Bill Browne
Director, Democracy & Accountability Program

A powerful and wide-reaching parliamentary committee wants to hear about the experiences of Australian voters at the 2025 federal election.

After each election, the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) conducts an inquiry into the conduct of the election itself, and the country’s electoral laws and systems more generally.

Next month, they are visiting Melbourne and Bendigo and want to get members of the public on the record with short verbal statements up to 5 minutes long.

Chair Jerome Laxale says:

‘You don’t need to have put in a submission to register your interest, you just need to tell us what you want to talk about and a bit about how you participated in the election. We might not be able to hear from everyone on the day, but we want to hear from as many people as we can.’

For those who don’t live in Melbourne or Bendigo, you can still make a written submission.

Please don’t be daunted. Writing a submission is as simple as typing up your thoughts and sending them to the email address listed on the inquiry’s webpage.

It is really that easy. There is no word limit.There is no template. Everyone can participate. Your thoughts and opinions are valid material for a submission. 

If it’s helpful, here’s The Australia Institute’s submission to the inquiry into the 2025 federal election.