The Electoral Act 1993, as a core part of our constitution, was reviewed between May 2022 and November 2023 by an independent six-person panel. The final report of this independent review was provided to the Minister of Justice on 30 November 2023 and published on 16 January 2024.
Further information about this review can be found on the archived Independent Electoral Review website here:
Home | Independent Electoral Review(external link)
The final report and other supporting documents can also be downloaded here:
The Election Access Fund Act 2020(external link) (the Act) came into force in July 2021. The Act established the Election Access Fund(external link), administered by the Electoral Commission and first implemented for the 2023 General Election. The Act’s purpose is to “remove or reduce barriers to standing as a candidate in a general election or by-election that are faced by individuals as a consequence of their disability and which non-disabled individuals do not face” (section 3).
Under section 10 of the Act, the Minister had to review the operation and effectiveness of the Act no later than 6 months after the date on which the Electoral Commission provided its first report on the Fund. The review was completed by an independent evaluator in early 2024 with support from disability communities.
The report was presented to the House of Representatives on 22 October 2024 and can be found on the Parliament website(external link)
For further accessibility, a Word version can be found here:
Process evaluation of the Election Access Fund Act (2020): after the first use of the Fund (Read only) [DOCX, 773 KB]
The relevant briefing to the Minister has been proactively released and can be found here (with some personal information redacted):
Briefing - Election Access Fund: Statutory evaluation after the first use of the Fund (Redacted) [PDF, 1.1 MB]
The Electoral Commission must report to the Minister on the administration of the general election within 6 months of the election, including any changes it considers necessary or desirable to the Electoral Act 1993. This report must be tabled in Parliament.
See Electoral Commission(external link) for more information, and to download a copy of its election reports.
Parliament’s Justice Committee opens an Inquiry into the previous general election, after each election.
See: Inquiry into the 2023 General Election (external link)for more information about the current Inquiry process.
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