Tuesday, 9 December 2025

 Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (12:40): In accordance with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, I table a statement of compatibility in relation to the Electoral Amendment Bill 2025:

Opening paragraphs

In accordance with section 28 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, (Charter), I make this Statement of Compatibility with respect to the Electoral Amendment Bill 2025.

In my opinion, the Electoral Amendment Bill 2025 (Bill), as introduced to the Legislative Assembly, is compatible with human rights as set out in the Charter. I base my opinion on the reasons outlined in this statement.

Overview

The Bill amends the Electoral Act 2002 (Act) to implement recommendations and findings from a range of independent reports relating to the Victorian electoral system released since the last significant reform of the Act in 2018, as well as issues identified by government and the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC). The changes are aimed at modernising the Act to ensure the smooth running of elections and enhancing public trust in the democratic process through increased transparency and accountability.

The Bill’s amendments implement recommendations from:

•   the Electoral Matters Committee of Parliament’s (EMC) report on its inquiry into the conduct of the 2022 Victorian State election (EMC Report); and

•   the VEC’s Report to Parliament on the 2022 Victorian State election and 2023 Narracan District supplementary election (VEC Report).

The Bill implements one recommendation from the Electoral Review Expert Panel’s (EREP) Main Report on its Independent review of Victoria’s electoral and pollical donations system (EREP Report).

Key reforms in the Bill include:

•   introducing measures to increase the clarity and transparency of information voters receive at the point of casting their vote, including by tightening requirements for the registration of party names and logos, and amending the nomination process to ensure the dis-endorsement of a candidate by a registered political party or a change to a grouping of candidates is reflected on the ballot paper;

•   clarifying the legislated process for supplementary elections and re-elections, to provide greater certainty about the requirements for the conduct of supplementary elections and re-elections and protect against future legal challenges arising from gaps in the Act regarding processes and timings;

•   amending legislated timings and other outdated requirements for electoral processes to ensure the continued efficient conduct of elections in the context of modern State elections and minimise the risk of failed elections;

•   making minor and technical amendments to improve the overall clarity and operation of the Act, including modernising and simplifying language and updated definitions as necessary; and

•   amendments to the political finance laws under Part 12 of the Act.

Human Rights Issues

In my opinion, the human rights under the Charter engaged by the Bill are the:

•   right to equality before the law (section 8 of the Charter);

•   right to privacy (section 13 of the Charter);

•   right to freedom of expression (section 15 of the Charter);

•   right to protection of families and children (section 17 of the Charter); and

•   right to take part in public life (section 18 of the Charter).

For the reasons outlined below, I am of the view that the Bill is compatible with the Charter because, to the extent that some provisions may limit human rights, those limitations are reasonable and demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. I consider that other provisions of the Bill promote human rights.

Right to recognition and equality before the law (section 8)

Section 8(2) of the Charter provides that every person has a right to enjoy their human rights without discrimination. Section 8(3) of the Charter provides that every person is equal before the law and is entitled to the equal protection of the law without discrimination. Section 3(1) of the Charter defines discrimination, in relation to a person, as ‘discrimination within the meaning of the attributes set out in section 6 of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010’ (Equal Opportunity Act).

Expansion of section 75 of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 to secondments

Section 17A of the Act currently provides that the VEC may discriminate against a person in relation to offering employment or an appointment as a member of the audit committee of the VEC on the basis of that person’s political belief or activity, in accordance with section 75 of the Equal Opportunity Act. Any refusal by the VEC to employ or appoint a person under section 17A must be in accordance with criteria which must be set out in guidelines issued by the VEC and published in the Government Gazette. The purpose of section 17A is to protect the integrity of the electoral system and support public trust and confidence in the independence and impartiality of the VEC by enabling it, in making employment or appointment decisions, to consider whether a person’s political allegiances, or any perception that they hold such allegiances due to their beliefs or activities, should preclude their holding a role which may enable them to influence electoral outcomes.

Clause 9 of the Bill amends section 17A to extend the permission for the VEC to discriminate on the basis of political belief or activity to secondments under new section 17AA, which is inserted in the Act by clause 8. Under new section 17AA, the VEC may enter into an agreement or arrangement with a public sector body Head for the secondment of persons employed under Part 3 of the Public Administration Act 2004 to the VEC, where necessary to conduct an election.

