Enrol to vote and have your voice heard in NSW Parliament

13 January 2015

The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) today urged Aboriginal people to enrol to vote in the NSW State election on Saturday, 28 March 2015.

NSWALC Chairman Craig Cromelin said enrolling to vote was an important first step to ensure people have their voices heard in NSW Parliament. "The State Election is an opportunity for people to vote for parliamentarians that support Land Rights and can represent the interests of Aboriginal people in New South Wales. "Enrolling to vote is easy".

If you are aged 18 years or older and are an Australian citizen, you are eligible to enrol. Once you are on the electoral roll, you can cast your vote on election day or if you can't vote on the day you can vote early or by post.

Exercising your right to vote is one way to stand up and protect Land Rights in New South Wales. But if you don't vote, you miss out on the chance to have a say in how New South Wales is run.

Mr Cromelin said young people had a lot to gain by participating in the electoral process. "More than 114,000 Aboriginal people in New South Wales are aged 24 years and under, accounting for more than half of the State's Aboriginal population".

"Encouraging more young people to exercise their right to vote will go long way to influencing how decisions are made and to ensure better representation of our views in the NSW Parliament."

To enrol for the first time or to check or update your enrollment details visit http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/enrol_to_vote There are also paid opportunities to work on polling booths on election day as an election officer or office assistant. It can also involve work before and after the election.

If you are an enrolled elector and interested in working at the State election, visit http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/working_at_elections.

You can also register your interest to be considered to be employed at upcoming local government elections and the 2015 NSWALC elections.

Media contact: Angela Bates 0475 387 606