Prisoners

Do I have to enrol and vote for federal elections?

It is compulsory for you to enrol for federal elections if you are:

• 18 years of age or over, and
• an Australian citizen (or a British subject who was on the Commonwealth electoral roll on 25 January 1984).

If you are serving a full-time prison sentence of less than three years you can vote in federal elections.

If your sentence is three years or longer, you can remain on the roll but you are not entitled to vote until you are released from prison.

To enrol to vote, select the enrolment form for your state or territory from the list below.

How can I vote while I'm in prison?

You can vote by post or a mobile voting team may visit your prison in the two weeks before the election day so you can vote.

To vote by post, you can register as a general postal voter on this form. This means at the time of an election your ballot papers will be automatically sent to your postal address.

Do I have to enrol and vote in state and local government elections?

The enrolment and voting obligations for people in prison are different in each state and territory. Please refer to the relevant state or territory enrolment form below for more information.

Prisoner enrolment forms

New South Wales – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 484KB]

Victoria – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 479KB]

Queensland – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 489KB]

Western Australia – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 480KB]

South Australia – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 673KB]

Tasmania – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 487KB]

Australian Capital Territory – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 491KB]

Northern Territory – Prisoner enrolment form [PDF 681KB]

Contact your local AEC office

The AEC is organised on a wide geographic basis, with a National Office located in Canberra and a State Office in each capital city. In addition, there are separate Divisional Offices that service the 150 House of Representatives electoral divisions. For assistance completing AEC forms, or for more information, please contact your local AEC office.