By expanding the VEC’s ability to lawfully discriminate on the basis of a protected attribute under the Equal Opportunity Act, this amendment increases the existing limitation by section 17A of multiple planks of the Charter right under section 8, including the rights to enjoy human rights without discrimination under section 8(2) (the relevant Charter rights being freedom of thought, conscience and belief under section 14 and to freedom of association under section 16), and to the equal and effective protection of the law against discrimination under section 8(3).

The rights expressed in sections 8(2) and (3) play an integral role in the protection of human rights provided by the Charter and the law more generally. The right of every person to enjoy their human rights without discrimination under section 8(2) has been described as essential to the operation of the Charter as a whole, as it ensures that the discriminatory operation of any act, decision or law does not prevent access to the protections provided by other Charter rights.¹

The right under section 8(3) is recognised as being ‘of fundamental importance [and] high in the hierarchy of rights recognised in the Charter’² and ‘the centrepiece of the right to equality’.³ It contains two distinct but overlapping components: the right to equality before the law and the equal protection of the law without discrimination, and the right to equal and effective protection from discrimination itself.⁴ In expressly removing the protection of anti-discrimination legislation for certain people on the basis of attributes which are clearly protected by Charter rights, section 17A clearly limits the important rights under sections 8(2) and (3) of the Charter, and by extension clause 9 of the Bill exacerbates this limitation by extending the exemption from anti-discrimination law.

However, I am satisfied that this further limitation is reasonable and justified in accordance with section 7(2) of the Charter. Weighed against the importance of the Charter rights it limits, is the important purpose of the amendment made by clause 9 of ensuring that the new pathway to filling positions from which a person may influence an election provided by new section 17AA does not undermine the purpose of section 17A of protecting the integrity of, and public confidence in, Victorian elections. I consider this purpose to be of fundamental importance to Victoria’s electoral system and representative democracy. In forming the view that the limitation is reasonable and justified, I also take into account the nature and extent of the limitation, being an extension of an existing limitation to encompass directly related matters; the relationship between the limitation and its purpose, being logical and direct; and the absence of any less restrictive means of achieving the purpose of preventing real or reasonably perceived political allegiances of people holding positions that could influence elections from undermining public confidence in democracy.

I therefore consider that the Bill is compatible with the right to recognition and equality before the law under section 8 of the Charter.

Right to privacy (section 13) and right to protection of families and children (section 17)

Section 13 of the Charter states that a person has the right not to have their privacy unlawfully or arbitrarily interfered with. Section 13 is intended to be interpreted consistently with Victoria’s existing information privacy and health records framework, including Victoria’s Information Privacy Principles enshrined in Schedule 1 of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Privacy and Data Protection Act).

Section 17 of the Charter states that families, as the fundamental group unit of society, are entitled to be protected by society and the State, and that every child has the right, without discrimination, to such protection as is in the child’s best interest and is needed by the child by reason of being a child.

Expanded protection for silent electors

Clause 16 expands the existing requirement under section 31 of the Act for the VEC to ensure that the address of any person who successfully applies to be a silent elector is not entered on any electoral roll and this information is removed from existing electoral roll products. The amendment requires the VEC to remove the address of the requester from any previously published or issued document over which it has control. The effect of this amendment is to provide the VEC with a legislative basis for removing previously published confidential information to ensure stronger protection of the personal information of silent electors.

This amendment promotes the right to privacy under section 13 of the Charter by enhancing the VEC’s ability under the Act to protect the personal information of silent electors. As the ability to become a silent elector is contingent on the VEC’s satisfaction of a risk to the personal safety of a person or of their family if their principal place of residence were to be shown on an electoral roll, on the same basis, the amendment also promotes the right to protection of families and children under section 17 of the Charter, by expanding the protection of the safety of silent electors and their families, which section 31 of the Act is intended to provide.

I therefore consider that the Bill is compatible with the right to privacy and reputation under section 13 of the Charter and the right to right to protection of families and children under section 17 of the Charter.

Right to freedom of expression (section 15)

Section 15(2) of the Charter provides that every person has the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds.

Expanded access to nominated entities

The Bill amends section 222F of the Act to enable independent candidates and independent members to appoint a nominated entity. A nominated entity may hold funds and assets which may be transferred between the nominated entity and the appointing entity without being counted towards the general cap on political donations under section 217D for the appointing entity. Currently, only registered political parties may appoint a nominated entity.

