Warning ahead of vote on Voice

The Australian Electoral Commission has warned of a “regrettable increase in threatening commentary” and a rise of disinformation in the lead up to the Voice to Parliament referendum.

Commissioner Tom Rogers, in giving evidence to Senate estimates on Tuesday, said with “increasing threats to electoral integrity” and various other issues, the referendum and the next general election would be undertaken against a background of “the most challenging, unpredictable, complex and yet exciting epoch in the AEC’s history”.

The AEC will be responsible for undertaking the Voice to Parliament referendum, expected to take place between October and December.

Mr Rogers said the 2023 referendum would be conducted in an “information ecosystem” completely different to the last referendum, which carried significant risks of disinformation.

“Against a backdrop of increasing threats to electoral integrity, escalating electoral costs, supply chain disruptions, recruitment challenges and ageing systems, the AEC continues to prepare for a referendum and the next general election, whenever that may be, and at least one by-election,” he said.

“The information ecosystem was entirely different at the time of the last referendum, with no social media. We’re already seeing an increase in disinformation on social media, and a regrettable increase in threatening commentary. We’re adapting our approach to manage this for the referendum, including protecting our own staff from online harm.”

Mr Rogers said the AEC was gearing up to produce official Yes/No pamphlets to be distributed to all households in at least 54 languages, including 20 oral Indigenous languages.

He recommended parliamentarians – who will write the essays which make up the pamphlet, keep their arguments simple.

“Some of the concepts, if they’re very complex, are difficult to translate accurately and so simplicity of messaging is actually critical here,” he said.