You can register as a general postal voter if you have difficulty getting to a voting centre on election day. To apply, you must:
- live more than 20 km from a voting centre;
- have a disability;
- have ill health;
- care for someone with ill health;
- hold religious beliefs that prevent you from voting on election day;
- be serving a prison sentence of less than five years;
- be a patient at a nursing home that is not also a voting centre;
- be enrolled as a silent elector; or
- be 70 years old or older.
If you are a general postal voter, your voting material will automatically be sent to you after the close of nominations for an election.
More information about becoming a general postal voter is available here.
You may be able to register as an overseas elector if you:
- are enrolled and intend to leave Australia within the next three months, and intend to return to Australia within six years; or
- are enrolled and left Australia less than three years ago, and intend to return to Australia within six years of leaving.
If you register as an
overseas elector (PDF 458
kB) you will still have to vote in person at either an Australian Diplomatic Post or an equivalent location that has been nominated by the VEC. Alternatively, you can apply for a
postal vote.
If you believe that by having your address printed on the electoral roll your personal safety, or your family's safety, could be at risk you can enrol as a silent elector.
If you are experiencing homelessness or don't have access to safe and secure housing you can enrol as an elector with no fixed address. Download a form from this website or call 131 832 for more information.
The VEC also runs a community program called Homeless not Voteless which provides training to homelessness workers and helps people experiencing homelessness to enrol and vote.
You can enrol as an Antarctic elector for the period you are working at a station there. This category of enrolment is managed by the Australian Electoral Commission (external link).
If you are 17 years old, you can enrol provisionally. The advantage of enrolling provisionally is that you will be automatically enrolled when you turn 18. This means that you will be entitled to vote if you are 18 on election day, even if you turned 18 after the close of rolls for that election.
To enrol provisionally, you simply fill out the standard enrolment form (PDF 355kB).
The VEC has produced an information brochure (PDF 361kB, DOC 85kB) with enrolment and voting advice for families and carers of people with a cognitive disability/impairment.
A special enrolment form for people who are unable to sign their name due to physical incapacity is available on the forms page. This form allows another enrolled voter to sign on their behalf and also includes a medical certificate.
If you're serving a prison sentence in Victoria, and your sentence is under 5 years, you are still entitled to enrol and vote in State and local council elections. For more information, please see our brochure about enrolment and voting for prisoners (PDF 346kB, DOC 84kB)
If you are enrolled you must vote at each federal, state and local council election that is relevant to your home address. You may also be eligible to vote in local council elections if:
- you own and pay council rates on a property in a different municipality from the one you live in; or
- you are not an Australian citizen but you own and pay rates on a property.
There are many different voting entitlements for local council elections, so the VEC advises that you review our page dedicated to
enrolling for local government elections for more information.
