Australia’s peak medical body and a key group backing the Indigenous voice to parliament have raised concerns patients and medical staff may be disenfranchised in the referendum, after a pandemic-era decision not to send mobile voting teams into hospitals was made permanent.
During the 2022 federal election, the Australian Electoral Commission decided it was not appropriate to send polling officials into hospitals, given the risk of Covid infection and transmission, and the AEC has confirmed the policy is still in place for the referendum.
That decision has been described as “extremely disappointing” by a member of the major yes campaign group, the Uluru Dialogue, which believes thousands of people could be affected.
The Australian Medical Association president, Steve Robson, did not realise the change had been made permanent and said people unexpectedly hospitalised could “face major challenges in having their vote accepted”.
Robson said he was concerned some patients and medical staff might expect mobile polling to be available.
“I understand that there are a lot of moving parts with the referendum but, from my discussions, healthcare staff commonly have strong views and are very keen to vote,” Robson said.
He said “those who find themselves in hospital unexpectedly will probably face major challenges in having their vote accepted”.
An AEC spokesperson said the mobile voting teams would not visit hospitals because “this has been predominantly servicing hospital staff who can access other voting services when not on shift”.
“Hospital patients who are long term can apply for a postal vote and people who are in hospital for a short stay close to referendum day will have either already voted or are in a serious situation where voting isn’t their priority,” the spokesperson said.
The AEC spokesperson said mobile voting would occur in some residential aged care facilities and residential mental health facilities, after consultation with management.
But Wemba Wemba man Edward Synot, a constitutional lawyer and a senior engagement officer with the Uluru Dialogue, said the decision was disappointing given the historical importance of the vote.
“It’s a democratic right of every Australian citizen to vote and participate in election and it’s just extremely disappointing, especially considering the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in many of these areas,” Synot said.
“For something as fundamental exercising your democratic right to vote, no resource should be spared and no stone left unturned.”
Simon Katterl, a mental health expert, said he was concerned people in psychiatric wards, who cannot leave hospital, would not be able to vote as they may have missed the postal vote deadline.
“Aboriginal people are disproportionately admitted to inpatient units,” Katterl said. “This needs to be fixed urgently so that thousands of people are not disenfranchised”.
Robson said: “I appreciate everything that the AEC is doing and recognise the practical difficulties of having teams in hospitals around the country. That said, it is such an important vote the commission has a clear responsibility to make sure hospital staff are aware of their voting options – I am sure many will be passionate about this issue.”
In April last year, AEC spokesperson Evan Ekin-Smyth told the ABC the decision not to send teams into hospital was based on advice from health authorities. He accepted this would result in some people unexpectedly hospitalised being unable to vote.
“We are hoping that cohort won’t be too many and of course we are aware of the fact that for people in those circumstances, voting is often not their first priority if they have a serious medical condition happening,” Ekin-Smyth said.
According to the AEC, about 2m Australians had already cast their vote by noon on Saturday.
