Poll: Aussies Want Parties Out of Postal Voting

Australia Institute

Currently, political parties are allowed to send postal vote application forms bundled with information about a candidate.

The forms are then returned to the political party, which forwards them to the Australian Electoral Commission.

The new poll has found that a vast majority of Australians would rather voters send their voting paper directly to the AEC.

Key findings:

  • Three in four Australians (75%) support requiring postal vote applications to be sent directly to the Australian Electoral Commission.
  • A majority of voters across all voting intentions support requiring postal vote applications to be sent directly to the Australian Electoral Commission.
  • The Australian Electoral Commission has to warn Australians to "think twice" before filling in postal vote applications from political parties.
  • The multi-party Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has recommended stopping this practice by:
    • banning postal vote forms from being bundled with other material and
    • requiring that forms go straight to the AEC, not routed through a political party's headquarters.

"Political parties have inserted themselves into the postal voting process, circulating materials that appear official but actually harvest the person's information for the party," said Bill Browne, Director of the Australia Institute's Democracy & Accountability Program.

"Australia has one of the best electoral systems in the world, but it depends on trust in the integrity of the electoral process. When voters receive seemingly official postal vote forms bundled with party-political material, it risks confusion and distrust.

"Political parties' involvement in the postal vote process is the number one source of complaints during election campaigns, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission has warned Australians to 'think twice' before filling in these forms.

"The Parliament should follow the recommendations of the multi-party Electoral Matters Committee and remove political party involvement in the postal vote process."

YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,522 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 27 June and 3 July 2025, using an online survey polling methodology. Full details are provided in the methodology statement. The poll is compliant with the Australian Polling Council's requirements.

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