Report: Inquiry into civics and electoral participation in Victorian state parliamentary elections

The Electoral Matters Committee in a joint investigative committee in the Victorian Parliament. It was asked by the Legislative Assembly on the 21 February, 2017 to specifically examine:

– Electoral and civics education, the Victorian Electoral Commission’s (VEC’s) community engagement programs and other best practice approaches used by the VEC, other Australian electoral commissions, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, to ensure that Victorian citizens are adequately informed and able to participate effectively in elections;

– Strategies to reduce informal voting at Victorian state elections which are not related to the voting system;

– How the VEC employs and trains casual staff for Victorian state elections, this should involve discussion about methods to attract people to join the VEC’s casual staffing roster for Victorian elections, the Committee should also examine the roles and responsibilities of the VEC’s casual election staff in light of changing technological and societal demands; and

– Strategies to increase electoral participation amongst community groups that traditionally experience barriers to electoral participation, such as Victorians aged 18 to 24, Victorians from multicultural backgrounds, as well as Victorians who have recently become Australian citizens and are not familiar with Australia’s electoral system.

The report was tabled in Parliament on 8 August 2018.