Too few Territorians enrolled to vote ahead of the Voice Referendum

Territorians risk being under-represented in the Voice Referendum as electoral numbers lag behind the rest of the country. Have your say in our exclusive poll.

Territorians’ voices are still at risk of being left unheard as enrolment rates lag ahead of this year’s Referendum on the Voice.

As of March 31, 89.4 per cent of eligible NT residents were enrolled to vote – up 3.8 percentage points from the same time last year.

But those numbers continue to lag behind the rest of Australia.

By the end of this year’s first quarter, Western Australia had the second lowest rate at 94.7 per cent, and New South Wales scored highest with 98.7 per cent.

Australian Electoral Commission data for state and territory enrolment figures as of March 31, 2023.

In February, the Australian Electoral Commission revealed a record number of First Nations people had enrolled to vote ahead of the Voice Referendum.

As of December 2022, the estimated Indigenous enrolment rate was 84.5 per cent, up 2.8 percentage points since June the same year.

Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said it was the largest increase since estimates were calculated by the AEC in 2017.

“What this means is more people are ready to vote when they turn up to a polling place during an election or Referendum, or when an AEC remote voting team comes to visit,” Mr Rogers said.

“The estimated number of ‘unenrolled’ Indigenous Australians has gone under 100,000 for the first time – to just under 87,000 – and that is significant.”

An AEC spokeswoman said it was critical for all Australians to enrol.

“Having your say in a referendum, which we haven’t had for 24 years, is a significant moment in Australia’s history,” she said.

“We encourage everyone to enrol to vote or update their details on the AEC website in order to be able to have their say at referendum time.”

It comes as the Australian Electoral Commission records record growth for the first quarter of 2023, with 75,000 more Australians now ready to have their say.

“The actual record is in the number of people enrolled, which now eclipses the number of people enrolled for last year’s federal election,” an AEC spokeswoman said.

“For the federal election, the record enrolment rate at the time was over 17.2 million and it is now sitting at over 17.4 million.”