VMIAC welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Inquiry into voting centre accessibility and thanks the Electoral Matters Committee for its consideration of this submission.
Access to voting for mental health consumers, including those detained in inpatient psychiatric units, has been a longstanding concern of VMIAC’s. We have raised this issue repeatedly with both the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) and the Victorian Government over a number of election cycles. It is therefore disappointing that, despite sustained advocacy and repeated engagement, consumers in inpatient settings continue to face barriers to exercising their right to vote and remain at risk of exclusion from democratic participation.
While improvements in physical accessibility are important and necessary, accessibility cannot be understood solely in terms of ramps, signage or lighting. For some Victorians, particularly those involuntarily admitted to inpatient mental health units during an election period, the barrier is not navigating a voting centre – it is being able to access the voting process at all.
This is not simply an operational issue. It goes to the core of democratic equality and Victoria’s human rights obligations to ensure that all eligible citizens can exercise their right to vote.