Final report - Voting centre accessibility

3.1 Introduction

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) provides several ways that people can vote without going to a voting centre. These include mobile voting (where VEC staff set up temporary voting facilities at different locations), postal voting and telephone-assisted voting. These are explored in Section 3.2 of this chapter, along with some improvements that were suggested as part of this Inquiry.

Despite these options, it is still important for voting centres to be accessible. Mobile, postal and telephone-assisted voting have limitations. In addition, some important features of voting centres, such as help from VEC staff and a feeling of civic inclusion, are not present with some alternative ways of voting (see Section 3.3).

The VEC’s plans for the 2026 state election and future elections are examined in Section 3.4 of this chapter. While the VEC’s plans provide some information about its intentions, many of the proposed actions are defined at a high level and without clear targets. These limitations and potential improvements are discussed further in Chapter 9.

The VEC also relies for advice on an Electoral Access Advisory Group, which is made up of representatives from organisations that support people with disability. Section 3.5 looks at this group. The VEC’s systems for monitoring the effectiveness of the group and how well the VEC incorporates the group’s feedback are considered in Chapter 9.

3.2 Alternatives to voting centres suit some people with disability

The VEC provides three main alternatives to voting at voting centres: mobile voting, postal voting and telephone-assisted voting. Many people with disability prefer these options. However, as discussed in Section 3.3, these options do not suit everybody and do not meet the accessibility obligations discussed in Section 2.3. In addition, some people prefer using voting centres for a variety of reasons.

3.2.1 Mobile voting

Mobile voting involves the VEC establishing temporary voting centres at locations such as aged care facilities, hospitals, prisons, homelessness services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community locations. With mobile voting, VEC staff travel to the venue for a limited time on one day and people can cast their votes while the staff are there. It is intended to help people who may find it difficult to travel to a voting centre.

Low-sensory voting is also delivered through mobile voting. This is discussed separately in Section 4.4 of this report.

The VEC intends to provide mobile voting at approximately 900 venues in 2026. This is an increased number compared to the 2022 election (322), when mobile voting was reduced due to COVID-19. However, this is fewer venues than were serviced at the 2018 election (1,131).^[1]

Some stakeholders called for an increase in mobile voting. In particular, they called for more mobile voting at inpatient psychiatric units and prisons. The VEC’s current Strategic service plan includes a commitment to review mobile voting, including ‘exploring options to re-introduce mobile voting in hospitals and some prisons.’^[2]

The Committee notes the VEC’s obligations under Victorian legislation to ensure that people have access to voting without discrimination (see Section 2.3). This includes ensuring that people in inpatient psychiatric units and eligible people in prisons have practical mechanisms to vote.

In addition to increasing mobile voting, other options may also be helpful for some people in these locations, such as takeaway voting (see Section 5.5.3).

More mobile voting was called for in inpatient psychiatric units

The Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC) called for mobile voting teams to visit all inpatient mental health units.^[3] The organisation noted that people admitted to mental health units do not lose their voting rights and that civic participation has been linked to ‘enhanced agency, social inclusion and recovery-oriented outcomes.’^[4]

VMIAC indicated that current arrangements for electors in inpatient psychiatric units are not satisfactory:

Across multiple election cycles, VMIAC has heard from consumers who were admitted to inpatient units during election periods and were unable to vote. In many cases, no mobile polling team attended the unit. Consumers were advised to use postal voting without being provided with practical support to do so or were given no clear information about their options at all.

While hospital voting programs and postal voting mechanisms technically exist, their operation in psychiatric settings is inconsistent. Admission is often unplanned and frequently involuntary. Consumers may be acutely unwell, medicated against their will, or deprived of access to personal devices, identification documents, or mailing processes. Without structured facilitation, postal voting is not a reliable pathway.^[5]

Currently, access can depend on ad hoc arrangements between the VEC and institutions. VMIAC therefore called for mobile voting at public inpatient mental health units to be mandatory, with a formalised coordination framework and public reporting to provide transparency.^[6]

VMIAC noted the importance of clear, accessible information for people in inpatient psychiatric units about their voting rights and options, along with information for staff outlining their obligations. VMIAC also called for training for electoral staff on supporting people with psychosocial disability and structured mechanisms to assist with enrolment, mobile voting and postal vote applications.^[7]

More mobile voting was called for in prisons

A consortium of submitters called for mobile voting at every prison in Victoria. The consortium noted that whether or not mobile voting takes place in a prison currently depends on the prison manager. The consortium argued that the current arrangements often fail to meet the needs of prisoners. In particular, prisoners may not have the information they need to make informed votes.^[8]

One witness explained, based on his experience in prison:

the way it currently works is the people from the electoral commission come on the day, nothing is organised, there are no rooms and nobody knows what is going on. Generally, I used to take it upon myself to go and book a room, set up the tables and make it happen.^[9]

The witness suggested establishing peer listener groups to emphasise the importance of voting, to prepare people for voting and to make voting an event.^[10] Another witness who had lived experience of voting in prisons proposed candidates going to prisons to speak with prisoners and called for facilitated ways for prisoners to raise issues.^[11]

The consortium of submitters raised multiple other significant issues related to voting in prisons. A number of these issues are beyond the scope of this Inquiry, but the Committee would like to see them explored further in the future.