This amendment promotes the right to freedom of expression as it will enhance the capacity of independent candidates and independent members to engage in political communication for example, through advertising, by providing access to a source of funding which was previously only available to registered political parties. While, due to other amendments made by the Bill, funds received from a nominated entity will not be permitted to be used to incur political expenditure directly, the amendment will make available to independent candidates and independent members a source of funds that may be used for other kinds of expenditure, including expenditure on office accommodation and staffing. This will mean independent candidates and members will be able to use more funds held in the State campaign account, including political donations, to incur political and electoral expenditure.

I therefore consider that the Bill is compatible with, in that it supports, the right to freedom of expression under section 15 of the Charter.

Right to take part in public life (section 18)

Section 18 of the Charter states that a person has the right, and is to have the opportunity, without discrimination, to participate in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives. Further, every eligible person has the right, and is to have the opportunity, without discrimination to vote and be elected at periodic State and municipal elections that guarantee the free expression of the will of the electors.

Changes to the early voting period

Clause 53 of the Bill amends section 99 of the Act to prescribe the length of the ‘early voting period’, which is the period before an election day during which a person who has applied to do so may vote at an early voting centre. Currently, the early voting period for all elections must begin at 9 a.m. on the Monday before the final nomination day and end at 6 p.m. on the day before the election day. In practice, this has normally resulted in an early voting period of approximately two weeks. Clause 53 will amend section 99 so that the early voting period is 10 days’ duration, beginning from the Wednesday 10 days before the election day.

This amendment engages and may limit the right to take part in public life under section 18 of the Charter in potentially limiting access to voting for electors who are unable to vote on the election day by enabling a reduction in the period in which they can do so. However, I consider any limitation of the right to be reasonable and justified in accordance with section 7(2) of the Charter.

In forming that view, I take into consideration the fundamental importance of the right provided by section 18 of the Charter, which is modelled on article 25(a) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, considered to lie ‘at the core of democratic government’.⁵ The exercise of the right to take part in public life through voting in elections is also protected in Australia by the implied freedom of political communication under the Commonwealth Constitution and in Victoria by section 48 of the Constitution Act 1975.

However, I also take into consideration the modest extent to which the Bill’s amendment will limit the right provided by section 18 in order to achieve the purpose of ensuring that voting centres remain a safe and secure environment for electoral participants and members of the public. The amendment of section 99 of the Act will reduce, rather than remove, the opportunity for electors who are unable to vote on the election day from doing so before the election, by setting an early voting period of 10 days, encompassing both weekdays and a weekend.

Strengthened restrictions on party names and logos

Clauses 23 and 24 of the Bill amend sections 47 and 47A of the Act respectively to extend the existing restrictions on the registration of party names or logos similar to those of an existing registered political party name or logo to encompass abbreviations or acronyms, and other names or logos which are likely to mislead, including by suggesting that a relationship with an existing registered political party exists which does not in fact exist, or the holding of a parliamentary office. The amendments will also prohibit the registration of a name or part of the name of any political party that has been registered at any time within the past 10 years. Certain words used commonly in the context of political party names will be exempt from the restrictions.

The amendments address findings of Parliament’s Electoral Matters Committee that some electors’ votes in the 2022 State election were not directed as intended due to the confusing way in which some parties’ names appeared on the ballot paper.

The amendments strengthen restrictions aimed at ensuring information on ballot-papers for elections is clear and registered political parties are clearly identified and distinguished, so that electors can be confident their vote as indicated on the ballot-paper will reflect their intentions, and election results in aggregate reflect electors’ intentions. Consequently, the amendments promote the right to take part in public life through voting at State elections that guarantee the free expression of the will of the electors as expressed in section 18(2)(a) of the Charter.

Alternative voting centres

Clauses 51 and 52 amend the Act to provide greater flexibility for the VEC to make alternative arrangements in the event of unexpected circumstances affecting the conduct of an election at particular locations, by providing a new power for the VEC to appoint an alternative voting centre. Clause 51 amends section 97A to provide that, if voting has been suspended at an election day voting centre and cannot be resumed on the election day, the VEC may either adjourn the election in accordance with current section 97, or appoint an alternative voting centre at which voting can be resumed. Clause 52 inserts new section 98 empowering the VEC to, if due to a past or ongoing event it is, or is likely to be, impossible, unsafe or impracticable for an election day voting centre to open by the day before the return day for the election, close the voting centre or decide not to open it for voting, and instead open an alternative voting centre. The alternative voting centre will be subject to the same advertising and notification requirements as other voting centres under section 65(1) of the Act.

