Sharing enrolment information

To maintain the register, we:

• share extensive enrolment information with the Australian Electoral Commission under an information sharing arrangement (section 20 of the Electoral Act)
• receive information about prisoners and their sentences from the Department of Justice and Community Safety (section 26 of the Electoral Act)
• receive updates to the register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages Victoria (section 26 of the Electoral Act)
• receive information from other entities to help us engage with the community to improve the register (section 26 of the Electoral Act). For example, we use email addresses from the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority to remind 17-year-olds to enrol to vote.

To prepare voters rolls for local council elections, we receive voter lists from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of councils under section 248 of the Local Government Act and section 11 of the City of Melbourne Act 2001 (City of Melbourne Act). A voter list includes each individual’s:

• municipality
• ward
• name
• addresses
• gender
• date of birth
• contact information
• mobile number and email address
• corporation details (if applicable)
• indication if the address should be suppressed.

We sometimes share enrolment information with councils while preparing council election voters rolls. The information we share depends on the situation and should be limited to the elector’s information on the register of electors.

We are required to share enrolment information with the City of Melbourne’s Registrar, who prepares the voters roll for any City of Melbourne election or by-election.

While the register is not publicly available, we must make a list of electors available for public inspection at our office under section 32 of the Electoral Act. We also provide copies of state electoral rolls and certified voters rolls for inspection at our office and local election offices during elections.

The list of electors, electoral rolls, and voters' rolls include the following information:

General information (applies to all rolls):

• First name and surname
• Residential address of voters

State electoral roll:

• District and region

Local council certified voters' roll:

• Postal address
• Municipality and ward

The enrolment information of silent electors is not included.

Members of the public with photo identification can access the latest list of electors, electoral and voters rolls at our head office. We do not provide previous lists of electors, electoral and voters rolls.

We give enrolment information to third parties we hire to provide election services. This includes companies that print, produce, and send ballot materials, as well as digital service providers that handle communications.

We only share the enrolment information necessary to deliver and support the election service. For example:

• We give printers of our ballot packs files that contain electors’ names, postal addresses, municipalities, wards, and district or region names
• sharing email addresses or telephone numbers with our VoterAlert provider to send reminder emails or texts
• sharing contact details with research companies that survey voters
• sharing what we need with our technical service providers when required.

We only share the address of silent electors with election service providers when it is critical for operations.

We carefully review our service providers throughout the process. They must follow contract conditions and can only use enrolment information as described in the contract.

We provide enrolment information to candidates, members of Parliament (MPs) and registered political parties (RPPs) periodically, as required by sections 33 and section 104A of the Electoral Act and section 252 of the Local Government Act. The enrolment information we share includes:

• names,
• addresses, residential, entitlement and postal,
• gender,
• birth date,
• municipality and ward or district and region names,
• changes to the elector record since the file was last generated
• general postal voter status of voters.

We do not share:

• silent elector details
• email addresses
• telephone numbers.

Section 36 of the Electoral Act and section 252 of the Local Government Act limit how candidates, MPs and RPPs can use enrolment information. Section 37 of the Electoral Act prohibits the disclosure or commercial use of enrolment information. Section 252 of the Local Government Act requires recipients of enrolment information to destroy or return the information to the VEC after use. There are penalties for failing to follow these rules

We provide enrolment information in the form of the voters roll to council chief executive officers (CEO) upon request.

We are required to share enrolment information with the City of Melbourne’s Registrar, who prepares a voters roll for any City of Melbourne election or by-election.

We share this information under section 254 of the Local Government Act and section 11 of the City of Melbourne Act. The enrolment information we share includes the names, addresses and voter status code (used to identify whether voters are state enrolled, or council enrolled).

The addresses of silent electors are not visible to council CEOs.

Council CEOs can only use enrolment information to communicate or consult with their community about the council’s functions.

Council CEOs must protect the enrolment information they have. If the CEO provides the voters roll to anyone else, they must ensure that the person or organisation will not copy or share the voters' roll. They must also return or destroy it after use. There are penalties for failing to follow these rules.

We sometimes share enrolment information with councils during the preparation of council election voters rolls. The information shared will depend on the situation and should only include the necessary elector information from the register.

We give enrolment information to authorised officers or organisations when we receive a legal request. Most of these requests come from the Victoria Police and the Juries Commission.

We limit the enrolment information we provide to what they specifically ask for and any restrictions in the law. For example, if the Juries Commission requests a list of people from a certain area under section 19 of the Juries Act, we must give them the name, address, and date of birth of those individuals so they can call them for jury service.

We only share information about silent electors with authorised officers or organisations if the law requires it such as with a warrant or subpoena.

Upon request, we share enrolment information with the Adoption Information Service to fulfil its obligations under the Adoption Act 1984. This includes name, address, and date of birth of relevant individuals.

This agency was previously known as Family Information Networks and Discovery.

We share enrolment information with Anglicare upon request for the purpose of fulfilling its obligations under the Adoption Act 1984. This includes the name, address, and date of birth of relevant individuals.

We provide BreastScreen Victoria with enrolment information quarterly. This includes the name, address, date of birth and elector identification number of all Victorian women between the ages of 50 and 74.

This information is used solely to send invitation letters for free, routine breast screenings.

We share enrolment information with the State Revenue office monthly to assist in fulfilling its legislative functions. This includes name, address, date of birth and gender of relevant individuals.

We provide Victoria Police with access to enrolment information for law enforcement purposes. This includes name, address, date of birth and gender of relevant individuals.

Victoria Police accesses this information through a dedicated online look-up facility provided under a strict protocol.