(Cth) Remove Voting Restrictions for People With Cognitive Impairments
Author: Brentyn Ramm, Genevieve Lancaster & Amy O’Brien | Publish date: 7/11/2026
P: In Australia, individuals with cognitive impairments may be removed from the electoral roll.
S: The Special Minister of State should repeal Sections 93(8)(a) and 118(4) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) to remove the provisions permitting the exclusion of people with cognitive impairment from enrolment and voting.
E: People with Disabilities Australia (2025): ‘Sections 93(8) and 118(4) [provisions restricting voting for people with cognitive impairments] must be repealed’.
Problem Identification:
Section 93(8)(a) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) (the Act) states that a person is not entitled to be placed or retained on the federal electoral roll if, due to ‘cognitive impairment’, they are ‘incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting’. Section 118(4) requires a medical certificate confirming cognitive impairment before removal from the electoral roll can occur. While not legislatively mandated, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) requires people who have previously been removed from the roll under these provisions to include a medical certificate when re-enrolling.
According to an open letter by a group of 75 disability groups and experts, the current voting restrictions mean that ‘there is a whole section of our community who can be removed from the electoral roll and disallowed from having their say’. In particular, they stated that it ‘violates the fundamental human rights of people with disability.’
Context:
The government-funded health advice service, HealthDirect, refers to cognitive impairment as ‘when you have problems remembering things, concentrating, making decisions and solving problems.’ The I Can Vote campaign noted that examples of cognitive impairments include dementia, Down syndrome and acquired brain injuries. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) refers to legal capacity as ‘the ability to hold rights and duties (legal standing) and to exercise those rights and duties (legal agency).’
Shea MacDonough, who has Down syndrome, reported that it took her 3 months to successfully re-register to vote after she had been taken off the roll. She said she was also required to provide a medical certificate to prove that she was now ‘capable of understanding.’ Suzanne Gearing, CEO of Physical Disability Australia, added that re-enrolling is ‘significantly harder for someone who also has mobility, sensory, or access barriers,’ hence the current restrictions disproportionately affect ‘people with multiple or complex disabilities.’
The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) reported that around 7,000 people are prevented from voting each year under these provisions.
Arguments:
People with Disability Australia (PWDA) stated that ‘stripping people with disability of their right to vote is a human rights violation, plain and simple.’ The UNCRPD stressed that ‘a person’s decision-making ability cannot be a justification for any exclusion of persons with disabilities from exercising their political rights, including the right to vote.’ The HRLC argued that individualised capacity assessments may violate the right to vote on an equal basis where such tests are applied only to persons with disabilities. The UNCRPD stated that ‘the right to equal recognition before the law implies that legal capacity is a universal attribute inherent in all persons by virtue of their humanity.’ Their statement highlighted that legal rights do not vary between people.
The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) acknowledged that restricting voting where a person cannot ‘understand the nature and significance of voting’ may appear to protect electoral integrity. However, the HRLC argued that cognitive impairment does not uniformly impair decision-making ability. They noted, for example, that 'many people with dementia … may have impaired decision-making ability regarding day to day decisions, but nonetheless maintain long-held and firm views on … [who] should be in government’.
Advice/Solution Identification:
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights and PWDA, among 75 disability organisations and experts, called for the removal of voting exclusions for people with cognitive impairments. They stated that this would 'ensure that people with disability enjoy the right to vote on an equal basis with their fellow Australians.' The ALRC also recommended that the inability to understand, retain and weigh information relevant to voting be treated as 'a valid and sufficient reason for not voting.'
Precedent:
There is international precedent for removing legislative restrictions on voting for people with cognitive impairments. In the EU, 14 countries allow full electoral participation for people with cognitive impairments. Notable recent examples include France (2018) and Spain (2018).
Public Support of the Solution:
(This list reflects publicly stated positions and should not necessarily be taken as endorsement of this specific brief.)
