The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has launched a public education campaign to improve knowledge of the constitution and the referendum process, while combatting misinformation about the voice to parliament.
More than 6.4 million enrolled voters have not taken part in a referendum since the 1999 poll on whether Australia should become a republic. Community leaders and government agencies have warned there is a basic lack of understanding about the process and a deluge of misinformation.
“The constitution plays an active, daily role in the lives of Australians but it’s not on everyone’s coffee table at home, so it’s appropriate that ahead of a referendum we explain what it is and the upcoming process that seeks to change a part of it,” the Australian electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, said.
“Some may not even know that it is compulsory to vote in a referendum and you will need to vote in-person, similar to a federal election.”
Videos, animations, graphics and factsheets on the constitution will soon be distributed across the country. The AEC will also maintain a “proactive” presence on social media “pushing out messages regarding the history and role of federal referendums”.
“The topic of the referendum is for others to debate but when it comes to the process, we’ll be running it and we’re here to help inform Australian voters and answer any questions they might have,” Rogers said.
“Knowing what the constitution is and what the role of a referendum is will clearly be vital in providing a solid foundation for how people consider their opportunity to vote in the back half of 2023.”
The campaign launch comes after the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, warned “more work is needed” to address online harm in the lead-up to the voice referendum.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has also warned on numerous occasions about referendum misinformation and “scare campaigns”.
The AEC campaign has been welcomed by the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia (Fecca), a strong supporter of the voice, which has warned many migrants are confused about the process.
“There is a lot of misinformation about this referendum on social media,” said Fecca’s chief executive, Mohammad Al-Khafaji.
Al-Khafaji said many people were confused about the different roles and responsibilities of the federal government, the electoral commission and the yes and no campaigns.
“It’s really important to make sure people understand the functions of each of these organisations and how to make sure that they have a say and are well informed,” Al-Khafaji said.
“It’s confusing enough for your average Australian who speaks English really well and knows the system. We need to make sure there is equity and investment in public education campaigns for people who may not necessarily speak English.”
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has previously warned about the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation on social media.
“This is an historic opportunity and we need to make sure the online spaces are relatively safer spaces to be able to get this information out,” Inman Grant said last month.
The Monash University academics Katie O’Bryan and Paula Gerber have identified 10 common myths about the voice to parliament, including the notion put forward by the former prime minsters Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison that it would become “a third chamber of parliament”.
“It will have no role in passing legislation; that will continue to be left to our elected representatives in the House of Representatives and the Senate, as currently prescribed by the Constitution,” the pair wrote in a recent factcheck article.
The academics also took issue with arguments the voice would “offend the notion of equality that underpins the constitution and our democracy”.
“Amending the constitution to provide First Nations peoples with a voice to parliament does not offend notions of equality; rather, it is acknowledging the finding of the High Court in Mabo v Queensland (No. 2) that ‘their dispossession underwrote the development of the nation’.