3.2.2 Postal voting

With postal voting, ballot papers are mailed to the voter, who can then return them by mail (or hand deliver them to an early voting or election-day voting centre). Several people with disability told the Committee that postal voting is the best solution for them because voting centres can present barriers. These barriers can include difficulties physically accessing a voting centre, an inability to stand in lines for a long time, sensory overload and a feeling of being rushed in voting centres.

Eligibility for general postal voting should be extended

To vote by post, people can either apply to vote by post for one particular election or they can apply to become general postal voters (in which case ballot papers are automatically posted to them at every election). Any person can become a one-time postal voter but people must meet certain criteria to become general postal voters.^[12]

The criteria for being a general postal voter in state elections include being unable to travel to an election-day voting centre ‘by reason of being seriously ill or infirm’. This is also a valid reason for becoming a general postal voter for Commonwealth elections. However, people can also become general postal voters for Commonwealth elections if they cannot travel from their home to a voting centre because of disability or because they care for a person with disability.^[13]

As a result, some people are eligible to register as general postal voters for Commonwealth elections but not state elections, which may cause confusion. The VEC therefore recommended that the criteria in the Victorian Electoral Act be expanded to match the Commonwealth Electoral Act.^[14] The Committee agrees that this is appropriate.

However, the Committee would also like to see the criteria for both Commonwealth and state elections expanded. The criteria currently only focus on disability that prevents people travelling from their home to a voting centre. This reflects the tendency to focus primarily on physical disability rather than the full range of disability, as discussed in Section 1.4.3. The Committee would like to see eligibility explicitly extended more broadly to any disabilities that are associated with barriers when voting at a voting centre, including psychosocial disability.

Overall, the Committee believes that harmonising the eligibility criteria for being a general postal voter is the most important thing. This will prevent people missing out because of confusion about whether or not ballot papers will be sent to them at a particular election. However, there would be benefits to the Victorian and Commonwealth governments working together to expand the eligibility criteria to include people who may experience barriers to voting at a voting centre due to any disability.

Braille and large-print ballot papers

The VEC posts braille ballot papers to people on request. While this is a valuable service to some voters, only a small proportion of people with vision impairment can read braille. At the 2022 state election, 26 people requested braille ballot papers across the whole of Victoria.^[15]

In addition to braille ballot papers, the VEC offers large-print ballot papers for local council elections. Large-print is significantly more requested than braille, with 208 requests for large-print compared to 37 for braille at the 2024 local council elections.^[16] However, the VEC has stated that it will not provide large-print ballot material at state elections ‘due to production timeline constraints’.^[17]

Regardless of timeline constraints, the Committee recognises that there would be practical difficulties with producing large-print versions of the Upper House ballot papers. The regular ballot papers were 50 by 41 centimetres at the 2022 election and large-print versions would have to be much larger.

Nonetheless, the data from local council elections suggest that there may be a demand for large-print ballot papers at state elections. The Committee encourages the VEC to investigate whether there are any ways to provide large-print ballot papers at future state elections.

In addition, braille ballot papers are only available by post. Some stakeholders suggested having a supply of braille ballot papers at voting centres.^[18] The VEC may wish to consider the practicality of that.

3.2.3 Telephone-assisted voting

Telephone-assisted voting allows people to vote using an ordinary telephone. Voters tell election officials how they would like their ballot papers to be filled out. The election official completes a physical ballot paper, which is then included in the count with the other ballot papers. At the 2022 election, 5,476 people used telephone-assisted voting.^[19]

Telephone-assisted voting is only available to electors who:

• cannot vote without assistance because of blindness or low vision
• cannot vote without assistance because of a motor impairment
• are unable to travel to a voting centre because of a declared emergency.^[20]

As part of this Inquiry, the VEC has advocated for change to allow more people to access telephone-assisted voting. The VEC recommended adding several extra categories, including electors who are neurodivergent, unwell, infirm and carers.^[21] Another stakeholder also called for extending access to telephone-assisted voting to more people with disability.^[22]