Clauses 51 and 52 also amend the Act to make clear that the VEC may exercise its new and existing powers in any order or combination as appropriate in the circumstances.

By providing an additional power for the VEC to make arrangements to ensure that an election may be held in localities affected by unanticipated events, such as flooding or fires, and introducing greater flexibility to the exercise of existing powers, these amendments promote the right to take part in public life under section 18(2)(a) of the Charter by supporting access to voting of electors in affected areas.

I therefore consider that the Bill is compatible with the right to take part in public life under section 18 of the Charter.

Conclusion

I consider that the Bill is compatible with the Charter because, to the extent that some of the provisions may limit human rights, those limitations are reasonable and demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society in accordance with section 7(2) of the Charter.

I commend the Bill to the House.

The Hon. Jacinta Allan MP

Premier

¹ See Lifestyle Communities Ltd (No 3) [2009] VCAT 1869, [280]–[281] (Bell J).

² PJB v Melbourne Health (2011) 39 VR 373, [42] (Bell J).

³ Lifestyle Communities Ltd (No 3) [2009] VCAT 1869, [283] (Bell J).

⁴ Lifestyle Communities Ltd (No 3) [2009] VCAT 1869, [284] (Bell J).

⁵ UN Human Rights Committee, CCPR General Comment No 25: Article 25 (Participation in Public Affairs and the Right to Vote), 57^th sess, 12 July 1996.

 Mary-Anne THOMAS (Macedon – Leader of the House, Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services) (12:40): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I ask that my second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard.

Incorporated speech as follows:

The Electoral Act 2002 (the Act) is a fundamental piece of legislation supporting our democracy by legislating for fair, transparent and efficient elections in Victoria. It is vital that this legislation is up-to-date and can support the operational realities of conducting elections.

The Bill before the House makes amendments to the Act to implement recommendations of various reports on Victoria’s electoral system released since the last significant reform of the Act in 2018. These include:

• the Electoral Matters Committee of Parliament’s (EMC) report on its Inquiry into the conduct of the 2022 Victorian State election (EMC Report); and

• the Victorian Electoral Commission’s (VEC) Report to Parliament on the 2022 Victorian State election and 2023 Narracan District supplementary election (VEC Report).

The Bill also capitalises upon opportunities to improve and modernise the Act identified by the Government and the VEC, to ensure the Act is up-to-date and fit-for-purpose in the context of modern State elections.

Political finance reforms

One of the key areas of reform in the Bill relates to the political finance scheme in Part 12 of the Act. The Bill will address an operational deficiency by enabling the VEC to enforce residual financial obligations of former registered political parties and former elected members. Due to the current drafting of the Act, the VEC is not able to recover overpayments of administrative expenditure funding from a former registered political party after it has been deregistered, or a former independent elected member after they have left Parliament. This issue also applies to the recovery of excess payments of public funding and policy development funding to registered political parties. Like administrative expenditure funding overpayments, if a registered political party is deregistered before an obligation to repay excess funding payments arises or before the VEC may seek to recover any overpayment in court, the VEC has no means of enforcing these debts.

The Bill will amend the Act to reduce the possibility of these scenarios occurring by:

• inserting an additional step into the process for deregistration of a registered political party which requires registered political parties to disclose to the VEC all relevant information for the calculation of administrative expenditure funding, public funding, and/or policy development funding entitlements for the relevant reporting period and repay any overpayments to the VEC before deregistration takes effect; and

• inserting requirements for former independent members to submit an annual return in relation to administrative expenditure funding within 30 days of ceasing to be a member and extending the requirement to repay any overpayments of administrative expenditure funding to former independent members.

The Bill will extend the offences and penalties for non-compliance with existing disclosure obligations in relation to funding received under the Act to the new disclosure obligations for registered political parties in the process of deregistering. However, the amendments to the deregistration process for registered political parties will not completely preclude the possibility of a party being deregistered before any funding overpayments are repaid, as they will include a requirement for the VEC to complete the deregistration after a certain period has elapsed, regardless of whether the repayment has been made. This is to balance the aim of increasing the VEC’s capacity to recover outstanding debts with the need to ensure that the Register of Political Parties remains up-to-date and accurate, in line with the purpose of the VEC’s obligations to deregister parties in various circumstances under the Act.

