Media release – Guy Barnett, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, 4 November 2024
Public consultation extended on proposed amendments to Electoral Act 2004
Following community feedback, public consultation on proposed amendments to the Electoral Act 2004 will be extended until Sunday, 15 December.
Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Guy Barnett, said that these proposed changes have the potential to make an enormous impact.
“We are acting to make voting as accessible to Tasmanians as possible, as is their right under our thriving democracy,” the Attorney-General said.
“The proposed amendments are made in response to feedback from disability advocacy groups about the challenges experienced by voters with vision impairment or ‘print disability’ and also the lack of choice faced by voters with impairments in regional and remote areas.
“Given the strong desire from community and disability advocates to engage with this process as thoroughly as possible – the Government is extending the consultation process by six weeks.
“Making considered and informed improvements to legislation is key to the success of our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future and I encourage Tasmanians to engage.”
The amendments to the Electoral Act 2004 will now progress as a standalone Bill. Consultation on the remaining provisions of the Justice and Related Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill (No.3) 2024 will remain open until 17 November 2024.
For more information please visit: www.justice.tas.gov.au/community-consultation.
Media release – Disability Voices Tasmania, 4 November 2024
Community needs more time to consider voting access changes
Disability Voices Tasmania welcomes the release of a draft Bill that will mean the Tasmanian Electoral Commissioner has the power to approve alternative voting procedures accessible to people with disability.
”This is a key reform for which Disability Voices Tasmania along with Blind Citizens Australia’s Tasmanian branch and other community organisations have been advocating for over 2 years so it is good to see the Attorney General taking action,” said Michael Small, Chair of Disability Voices Tasmania.
“It is really disappointing, however, that after all this time the community has been shut out from actually working with Government to develop the Bill and that we have been given only 2 weeks to respond to a draft we had no idea was coming,” he said.
“It is a great shame that while welcoming movement on this issue we have to complain about yet another failure to understand the importance of including people with disability as partners for change on matters that affect us,” said Vaughn Bennison, CEO of Disability Voices Tasmania.
He affirmed Disability Voices Tasmania’s stated commitment to working with the government to ensure voting at all Tasmanian elections is accessible and inclusive.
Disability Voices Tasmania joins with other community members and organisations to call for an extension of the time allowed for comment on the draft Bill to at least 5 or 6 weeks to allow for greater community consideration to ensure the needs of all disabled voters can be included.
Access to secret and independent voting is a vital part of our democracy and while Disability Voices Tasmania believes the TEC could have introduced alternative voting processes such as telephone voting under the current law it is hoped the draft Bill will clarify that power.
Disability Voices Tasmania, Blind Citizens Tasmania and COTA will be giving evidence to a Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters on Tuesday 5 November where we will be presenting our views on a range of issues affecting access to secret, independent and verifiable voting for people with disability.
Media contact: Vaughn Bennison [email protected]