The following organisations are signatories to a 2025 ALHR open letter on disability voting rights:
Down Syndrome Australia
People With Disability Australia (PWDA)
Inclusion Australia
First Peoples Disability Network Australia
Physical Disability Australia
National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health
Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO)
Intellectual Disability Rights Service (IDRS)
BEING – Mental Health Consumers NSW
Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA)
Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA)
Consumers of Mental Health WA
Speak Out Advocacy Tasmania
Advocacy for Inclusion
Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA)
Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS)
Fragile X Association of Australia Inc
Disability Voices Tasmania
Centre for Law and Social Justice, University of Newcastle
ACT Down Syndrome & Intellectual Disability
Amnesty International Australia
Mental Health Carers NSW
Justice and Equity Centre
SCALES Community Legal Centre
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
The Kids Research Institute Australia
Young People In Nursing Homes National Alliance
Marrickville Legal Centre
Australian X & Y Spectrum Support Group
Women With Disabilities Victoria
Queensland Centre of Excellence in Autism and Intellectual Disability Health
Community Resource Unit Ltd.
Down Syndrome Victoria
Smith-Magenis Syndrome Australia
Down Syndrome Queensland
Australian Autism Alliance
Villamanta Disability Rights Legal Service
Council for Intellectual Disability
Melbourne Disability Institute
Federation of Community Legal Centres VIC
Disability Advocacy Victoria
Disability Discrimination Legal Service Inc
National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA)
The Mental Health Legal Centre
Queensland Advocacy for Inclusion (QAI)
Australian Lawyers Alliance
NSW Council for Civil Liberties
Grata Fund
Human Rights Law Centre
Deaf Australia
Liberty Victoria
News Coverage:
ABC News - “Voting with a disability can be a challenge, even in a country like Australia”. This article reported on Eleanor Beidatsch's experience with voting as a person with a disability in Australia. By: Eleanor Beidatsch | 2 May 2025 - Read the article here.
Pursuit Melbourne University - “Australia must include people with cognitive disability in politics”. This article reported on their campaign to include people with cognitive disability to participate in political life and provided resolutions, as well as discussed differences between laws in Australia and countries like Sweden, the UK and Canada. By: Dr Paul Ramcharan, Professor Keith McVilly (University of Melbourne), Nathan Despott (Inclusion Melbourne), and Cameron Bloomfield (Rainbow Rights and Advocacy) | 20 September 2023 - Read the article here.
The Conversation - “This election, many adults with disabilities won't be allowed to vote. That should change.” This article reported on the need for law reform in line with the UNCRPD. By: Wendy Bonython, Bruce Baer Arnold | 19 May 2022 - Read the article here.
ABC News - “An ‘archaic’ law has been removing Australians with disability from the electoral roll ‘in droves’, advocates say”. This article reported on advocates calling for electoral law reform to stop people with intellectual disabilities from having their voting rights removed. By: Elizabeth Wright and Celina Edmonds | 14 May 2022 - Read the article here.
ABC Religion & Ethics - “‘To thine own self be true’: Dementia, citizenship and authenticity”. This lecture discussed people living with dementia and their ability to exercise social citizenship and authenticity. By: Julian Hughes | 27 August 2019 - Read the lecture here.
Where to go to learn more:
(2014) Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws | Australian Law Reform Commission - This inquiry examined the legal frameworks and laws within the Commonwealth jurisdiction that can deny or diminish the equal recognition of people with disability and their ability to exercise legal capacity. This report included the recommendation to remove voting restrictions for people with disabilities. While the specific provisions of the Act have since been reworded from ‘unsound mind’ to ‘cognitive impairment’, the substantive restriction remains in force, and the commission's arguments and recommendations remain relevant. View the report here.
(2014) Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission Inquiry: Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws | Human Rights Law Centre - This submission discussed reforms to Commonwealth laws affecting the legal capacity and rights of people with disability, and recommended repealing the voting restriction as it was then framed under the language of ‘unsound mind’ in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth). View the submission here.
(2025) Right to Vote 2025 Federal Election | Australian Lawyers For Human Rights - An open letter signed by a group of 75 organisations and individuals supporting repeal of the current provisions restricting voting rights for people with cognitive impairment. View the letter here.