Another important reform of Part 12 of the Act is to enable the VEC to exclude GST from claimable expenditure for which funding may be claimed under the Act. The Bill will address a gap in the current Act which prevents the VEC from excluding GST from the expenditure for which electoral participants may claim any of the three funding streams. The VEC is currently prevented from excluding GST from this expenditure even in circumstances where the claimant is eligible to receive a tax credit in relation to that GST expenditure. The VEC has calculated that the requirement to calculate claimable expenditure inclusive of GST costs an additional $60,000 per State election on such payments for the public funding stream alone. To address this issue, the Bill will amend the definitions of ‘electoral expenditure’ and ‘political expenditure’ in the Act, to specifically exclude expenditure for which an entity is entitled to any credit, rebate, refund, reimbursement or other kind of reduction in tax liability under any law. This will have the effect of preventing expenditure on GST for which a claimant may claim a tax credit from also being claimed for the purposes of calculating an entitlement to administrative expenditure funding, public funding or policy development funding.

The Bill will also insert a provision in Part 12 of the Act to clarify that nothing in the Act is intended to make the internal documents or disputes of political parties justiciable. This is intended to ensure that the Bill and any future amendments of the Act do not have the unintended consequence of disturbing the well-established precedent that an unincorporated political party’s internal conduct does not give rise to any cause of action in an Australian court, on the basis that political parties are voluntary associations, and, unlike corporations, their creation and membership are not intended to create legal relations. The Bill will insert an express provision into the Act which provides that nothing in the Act has the effect of making the constitution, rules, resolutions or other internal documents or decisions of a registered political party, in and of themselves, enforceable in an Australian court. This amendment is based on a similar provision in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.

The Bill also contains amendments to the nominated entities provisions in Part 12 of the Act to address any risk that those provisions produce unfairness in the electoral system by creating a disparity in electoral participants’ ability to fund political communication.

In broad terms, these reforms will:

• allow all registered political parties, independent candidates and independent members to appoint a nominated entity, on the same eligibility criteria; and

• prohibit funds received from nominated entities from being placed in a State campaign account, so that those funds cannot be used for political expenditure; and

• introduce transfer caps to set a limit for how much funding a nominated entity can transfer to a registered political party or independent.

The Bill will extend the ability to appoint a nominated entity to independent candidates and independent elected members (‘independents’). An independent will be eligible to appoint a nominated entity on the same basis as a registered political party. To ensure equal access to a nominated entity, the Bill will remove the differential eligibility criteria for the appointment of a nominated entity, so that the less stringent criteria applying to nominated entities appointed before 1 July 2020 will apply to the appointment of all nominated entities. Registered political parties and independents will not be able to appoint an entity as a nominated entity if the entity already appears on the Register of Nominated Entities – that is, no entity can be the nominated entity for more than one registered political party or independent, nor can an entity be the nominated entity for both a registered political party and an independent.

The Bill will prohibit funds transferred from a nominated entity to a registered political party or independent from being placed in a State campaign account. This will prevent funds from nominated entities being used to incur political expenditure, reducing the advantage of electoral participants with nominated entities in funding political communication. It will also make clear that that such funds are intended to be used for administrative and operational expenses incurred.

The Bill will also introduce a cap on transfers that can be made from nominated entities to the appointing registered political party or independent, to further mitigate the risk of financial advantage that electoral participants with nominated entities may have over electoral participants without. The cap will initially be set at $500,000 for registered political parties and $50,000 for independents, aggregated over an election period. This cap for registered political parties is likely to be a fraction of the actual administrative and operational costs incurred by the major political parties in Victoria, balancing the independence of political parties to decide how to finance their operations with their access to other sources to fund administrative expenditure, such as membership fees and levies. The cap for independents is lower than that for registered political parties to reflect that an independent has lower administrative and operating costs. The Bill will also allow the Governor in Council on the Minister’s recommendation to prescribe a different cap in regulations in the future. This supports flexibility to ensure the cap remains reasonable and proportionate with reference to actual administrative costs in the future. Any transfers that are above the cap must be repaid to the nominated entity within 30 days or forfeited and recoverable as a debt to the State from the registered political party.

The cap will apply to transfers of money only, and will not apply to:

• transfers made for Commonwealth purposes;

• transfers made from a registered political party or independent to the nominated entity;

• loans on commercial terms from a nominated entity to the registered political party or independent and required to be repaid within 6 months after the next general election.

