While the Prime Minister is yet to set an election date, the Australian Electoral Commission is well and truly in election mode.
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00:00Not even the Australian Electoral Commission knows when election day will be, but time
00:07is ticking and preparations are well and truly underway.
00:10This year will be the biggest federal election yet, with more than 18 million Australians
00:15set to cast their vote.
00:17Australia wide, there'll be more than 7,000 polling places and 500 early voting centres.
00:23If you find a trip to Officeworks overwhelming, well, spare a thought for the AEC.
00:27They'll be printing 25,000 copies of the electoral roll, 55 million ballot papers and
00:33distributing a quarter of a million pencils.
00:36The Northern Territory will have the biggest remote voter service in the country, with
00:4024 teams visiting 200 locations, including town camps.
00:46Our remote voter service offering is the biggest that we've ever delivered.
00:50And part of that is staying longer in locations, part of it is about offering polling day services
00:56in communities, which we really haven't done a lot of in the past.
01:00Around 94% of eligible Territorians are enrolled to vote, slightly below the national rate
01:05of 98%.
01:07And while Indigenous enrolment figures are the highest they've ever been, at 88% the
01:12AEC says there's still significant work to be done.
01:15Adding to the complexity, the Commission hasn't delivered a remote voting schedule during
01:19a wet season since 1996.
01:22And while Election Day remains a mystery, it's possible it could happen in early April,
01:27with road access posing a significant challenge.
01:30And they've told us that, so we can't get in, and we're looking at alternative arrangements.
01:33But the other critical thing, as I said, was are people still in those smaller locations?
01:38So now it's all eyes on the Prime Minister to reveal that much-anticipated election date,
01:43but the AEC says they'll be ready when he does.