The VEC made the same recommendation during the Committee’s inquiry into the 2022 election. The Committee at that time noted that adding all the categories that the VEC proposed (which also included interstate and overseas electors) would expand eligibility by hundreds of thousands. The Committee therefore recommended that the VEC undertake further work to understand the implications of such a large expansion of eligibility, including the risks, costs, challenges and impacts on campaigning.^[23]

The VEC supported this recommendation and committed to publishing the results of that research.^[24] At the time of this Inquiry, the VEC told the Committee that research had been conducted and was expected to be published later in 2026.^[25]

Subject to the results of that research, the Committee believes that there may be benefits to extending the eligibility for telephone-assisted voting to other people who face barriers at voting centres because of disability, including neurodivergent people and people with psychosocial disorders. People who fear for their safety if voting in person may also benefit from telephone-assisted voting.

3.3 Voting centres are still important for people with disability

The Committee fully supports the VEC offering mobile voting, postal voting and telephone-assisted voting for people with disability. Multiple people told the Committee that these were helpful. However, even with these options, it is important to ensure that voting centres are inclusive and accessible. For some people, mobile, postal or telephone-assisted voting are not suitable or not available. For others, there are particular aspects of voting centres that are important to them. Relying on alternative voting methods to provide voting for people with disability risks ‘othering’ them by excluding them from the mainstream voting experience and undermining equal participation.

3.3.1 Mobile, postal and telephone-assisted voting have limitations

Mobile, postal and telephone-assisted voting do not suit some people with disability.

After the 2022 election, voters were surveyed about their experience by an independent organisation as part of the VEC’s evaluation efforts (see Section 9.5). Of the respondents who used telephone-assisted voting, 6% were dissatisfied, with 14% indicating that it was a worse experience than voting had been for them at previous elections.^[26]

Some participants in this Inquiry also expressed concerns about telephone-assisted voting, including:

• difficulties being able to take the information in and work out preferences over the phone^[27]
• the fact that telephone-assisted voting includes staff involvement and is therefore not fully independent, secret and verifiable.^[28]

Similarly, 7% of people who voted by post (which included both people with disability and people without) were dissatisfied.^[29] Several of the people consulted by the Australian Institute of Architects voted by post because they felt that that was their only practical choice rather than because they preferred it.^[30]

Postal voting can provide a number of barriers for some people with disability. Some people require assistance filling out ballot papers and may not be comfortable getting help from their support people or family members, as they would prefer to keep their voting preferences private. For these people, getting assistance from an official at a voting centre may be preferable. Postal voting also requires having someone available to witness the voter signing the declaration envelope and some people with disability may not have someone readily available at home to do this.^[31] In addition, applications for postal voting close three days before election day. It may therefore not be accessible to people who become unable to travel to a voting centre unexpectedly in the last days of the voting period.

Mobile voting also has limitations. It is only available at limited locations and at limited times. This means that it is not an option for many people with disability. In addition, the setups for mobile voting are not always ideal. The Committee was told that private voting was not always possible with mobile voting.^[32] The Committee also heard that some voters needed more information in advance of mobile voting.^[33]

Another concern about postal and telephone-assisted voting is that they may not allow for a free vote for people experiencing family or domestic violence. Women with Disabilities Victoria noted that women and gender-diverse people with disability are much more likely to experience family or domestic violence than the population as a whole.^[34]

These limitations mean that, for some people with disability, voting at a voting centre may be the best or only option.

3.3.2 Voting centres have advantages for some people with disability

There are certain benefits of voting centres which are not available through mobile, postal and telephone-assisted voting which may be important for some people with disability.

Voting centres provide the opportunity to get advice from election officials on how to complete ballot papers. Election officials can also help voters to complete ballot papers, which may be preferable for some people than having a support person or family member assist. Attending a voting centre also provides an opportunity to get how-to-vote cards^[35] and speak with candidates or campaigners. For some people, voting on election day rather than the early-voting period is important, as some parties release policies very close to election day and events may occur in the last days of the election period which affect a person’s vote.

Attending a voting centre and participating in shared civic rituals such as the ‘democracy sausage’ can also be an expression of belonging and feeling included in civic life. In addition, voting in person can be a way for people with disability to be seen and can be ‘a powerful expression of equal citizenship’.^[36]

Given these factors, it is important for voting centres to be accessible for people with disability.

Australia’s obligations under the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the VEC’s obligations under Victorian legislation also require voting centres to be accessible and require voting processes to allow people with disability to participate in political life on an equal basis with others (see Section 2.3.1).

