Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Integrity of Elections) 2021

# Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Integrity of Elections) Bill 2021 ## What it does This bill adds new rules to protect the technology used in Australian federal elections from cyber attacks and hacking. It requires the Auditor-General to regularly check that election systems are secure and haven't been tampered with. The bill also introduces voter ID requirements (though the specific details aren't fully shown in this excerpt). ## Why it matters Election systems are critical infrastructure—if they're compromised, it could undermine the legitimacy of results and public trust in voting. These audits create an official checkpoint to catch problems before or soon after elections happen. ## Key details - **Who checks:** The Auditor-General must audit all technology used in elections and report findings to the Electoral Commissioner at least 7 days before voting starts and again within 60 days after the election - **What "authorised technology" means:** Any systems the Electoral Commission officially uses or approves for running elections - **Timeline:** The law would start the day after it receives Royal Assent (final approval from the Governor-General)