Following are short notes, mainly in the area of physical access.

From our observation, this has improved markedly over recent years, as has the understanding of the AEC, as evidenced in their Action Plan. Because voting booths are often in older buildings, not all are yet accessible, especially in country and suburban areas.

We note that a system of classifying polling booths into "full access", "access with minimal assistance" and "no access" was introduced for the 1998 Federal Election, and these categories were advertised, using the international wheelchair symbol, a symbol denoting an assistant, and no symbol.

To do this well, there needs to be

• A checklist of questions to assess accessibility, covering parking, route to site, entrance, signage if necessary, circulation inside, counter, boxes;
• Guidance as to judgment of "not accessible" and "accessible with assistance";
• Training for auditors, or use of trained auditors, to make the assessment. It is not always easy to judge whether a ramp is too steep, and door widths and counter heights will have to be measured.
• Guidelines on how a booth can be made accessible.
• Guidelines and training on how to assist people with disabilities.

Clearly the international symbol should only be used if the facility complies in all respects with the Australian Standards and Building Code. The other symbol is somewhat problematical. Not being an international symbol, there is no agreed definition, and the intended meaning should be included in a key, so there is no misunderstanding.

We suggest that the Electoral Commission avoid using sites which have no access.

Consultants in access could assist with the work of writing checklists, auditing buildings, and writing guidelines, and ACROD is able to refer the Electoral Commission to people working professionally in this field.

It would seem discriminatory to expect people to vote ahead of time by these methods. People understand that there are reasons this may be necessary, such as being out of the country, but it should not be because of an inaccessible venue. Many people do not make up their mind until voting day; voting is a civic event, which everyone should be entitled and encouraged to participate in.