Media release – Australian Electoral Commission, 21 September 2023

Largest enrolment in history ahead of 2023 referendum

​17,676,347 Australians are enrolled to vote in the upcoming 2023 referendum

The AEC has today announced that a record 97.7% of eligible Australians are enrolled to vote in the upcoming 2023 referendum.

​The roll has increased by 447,447 people since the 2022 federal election, a rise of 2.6%.

More than 8.4 million people on the electoral roll were not enrolled when the last referendum was held in 1999 – this is more than 47% of the electoral roll.

The 8.4 million people includes 6.7 million people who were under 18 (or not born) at the time as well as 1.7 million other people who are new to the roll since 1999 – many of whom are new Australian citizens.

Australian Electoral Commissioner, Tom Rogers said such a complete electoral roll is a result of years of hard work by the AEC.

​“With many nations around the world campaigning to get even three quarters of their population enrolled to vote, this result is a continuing source of Australian democratic pride.” Mr Rogers said.

​“In between the announcement of the referendum date and close of rolls, approximately 79,000 people were added to the roll with 376,000 other eligible Australians updating their details.”

​“The youth enrolment rate has also increased to 91.4% which means approximately 1.8 million 18-24 year olds are ready to vote and have their say in their first referendum.”

​In terms of First Nations enrolment, this sits at 94.1% and is the highest it has ever been.”

“Well done Australia. Now it’s time to have your say.”

​Further enrolment statistics are provided on the following page.

Enrolment by state and age

Ages NSW VIC QLD WA SA TAS ACT NT Total Share of total
18* 68,263 52,638 45,206 22,100 14,138 4,721 3,966 1,414 212,446 1.2%
19 82,251 64,273 55,307 27,035 16,991 5,385 4,776 2,254 258,272 1.5%
20-24 409,622 325,346 280,506 134,919 88,992 26,956 25,152 12,870 1,304,363 7.4%
25-29 421,117 348,130 290,857 140,745 94,188 28,342 28,003 15,569 1,366,951 7.7%
30-34 446,040 378,590 296,065 150,544 96,875 29,502 29,677 16,690 1,443,983 8.2%
35-39 477,934 407,336 304,999 167,130 102,795 30,068 31,938 16,524 1,538,724 8.7%
40-44 478,747 392,392 306,730 162,524 100,848 29,518 31,469 15,148 1,517,376 8.6%
45-49 452,277 362,810 295,803 150,081 96,900 29,557 27,728 13,684 1,428,840 8.1%
50-54 473,972 380,903 314,888 158,412 107,233 34,120 27,068 14,136 1,510,732 8.5%
55-59 430,736 345,385 283,525 144,925 103,106 33,203 22,595 12,070 1,375,545 7.8%
60-64 447,701 342,282 286,920 141,927 108,034 37,188 20,868 10,686 1,395,606 7.9%
65-69 399,388 305,328 254,646 126,236 98,685 34,238 17,928 8,177 1,244,626 7.0%
70+ 1,000,200 763,466 616,999 299,943 254,609 84,220 45,669 13,777 3,078,883 17.4%
Total 5,588,248 4,468,879 3,632,451 1,826,521 1,283,394 407,018 316,837 152,999 17,676,347 100.0%

​

Certified List and enrolment rate by state and territory

State/ Territory Electors on certified list Estimated eligible population Enrolment rate
NSW* 5,588,248 5,638,345 99.0%
VIC 4,468,879 4,548,161 98.3%
QLD 3,632,451 3,759,574 96.6%
WA 1,826,521 1,914,422 95.4%
SA 1,283,394 1,321,208 97.1%
TAS 407,018 418,117 97.3%
ACT 316,837 323,319 98.0%
NT 152,999 166,795 91.7%
National 17,676,347 18,089,941 97.7%

* Enrolment rates above 99.0% are not reported