Engage with our stakeholders through education and public awareness activities

The AEC delivers education, community engagement and communication activities to support an Australian community that is well informed about electoral matters.

Ensuring Australians know and understand how to fully participate in an election requires engagement to ensure all eligible voters have the information and advice they need.

Our education and public awareness activities target all eligible voters and consider Australia’s diverse population. Targeted information, services, tools and strategic partnerships are developed for priority groups, including those who may experience some barriers to electoral participation.

Undertaking public awareness activities

Our website www.aec.gov.au always has a range of electoral information focused on supporting informed participation, and building greater understanding, of Australia’s electoral system. The AEC’s digital channels—our website and social media—are used to promote and engage on key participation messages, and to provide updates on electoral activities such as redistribution and funding and disclosure matters.

The AEC also provides information and advice to voters with diverse needs. This includes information tailored for First Nations voters and translated information in a range of languages to support culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Public awareness resources available on www.aec.gov.au range from videos to fact sheets and are designed to meet the needs of various community groups. Education and communication initiatives are also in place to meet the needs of Australians with disability, and resources are translated into a range of other languages. Community engagement activities aim to increase electoral knowledge, enrolment, turnout and formality.

The Indigenous Electoral Participation Program delivers culturally appropriate services to Indigenous Australians to support Indigenous electoral participation.

Under section 7(1) (fa) of the Electoral Act, and in close cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the AEC also helps international electoral management bodies.

Education

The National Training and Education Unit (NTEU) leads and coordinates the training and professional development for the AEC’s workforce, and delivers electoral education to external audiences. Schools can visit the National Electoral Education Centre (NEEC) in Canberra for electoral education programs. The AEC for Schools website provides free educational resources and programs, including materials to run school elections. Professional learning opportunities are also provided to teachers to encourage electoral education in primary and secondary schools.

Community engagement

The AEC is building on several community engagement resources and initiatives, and is supporting the electoral participation of audiences, including:

• Indigenous Australians
• people with disability
• people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• people experiencing homelessness
• young people
• people who are in prison.

Initiatives and resources are delivered to increase enrolment, turnout and formality, and to build the number of people from our targeted audiences who are available for AEC temporary election employment at electoral events.

Our approach to community engagement is to target these Australians strategically by:

• harnessing existing relationships through partner organisations
• extending the AEC digital reach and footprint
• using evidenced-based activities.

Indigenous Australians

The AEC is working to increase electoral participation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the Indigenous Electoral Participation Program (IEPP). This national community-enabled initiative includes developing and sharing culturally appropriate electoral participation resources, and engaging with local partners to deliver these.

Our community partners have delivered a range of local engagement activities such as education sessions, election information materials and support for community events. They also help promote election-related employment opportunities and collaborate with the AEC to facilitate community discussions on enrolment and voting.

The AEC has expanded its library of videos developed for the 2019 federal election in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. These resources are used by the AEC and its partners online — including social media channels — and on radio. They aim to encourage the electoral participation of Indigenous peoples in remote, rural and metropolitan locations.

Video resources with culturally significant messages have also been developed to:

• highlight the importance of enrolling and voting during an electoral event
• explain the voting process
• promote the importance of participating in an election, including the opportunity to work.

The AEC is working to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are represented as part of the AEC’s Temporary Election Workforce. The AEC has established hundreds of Indigenous identified polling assistant positions based on population data, to support Indigenous electors at the next election.

The AEC Chairs the Electoral Council of Australia and New Zealand (ECANZ) Indigenous Electoral Participation Working Group. This forum allows members to share knowledge and resources, and to collaborate to improve electoral participation by Indigenous Australians at federal, state and local levels. The working group focuses on developing an Indigenous engagement strategy for young people and is collaborating across jurisdictions to promote inclusive elections. The group also works to support Indigenous Australian employment as part of election workforces across jurisdictions.

People with disability

Initiatives to enhance services for people with disability are being developed and implemented. This work — which accords with the AEC’s Disability Action Plan 2020–2023 — includes increasing accessibility at polling places and developing resources to support electoral participation for all voters. The AEC also provides accessible materials, and has implemented disability training to support our people and our temporary election workforce.

The AEC’s Disability Advisory Committee is the primary mechanism to communicate with — and understand the issues for — people with disability. It is promoting greater accessibility, inclusion and participation in the electoral process, and seeks feedback from peak disability organisations on AEC programs and services. The AEC also collaborates with ECANZ to deliver accessible electoral services across jurisdictions.

Electors from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds

The AEC is expanding resources to meet the needs of electors from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

The AEC is working with a service provider to produce culturally appropriate in-language electoral participation resources to support people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This includes developing podcasts, discussions on ethnic radio and community conversations about elections, voting and how to make your vote count.

Easy-read guides explaining how to enrol and how to vote at a federal election have been translated into several languages. A suite of in-language videos covering enrolment, explaining the voting process and promoting temporary election employment opportunities, has also been developed to support electoral participation.

People experiencing homelessness

People experiencing homelessness or with no fixed address are also supported to vote. Homelessness service providers and other relevant organisations help distribute AEC resources promoting enrolment and electoral participation.

Youth

The AEC supports young people to exercise their democratic rights and responsibilities as eligible voters. Digital and non-digital channels are available to promote electoral participation resources for young people. The AEC is also partnering with youth-led organisations — particularly those with a strong online presence — to deliver electoral education and engagement for Indigenous young people.

People in prison

For people in prison who are eligible to vote, the AEC shares targeted information on the electoral process. The AEC produces podcasts that provide electoral information and promote election participation. The AEC works with prison radio stations to play the podcasts.

PERFORMANCE STATEMENT – KEY ACTIVITY THREE