The existing anti-circumvention offence will also be amended to make clear that it prevents registered political parties and independents from accepting real property from their nominated entity for the purpose of placing money derived from liquidating that property in their State campaign account.

Key amendments in relation to nominated entities will apply retrospectively to the date of the Bill’s second reading, so that no funds received from a nominated entity from that date may be placed into a State campaign account and no amounts already held by a registered political party from a nominated entity in the State campaign account can be used to incur political expenditure.

The Bill will also require registered political parties to remove from their State campaign account, within one month after the date that the Bill receives Royal Assent, any funds received from a nominated entity that:

• were paid in after 1 September 2023;

• remain in the State campaign account at the date of the Bill’s second reading; and

• are above the general cap on political donations.

September 1 2023 is the cut-off date by which all costs and debts related to the 2022 general election were to be acquitted by. This means that any contributions to the State campaign account of a registered political party from a nominated entity after this date are no longer related to the previous general election and should be paid out. Any such funds that continue to be held in the State campaign account after this date will be forfeited and recoverable by the VEC as a debt owed to the State.

To ensure that funds from nominated entities can still be used to fund expenditure on office accommodation (other than the purchase or gift of ownership of premises) and expenditure on staff and volunteers, the Bill will amend the definition of political expenditure to expressly exclude those kinds of expenditure. The Bill will also amend the definition of claimable expenditure in section 207G of the Act to expressly include these kinds of expenditure, so that eligible registered political parties and eligible independent members of Parliament can claim these expenses under their administrative expenditure funding entitlements.

This reform will mean that expenditure on office accommodation and staff and volunteers can no longer be paid for using public funding claimable under section 211 of the Act, except in limited circumstances. An electoral participant who is not otherwise eligible to receive administrative expenditure funding (for example, an independent candidate who has not been elected and so does not receive administrative expenditure funding) will continue to be able to claim public funding for these kinds of expenditure to the extent that they are incurred in relation to an election.

The Bill will also amend the definition of ‘gift’ in section 206(1) of Part 12 to clarify that any political or electoral expenditure incurred by any person or entity that benefits another person or entity is not a gift, and therefore does not count towards the general cap on political donations for the beneficiary. This amendment provides clear permission for all persons and entities to engage in political communication and the political process directly, including in ways that benefit a political party or candidate, whether or not that is the intention, without any related expenditure being regarded as a political donation to that political party or candidate. It is not intended that this clarifying amendment of the definition of ‘gift’ has any impact on the existing definition of third party campaigner or the limit on political donations to third party campaigners.

Delivering safe and secure elections

The Bill changes the commencement day of the early voting period to be the Wednesday that is 10 days before the election day.

The current length of the early voting period (which in practice is usually approximately two weeks for elections other than by-elections) is unnecessarily lengthy and increases the resource demand of delivering elections, including providing adequate security arrangements for early voting centres throughout the early voting period. The Bill will amend the Act to create an early voting period of 10 days. This is considered an appropriate duration for the early voting period, to balance the need to provide sufficient opportunity to vote for electors who are not able to do so on the election day, while minimising the demand on security resources.

Privacy Protections

The Bill will increase protections for personal information of silent electors. Currently, a person can request to become a silent elector if the person considers that the appearance of their principal residential address on the electoral roll places or would place their personal safety or that of their family at risk. If the VEC is satisfied that this risk exists, it must ensure that the person’s address is not entered on any electoral roll. However, this requirement applies prospectively and will not prevent a silent elector’s address from being publicly available on past electoral rolls. The Bill will amend the Act to provide a legislative basis for the VEC to remove the information of a silent elector from documents that it has published or issued before the person became a silent elector, by inserting a requirement for the VEC, as soon as and to the extent practicable after a request to become a silent elector is approved, to ensure that any confidential information of the silent elector does not appear in any documents which the VEC has previously published or issues, or which the VEC is required to make available for public inspection under the Act, and over which the VEC has control.

