Communities and Justice

Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill 2022

28 June 2022

The NSW Government is introducing amendments to the laws governing elections, in preparation for the next State election on 25 March 2023. 

The Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 amends the Electoral Act 2017 and the Electoral Funding Act 2018 in response to recommendations made by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (the Committee) in its report entitled Administration of the 2019 NSW State Election. 

As part of its inquiry into the administration of the 2019 NSW State election, the Committee consulted with stakeholders including political parties, third party campaigners, academics with expertise in the area of electronic voting, voter accessibility advocacy groups, election analyst Antony Green, and private citizens. 

The Bill's amendments to the Electoral Act 2017 include special provisions reflecting the NSW Electoral Commissioner's determination that the iVote voting system will not be used for the 25 March 2023 election, or any intervening by-elections between 1 July 2022 and 25 March 2023. Alternative voting options will be made for vision impaired or blind electors. The Bill also makes changes to certain postal voting provisions to facilitate an expected increase in demand for postal voting in the 2023 State election. 

The Bill amends the Electoral Funding Act 2018 to replace expenditure caps for third party campaigners for State general election campaigns, as recommended by the Committee. 

As recommended by the NSW Electoral Commission, the Bill also makes minor amendments to the Electoral Act 2017 and Electoral Funding Act 2018, to address minor inconsistencies and administrative inefficiencies. 

The NSW Electoral Commission was consulted in relation to the Bill. 

The Bill will be debated when Parliament returns in August.

Download media release: Electoral Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 (PDF , 155.5 KB)

Last updated:

13 Apr 2023