Centenary of Compulsory Voting

The year marks a century since the introduction of compulsory voting in federal elections in Australia. Compulsory voting laid one of the foundations for our distinctive electoral system and gave effect to the ideal that every Australian should have a voice. While in 1912 Australia became the first Commonwealth nation to introduce compulsory enrolment to vote in federal elections, voting was not made compulsory until 1924. Even so, we were one of the first countries in the world to introduce compulsory voting.

The introduction of compulsory voting in 1924 established a unique model of democracy that now gives all Australian citizens 18 years and older both the right and obligation to enrol and to vote in federal elections. Of course, this did not originally apply to ALL Australians. Indigenous Australians did not gain the right to vote in federal elections until 1962. This amendment to the electoral act also gave First Nations peoples the opportunity to participate in the historic 1967 referendum to count them as part of the population. Remarkably, it was not until 1984 that enrolment and voting became compulsory for all, including Indigenous Australians.

Today there are more than 17 million registered voters, with 97.8 per cent of eligible Australians on the electoral roll.