20 October 1999

The Electoral Commissioner, Mr Bill Gray, today said that most Australians should have their official referendum pamphlet by the end of this week.

"An individually addressed pamphlet has been posted to every one of the 12.35 million electors on the Commonwealth electoral roll," Mr Gray said.

While the printing and delivery of this pamphlet has been a major logistical challenge, Mr Gray also reminded electors that the pamphlet is available in variety of other formats for people with special needs.

"The 'Yes' and 'No' cases for each question in the pamphlet have been translated into 14 languages," Mr Gray said.

These translated versions are available at the AEC's official referendum web-site (referendum.aec.gov.au) or by calling the AEC's telephone enquiry service on 13 23 26 between 8 am and 6pm seven days per week.

Mr Gray also said that the 'Yes' and 'No' cases were available in large print, braille, on tape and on disk to assists electors who are visually impaired.

"The AEC has a clear mission to ensure that all electors have access to this important information," Mr Gray said.

Mr Gray said that he was pleased by the level of interest shown by electors who were asking for this material in alternative formats.

"Since late September, we have received more than 600 requests for hardcopy versions of the translations and more than 3,000 calls to our telephone interpreting service which operates 15 language specific lines to assist electors."

In addition, the AEC referendum web site had received more than 30,000 page views in the last week.

"This shows that the Australian community is keen to access this important information for the referendum to be held on Saturday 6 November," Mr Gray said.

Electors who have not received a pamphlet can obtain a copy by phoning the AEC's national enquiry service on 13 23 26 for the cost of a local call.

Further information

Brien Hallett 02 62714415