The Commission acknowledges it is essential to develop a respectful relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities and stakeholders to ensure our services are accessible to all members of the community and so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are engaged with the electoral process.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander citizens living in more remote parts of Western Australia face a number of practical challenges in engaging in electoral processes. The Commission has adopted the following strategies and initiatives aimed at assisting Indigenous electors.
Remote Mobile Polling
Mobile polling teams visit most remote towns and communities that will not have a polling place on the day of the election.
Locations for remote polling, including dates and times that remote mobile polling will take place are published within the town or community in advance of the event and communicated to candidates for the district.
Polling places in remote communities
During an election, the Commission aims to provide a polling service to larger communities for a longer period of time and where possible, on polling day.
Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners Poster
To acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as traditional custodians of the land, the Commission will continue to display “Acknowledgment of Traditional Owners” posters (PDF, 288 kB) at polling places across the State on polling day.
Local Language Assistants/Interpreter Service
On polling day, polling staff will wear stickers identifying the languages other than English that they are able to speak. They will then be able to provide assistance in that language.
Where possible the Commission will recruit and utilise local residents as polling officials to help facilitate the voting process for electors.