Improving voter information

To support informed voting and reduce the possibility of confusing information on ballot papers and other election materials, the Bill will strengthen restrictions on the political party names and logos that can be registered. The EMC Report found that it was likely that during the 2022 State election, some electors’ votes were not directed as they intended because they were confused by the way parties’ names appeared on the ballot paper. Some party names were overly similar to those of other, more well-known parties and other party names suggested party affiliations that did not in fact exist. The Bill will address this issue by strengthening existing restrictions on the registration of political party names and logos that are similar those of existing registered political parties by extending the restrictions to encompass abbreviations and acronyms of party names and similarities to the name of any registered political party that was registered within the previous 10 years. The Bill will also prohibit the registration of any party name or logo likely to mislead because it falsely suggests a relationship with an existing registered political party or the holding of a parliamentary office.

A further amendment made by the Bill that will help ensure that the way political party and candidate affiliations are presented clearly and accurately on the ballot-paper is the insertion of a provision to enable a registered political party to formally withdraw, by providing written notice to the VEC, the nomination of a candidate that it has endorsed. Currently, only a candidate may withdraw their own nomination, so that, in circumstances where a political party has dis-endorsed or ceased supporting a candidate between the final nomination day and the election, if the candidate does not withdraw the nomination, the candidate will nevertheless appear on the ballot-paper as being endorsed by the party. To ensure fairness to a dis-endorsed candidate, the registered political party will be required to provide notice to the candidate of its intention to lodge the notice before doing so.

Operational improvements

While the Act clearly sets out requirements for the processes and timings for State general elections and by-elections, there are gaps in respect of many of those requirements in relation to supplementary elections and re-elections. The Bill will clarify and provide missing details for the processes that must be followed for supplementary elections and re-elections. Timings and requirements for the conduct of supplementary elections and re-elections have been developed in consultation with the VEC on its operational requirements.

The Bill’s other amendments to update timings for electoral processes will provide for the more efficient conduct of elections, support access to voting and control the risk of failed elections. The EMC Report identified numerous legislative barriers to efficient election delivery by the VEC. In particular, tight statutory timeframes for electoral processes, which do not take into account the increased complexity and scale of modern State elections, heighten the risk of failed elections in the future. The Bill will reduce these risks to Victorian elections by amending the Act to update timings for electoral processes, allowing more time for the VEC to complete various mandatory processes in the conduct of elections. These include:

• bringing forward the deadline for applications for registration of political parties from 120 days to 180 days before the day of a general election resulting from the expiration of the Assembly;

• bringing forward the day for the closure of the roll from seven days after the issue of the writ to the day that the writ is issued, providing an additional seven days for the VEC to complete processes such as enrolment processing;

• bringing forward the final nomination day forward from 10 days after the expiration or dissolution of the Assembly to six days after the issue of the writ, providing additional time for the VEC to design, print and distribute all the materials needed for commencement of early voting;

• amending provisions in relation to postal voting such as ensuring that the VEC may send ballot papers to all postal voters as soon as practicable after the final nomination day and before the commencement of early and mobile voting, clarifying an existing ambiguity which creates a risk that some voters may not receive their ballot pack in time to vote in an election.

Other amendments that will improve the operation of the Act include:

• Providing more flexible powers to the VEC to make alternative arrangements in the event of an emergency preventing voting at an election day voting centre. The Bill will create a new power of the VEC to appoint an alternative voting centre, including a mobile voting centre, if the VEC considers that it is not possible, safe or practicable for the election to be held at a particular election day voting centre.

• Clarifying that, pursuant to the arrangement with the Commonwealth for a joint enrolment process and the exchange of information necessary to support that arrangement, the VEC may apply administrative decisions of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) relating to a roll maintained under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to electoral roll products prepared or maintained under the Victorian Act. This amendment will reduce unnecessary double-handling of routine administrative decision-making by allowing the VEC to simply apply decisions relating to enrolment, such as on requests to become a silent elector, already considered and made by the AEC, without the need to re-make the decision independently.

• Modernising requirements for electoral materials by removing any requirement to display the name and place of business of a printer or publisher and providing greater clarity in relation to the electoral materials to which authorisation requirements apply.

• Other minor and technical amendments such as modernising and simplifying language, updating provisions to ensure that processes and transactions can be performed via electronic communication and requiring the VEC to publish determinations on its website to increase the transparency of its operations.

Conclusion

The Bill makes significant improvements to current electoral processes to ensure that elections continue to be conducted with the greatest regard to transparency, accessibility, and efficiency. The Bill will go a long way to ensuring that Victorians retain trust and confidence in the electoral system.

I commend the Bill to the House.

 James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:40): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned.

Ordered that debate be adjourned for two weeks. Debate adjourned until Tuesday 23 December.