(2014) General Comment No. 1 (Article 12: Equal Recognition before the Law) | UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - This document clarified States’ obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to recognise the legal capacity of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others and to move away from decisions made on a person’s behalf toward supported decision-making frameworks. View the document here.
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth) - Read the full Act here.
Human Perspective:
CW: Ableism
Sam Taylor acquired a brain injury in a car accident at age 13, leaving him with memory and concentration difficulties and unable to work full-time. In 2015, his parents removed him from the electoral roll over concerns about his ability to understand voting. Years later, Sam wanted to vote in his local council election, as he was motivated by issues like public transport and accessible community services. So, with his parents' support, Sam attempted to re-enrol. He received a letter from the AEC rejecting his application, citing removal on the basis that he was 'incapable of understanding the nature and significance of enrolment and voting’. They further required documentary evidence from a medical practitioner proving he was now capable. The process took several months, caused significant distress, and meant Sam missed that election. Although he voted in the next council election, Sam lost confidence in both the voting process and his own capacity to participate.
To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.
Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement:
Thank you to Suzanne Gearing, CEO of Physical Disability Australia, for reading and commenting on this brief. She consented to her quote being used on 6 August 2026.
Support
If your organisation would like to add your support to this paper or suggest amendments, please email hello@foregood.org.au.
Disclaimers
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Reference list:
Australian Law Reform Commission. (2014). Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth Laws (ALRC Report 124). https://www.alrc.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/alrc_124_whole_pdf_file.pdf
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights. (2022, April 21). Group of 65 organisations and experts call for reform to laws that stop people with disability from voting [Press release]. https://alhr.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Joint-Media-Release_-RightToVote-2022-Federal-Election.pdf
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights. (2025). Open letter: Protect the right to vote for people with disability in the 2025 federal election. https://alhr.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Copy-of-Open-Letter-Right-to-Vote-2025-Federal-Election-1-MayF-websitev.docx.pdf
Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Cth). https://www.legislation.gov.au/C1918A00027/latest/text
Dementia Australia. (2025). Alzheimer's disease. https://www.dementia.org.au/about-dementia/alzheimers-disease
Electoral Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (Cth). https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2025A00016/asmade/text
Human Rights Law Centre. (2014). Submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission Inquiry: Equality, Capacity and Disability in Commonwealth laws. https://www.alrc.gov.au/wpcontent/uploads/2019/08/139._org_human_rights_law_centre_hrlc_part_2_18_july_2014_final.pdf
I can vote. (n.d.). Welcome to I Can Vote! Inclusion Design Lab. https://icanvote.org.au/
Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. (2012). Advisory Report on the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Improving Electoral Procedure) Bill 2012. Parliament of Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/wopapub/house/committee/em/electReferendumBill2012/Final%20report/final%20report_pdf.ashx
National Cancer Institute. (n.d.). Cognitive impairment. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/cognitive-impairment
People with Disability Australia. (2025, May 1). Reform laws that stop people with disability from voting [Press release]. https://pwd.org.au/reform-laws-that-stop-people-with-disability-from-voting/
Pueblos, M. (2022, April 16). From donkey votes to democracy sausages: Australia's election jargon explained. SBS News. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/from-donkey-votes-to-democracy-sausages-australias-election-jargon-explained/sd7ih9skt
Redley, M., Hughes, J. C., & Holland, A. (2010). Voting and mental capacity. BMJ, 341, c4085. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c4085
United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (2014). General comment No. 1 (2014) on Article 12: Equal recognition before the law. https://docs.un.org/en/CRPD/C/GC/1
Victorian Electoral Commission. (2022). For families, carers and supporters: Enrolment and voting. https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/-/media/59539ceece0f4b249a30dc2b05d4d7f0.pdf
Wright, E., & Edmonds, C. (2022, May 14). An archaic law has been removing Australians with disabilities from the electoral roll in droves, advocates say. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-14/disability-voting-laws/101059872
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