3.4 The VEC’s plans for future elections

The VEC uses several plans to direct its work. These include a plan specifically focused on people with disability (the Disability education and engagement plan) as well as more general strategic and election-focused plans. The Victorian Government also has a state disability plan which includes some actions related to elections.

By examining these plans, we can better understand the VEC’s future goals and how it plans to achieve them.

The Committee has found that there is scope for improvement in how these plans are prepared and reported on. These potential changes are explored in Chapter 9 of this report.

3.4.1 The Disability education and engagement plan

The VEC launched a Disability education and engagement plan (DEEP) in 2025. The VEC has explained that:

The purpose of the DEEP is to reduce barriers experienced by people with disability when engaging with the electoral system and to increase participation across all stages of the electoral cycle. This includes access to information, enrolment, voting services, employment opportunities, and consultation processes. The plan is underpinned by a principle of continuous improvement, recognising that accessibility is not static and must evolve in response to lived experience, technological change, and community expectations.^[37]

The Electoral Commissioner explained that the plan was developed in collaboration with the disability community, support agencies and the VEC’s Electoral Access Advisory Group (see Section 3.5).^[38]

The plan sets out 15 goals to be achieved between 2025 and 2027. These goals focus on:

• improving access for people with disability
• increasing their knowledge and confidence in electoral processes
• building relationships with people with disability and increasing their visibility and representation.^[39]

A number of actions are associated with each goal. These are generally defined at a high level, such as ‘address barriers for parents, carers, and workers who help people vote’ or ‘deliver partnership programs with disability service providers’.^[40]

The plan also identifies eight outcomes that it intends to achieve:

• more accessible and inclusive voting options available to more people (including low-sensory voting, telephone-assisted voting, large-print ballot papers, braille ballot papers and postal voting)
• reduced reports of accessibility issues during and after elections
• more people with disability knowing how to enrol and vote and feeling confident enrolling and voting
• more people with disability enrolling and voting
• organisations that support people with disability promoting electoral education and supporting their clients to vote
• having stronger engagement, visibility and representation from disability stakeholders at the VEC
• disability stakeholders having greater awareness and understanding of the VEC’s work and the importance of electoral participation
• improving the VEC’s understanding of the ‘unsound mind’ provisions and the impacts of direct enrolment on voters with disability.^[41]

Quantified targets for these outcomes are not set in the plan, but more details are included in a Monitoring and evaluation plan for the 2025–2027 VEC education and engagement plans (see further discussion in Section 9.2).

The VEC told the Committee:

To date, the DEEP has informed the preparation of detailed training content and delivery resources for disability sector staff, an inclusive suite of accessible election materials to support diverse learning and communication needs, professional learning for VEC staff to strengthen their knowledge of neurodiversity in the workplace, and the development of site inspections and planning for low sensory voting.^[42]

3.4.2 The Strategic service plan

The VEC has also produced a Strategic service plan which more broadly sets out the VEC’s 3-year and 5-year plans. One of the aims in the plan is ‘accessibility for our communities’ diverse needs’.^[43]

For the 2026 election, the plan’s commitments include:

• reviewing its mobile voting policy
• appointing Democracy Ambassadors as permanent roles to deliver education and engagement sessions
• conducting research on the barriers preventing voter participation
• implementing ‘new activities based on research findings to reduce the barriers to entry’ (such as low-sensory voting).^[44]

The plan also contains commitments for the 2030 election, including:

• reviewing the provision of telephone-assisted voting and advocating for legislative change to expand access (see Section 3.2.3)
• undertaking ‘research into technology enabled voting options’, developing a plan for implementation and advocating for legislative change where needed.^[45]

3.4.3 The 2026 state election service plan

The VEC’s state election service plan sets out some specific commitments for supporting voters with disability at the 2026 election. At the time of writing this report, a draft version of the plan had been published, but the final version had not yet been released. All discussion in this report relates to the draft plan.

The VEC will offer mobile, postal and telephone-assisted voting, as in previous elections (see Section 3.2).^[46]

The VEC also plans to provide at least one low-sensory voting site in every district from 10 am to 4 pm on Tuesday 17 November.^[47] Low-sensory voting has been trialled at previous by-elections, but this is the first time it has been made available at a general election. Low-sensory voting is discussed further in Section 4.4.

In terms of regular voting centres, the VEC has committed to having at least one ‘fully accessible’ voting centre or early voting centre in each district.^[48] The VEC has also changed some of its targets for the proportion of venues that are rated as ‘independent wheelchair access’ and ‘assisted wheelchair access’ (see Figures 3.1 and 3.2).

