The Electoral Act 2002 requires the VEC to make specified enrolment information available to:
The public
The electoral roll is available for inspection by members of the public. The roll that is available to the public contains name and address information and can be searched by name only. Electors who don't want their details appearing on the roll for safety reasons may apply to register as a
silent elector.
Political parties, Members of Parliament and candidates
The VEC provides lists specifying electors (except silent electors) and their particulars to registered political parties, Members of Parliament and candidates for an election. We provide candidates with name and address information. We give registered political parties and Members of Parliament access to enrolment information that is not publicly available, including gender and date of birth.
Other individuals and organisations
The VEC may, on request, choose to provide other individuals and organisations with access to electoral enrolment information. In deciding whether to release the information, the Electoral Commissioner must consult with the Privacy Commissioner to consider whether the public interest in providing the information outweighs the public interest in protecting the privacy of the information. Particulars of silent electors are not disclosed in any circumstances except where required by law, for example if the VEC is subject to a court order. The details of silent electors are always handled with additional security. A list of organisations, that the VEC provides or has provided electoral enrolment information to, can be found
here.
Other legislation requires the VEC to make specified enrolment information available to:
Local councils
The VEC provides enrolment information to councils under the
Local Government Act 1989 and the
City of Melbourne Act 2001, for local council elections.
The Juries Commissioner
The VEC provides enrolment information to the Juries Commissioner under the
Juries Act 2000, so that people can be called for jury service.
For a more detailed explanation of VEC's collection use and disclosure of enrolment information, see section 2.2 in our privacy policy (PDF 263kB, DOC 352kB).
