Make sure students don’t miss out

There is no longer a week to enrol to vote once a federal election is announced, so 17 and 18 year olds are being encouraged to sign up to vote now.

Australian Electoral Commissioner Ian Campbell said that only around half of Australia's 18 year-olds are currently on the electoral roll.

To ensure Australia's young people do not miss out on their democratic right to vote at the next federal election, the Australian Electoral Commission is running an inaugural Enrol to Vote Week in Australian secondary schools from May 28 to June 1.

Enrol to Vote Week targets Australian students aged 17 who can enrol now and be eligible to vote once they are 18 years of age, and students who are already old enough to vote.

Mr Campbell said schools provide a significant opportunity to reach young people and actively encourage them to enrol ahead of a federal election, expected later this year.

Within each school, principals are being asked to nominate a coordinator for the week's events.

Although the impetus is on principals to nominate a coordinator for their school, anyone in the community can log on to www.enroltovoteweek.com.au to check whether their school has registered.

The Enrol to Vote Week initiative is being launched at a time when the AEC is preparing a new national curriculum resource -- Democracy Rules -- to be distributed in term 2. Aligned with the national Civics and Citizenship Statements of Learning, the multimedia resource will be distributed to all Australian primary and secondary schools free of charge.

It is compulsory for Australians to enrol to vote as soon as they turn 18 years of age.

Enrolment forms are available at all AEC and Australia Post offices, by telephoning the AEC on 13 23 26 or can be downloaded from the AEC website www.aec.gov.au.

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Last Modified: 03 May 2007