Changes to Voting Rights for Prisoners (Qld)
The Queensland government is currently considering reforming its electoral laws with respect to prisoners. This page outlines the proposed changes to voting rights for prisoners in Queensland.
Legislation
The Electoral Laws (Restoring Electoral Fairness) Amendment Bill 2025 is currently before the Queensland parliament. If passed, it will make changes to the Electoral Act 1992.
What is the law currently?
As the law currently stands, a person who is serving a prison sentence in Queensland retains the right to vote if the sentence is less than three years.
A person sentenced to more than three years imprisonment may not vote in state or local government elections while they are serving their sentence. This is stipulated in the Electoral Act 1992.
Under Commonwealth law, a prisoner serving a sentence of three years or more may not vote in federal elections.
A person who is in prison in Queensland on remand retains the vote.
What is the proposed change?
The Bill proposes changing section 6 of the Electoral Act 1992 so that a person who is serving a prison sentence of one year or more would lose the right to vote in state and local government elections while they are in prison.
A person who is serving a sentence on parole or home detention would still be allowed to vote under the changes.
Other proposed changes
The Bill also introduces other changes to electoral laws, including making the processes for restoring voting rights simpler upon release and clarifying eligibility requirements for voting for non-incarcerated prisoners.
The Bill also introduces other electoral changes that are unrelated to prisoners’ rights. These include removing the ban on political donations from property developers at state level and changing the requirements for political advertising during the 12 months before an election.
Purpose of the laws
Queensland Attorney General Deb Frecklington said in her second reading speech that the changes were intended to ‘restore fairness’ to Queensland’s voting laws and to put victims first, ensuring that those who disregard the rule of law do not have a say in choosing lawmakers.
Community responses
The proposal has been vigorously opposed by prisoners’ rights organisations such as Sisters Inside. In an article by Debbie Kilroy and Tabitha Lean, the authors called the move, ‘a sweeping disenfranchisement regime that will overwhelmingly impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are already mass-represented in Queensland’s prisons.’
Other jurisdictions
The laws surrounding voting rights for prisoners differ between different states and territories. While in some jurisdictions, prisoners may vote regardless of the length of the sentence they are serving, in other states and territories, some prisoners forfeit their right to vote while they are sentenced prisoners.
In Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, and the ACT, all prisoners retain the right to vote. In New South Wales, prisoners who are serving a term of less than 12 months retain the right to vote.
A person who is in prison on remand retains the right to vote in all Australian jurisdictions.
If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter please contact Go To Court Lawyers.
Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.