Australia’s electoral roll has grown by 870,000 people since the 2022 federal election, and there will be 1.4 million first time voters taking part in this year’s poll – and one in three are “new migrants”.
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said on Friday that there were a record 18,098,797 people enrolled for the upcoming election, with 98.2% of eligible Australians enrolled to vote on May 3.
The 1.4 million first time voters include 750,000 who turned 18 since the 2022 election, 150,000 aged between 18 and 24 who are new to the roll but were over 18 in 2022, and 500,000 over the age of 25 who are new to the roll, according to rounded figures provided by the AEC.
While the AEC did not provide exact totals, it said about 30% (420,000) were “new migrants” – immigrants who have obtained Australian citizenship and voting rights since the last election.
“The AEC is aware of false claims made on social media attributing the growth of the electoral roll to new migrants. This claim has been debunked multiple times,” the AEC said.
“New migrants make up approximately 30% of new enrolments in Australia, with the vast majority of enrolment growth being younger voters turning 18 and enrolling to vote for the first time.”
Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope said it was the third election in a row with record national enrolment rates.
“Record enrolment like this doesn’t happen by accident. It represents a huge amount of work on the part of the AEC to engage with voters and reduce barriers for enrolment, and of course a fantastic effort from eligible Australians to get enrolled,” he said.
“We’re particularly focused on Australia’s youth enrolment rates, and I’m pleased to report that it’s now extremely healthy.”
In February Immigration Minister Tony Burke was accused of “vote buying” and “seat stacking” by his political opponents for hosting a series of large-scale citizenship ceremonies in multicultural electorates around Australia.
Almost 13,000 immigrants – about 20% of them Indian – were given citizenship within a period of weeks, including 6,000 in just three days during an event at Sydney’s Olympic Park.
An attendee said officials from the AEC were “working the crowd” to inform people of their voting rights and responsibilities, and photos showed a large screen encouraging the new citizens to enrol to vote.
Header image: A message from the Australian Electoral Commission at a citizenship ceremony in Sydney in February.
