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Australian Electoral Commission
Recent legislative changes that impact the AEC, voters and political entities in relation to electoral processes, the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Electoral Act), or the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Act 1984 (Referendum Act) will be summarised on this page.
The Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 20 February 2025 and includes:
The legislative amendments are summarised below.
The legislation represents significant reforms to the Commonwealth funding and disclosure scheme, including:
Commencement: 1 July 2026
The AEC will undertake extensive preparation to our processes, resourcing, tools, systems and technology to successfully deliver and administer these and other changes for impacted political entities and users of the scheme. Work has commenced on the initial stages of planning implementation of these significant changes.
These amendments introduce a requirement for the AEC to publish the information included in disclosure returns only and remove the requirement for the AEC to publish returns.
Commencement: 21 February 2025, the day after the Act receives Royal Assent.
These amendments provide improvements for voters with a disability, strengthen the appropriate regulation of conduct at polling places, and modernise the availability of public inspection documents related to elections and referendums.
Some examples include:
Commencement: 21 February 2025, the day after the Act receives Royal Assent.
Work is underway on the implementation of these and other changes that support a modernised electoral process in preparation for the 2025 federal election.
The AEC acknowledges the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to land, waters, culture and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.