If you do not have access to safe and secure housing you can enrol as an elector with
no fixed address (PDF 134
kB).
As an elector with no fixed address, you enrol using one of the following:
- the address where you were last eligible to enrol;
- the address where a next of kin lives;
- your place of birth, if you have no next of kin in Australia; or
- if you were not born in Australia and none of the above applies, a place you feel the closest connection to.
If you enrol as an elector with no fixed address and do not vote at an election, you will not be fined. Your name will
remain on the electoral roll.
Silent elector
If you believe that having your address on the electoral roll will put your personal safety or your family's safety at risk, you should apply to become a
silent elector (PDF 123
kB).
This involves having a statutory declaration signed.
It is important to keep your enrolment details up to date so that you remain eligible to vote. If you find a permanent place to live you should re-enrol using an ordinary elector form (PDF 262kB).
If you are a service provider working with people experiencing homelessness, the VEC runs a community program called Homeless not Voteless which provides training to homelessness workers and helps people experiencing homelessness to enrol and vote.