In addition, the plan states that the VEC will provide ‘numerous tools and aids’ to help voters, including magnifying sheets, maxi pencils, assisted hearing devices at early voting centres and wheelchair or desktop voting compartments.^[49] The VEC will also send braille ballot papers to voters who request them.^[50]

In terms of communication and engagement, the plan states that:

Our services for people living with disability will include braille ballot papers and peer-to-peer electoral education sessions. With these activities we aim to further enhance the support provided to people with disabilities to enrol and vote. We will work with peak bodies and community partners to provide targeted resources and ensure that appropriate information is distributed across their networks.

We will deliver education sessions to sector staff in strategic organisations to facilitate the distribution of information and support to clients and participants.

We will create video and print resources to support community members to enrol and vote. This will include:

• supporting resources such as access guides and social stories
• video resources targeted at carers/support workers
• Auslan video resources
• promotional material.^[51]

The VEC has also committed to providing election information in accessible formats for people with vision impairments.^[52]

3.4.4 The state disability plan

The Victorian Government has produced a disability plan for the public sector as a whole. The current plan covers the period from 2022 to 2026. It includes several commitments relating to elections:

We will work with community to improve the engagement of people with disability in Victoria’s democracy. We will do this by:

4.3.7 Forming a partnership with a training organisation to provide a leadership program for people with disability. The aim will be to support new and emerging leaders to promote active citizenship and participation in elections.

4.3.8 Supporting leadership graduates (from action 4.3.7) to apply for paid roles as Victorian Electoral Commission Democracy Ambassadors. The roles will provide education and share their knowledge about democracy, how to vote, understanding the value of voting and how democratic processes affect service delivery requirements for people with disability.

4.3.9 Delivering peer-led electoral education sessions across Victorian NDIS-approved services, specialist accommodation services and Australian disability enterprises.

4.3.10 Co-designing an electoral education resource with people with disability to inform people with disability about active citizenship, democracy and the support available when enrolling and voting.^[53]

The Government stated that these were all ‘on track’ in its midway report in 2024.^[54] The VEC told the Committee that it engaged 15 people with disability or lived experience of disability as Democracy Ambassadors at the 2022 election and will follow a similar process for the 2026 election. These Democracy Ambassadors deliver sessions to disability services and specialist schools. The VEC also indicated that the development of electoral education resources for people with disability was ‘in progress’ for the 2026 election.^[55]

3.4.5 Plans to support other groups that face barriers

The VEC also has a variety of other plans to address barriers faced by certain groups. These include plans for the education and engagement of:

• Aboriginal people
• people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• prisoners and people without a home
• young people.^[56]

As noted in Section 2.2.1, some people with disability will also fit into one or more of these other categories. For some of these categories (such as Aboriginal people and prisoners), people are more likely to have disability than the general population.^[57] For other categories, people with disability may need a different approach. For example, young people with disability may not participate in traditional schooling^[58] and may therefore need a different approach to education and engagement to other young people.

It is therefore important that these plans interact and that people working on delivering one plan are aware of the others. Similarly, it is important in designing each of these plans that the VEC consult with all its stakeholders, including all its advisory groups, to ensure that those perspectives have been included.

This will help to support those people who fit into more than one of these categories.^[59]

3.5 An Electoral Access Advisory Group provides advice to the VEC

The VEC has established an advisory group to provide ‘independent advice, feedback, and community perspectives to support accessible and inclusive electoral participation for people with disability.’^[60]

The group currently includes representatives of:

• Scope
• Vision Australia
• Blind Citizens Australia
• Amaze
• Yooralla
• Carers Victoria
• VALID (Victorian Advocacy League for Individuals with Disability)
• the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
• Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities
• the Brotherhood of St. Laurence.^[61]

The VEC has stated that feedback from the group has informed how venues are assessed, how accessibility information is communicated and how staff interact with voters. Low-sensory voting (see Section 4.4 of this report) and the Voters Voice app (see Section 6.7.1) emerged from suggestions of the group.^[62] The Disability education and engagement plan was also developed in close collaboration with the group.^[63]

In addition, the VEC has established a ‘carers and supporters electoral participation working group’. The VEC plans to ‘work with this group to co-design electoral education, information, and promotional resources for carers, supporters, and family members of people with disabilities in the lead up to the 2026 state election.’^[64]

The Committee considers that working with these groups can be valuable. Providing opportunities for input from people with lived experience is essential to delivering effective support. However, there also need to be effective systems to ensure that this input is properly considered as part of the VEC’s planning, training and service delivery.

Robust performance measures can demonstrate the effectiveness of groups like these or highlight problems. Publicly reporting on these measures provides transparency and accountability to the community. The VEC has established some performance measures relating to these groups and their impact, but there is potential for more reporting on the groups (see Section 9.4.2).