Vote on issues that matter this election

It’s GetUp’s most ambitious Election Day effort yet, with thousands of volunteers at 380 polling booths across the country, from far north Queensland to northern Tasmania. Volunteers will be working hard in 29 electorates in six states and one territory, putting issues front and centre that are important to both GetUp members and voters in the local electorate.

GetUp members wearing GetUp t-shirts, with orange corflutes and bright smiles will hand out 500,000 independent issue-based how-to-vote guides to voters at polling booths.

Our independent voting guides show voters which candidates are committed to making real progress on our key issues, and who have demonstrated community support. The guides alway feature at least 2 candidates, and there can be up to 4, so voters can decide how to cast their vote on an issue that matters to them.

Unfortunately we can't be everywhere this election day. We’ll be in places where GetUp members can have the most significant impact on our priority issues.

We'll also be active in places with many GetUp members, to increase the chances that our issues become a deciding factor for voters, and so key decision makers take notice.

Keen to get involved? Sign up as an election day volunteer here

Live a long way from the action? There are still loads of other ways you can have impact. Email eday@getup.org.au to find out more.

We chose marginal seats, like Leichhardt and Lingiari, where the number of First Nations voters is larger than the margin the seat is held on, and we’ve been working alongside those communities for years.

We chose marginal seats, like Macquarie, Page, Eden-Monaro and Gilmore, who on the frontlines of the climate impacts - fires, floods and drought - and where climate action ranks as a top issue for voters to put climate change on voters’ radars at the polling booths. This is where we think we can get voters to shift their vote based on climate concerns.

We chose marginal seats where both Labor and Liberal incumbents are under pressure, such as Macquarie or Goldstein, where we think climate concerned voters can pressure these backbenchers to speak up for climate and influence the policies of their leaders, or seats, like Bass, Braddon and Lyons, where voters want action from both major parties to address rising inequality and cost of living.

We know local voters hold the power to influence local candidates, and local candidates influence party leaders — so by agitating now, we can win new policies that our communities need.

This term of Parliament, GetUp members have been working hard to show politicians we need a fair, flourishing and just Australia.

Together, we:

• Gathered 100,000 people’s signatures demanding a National Cultural Heritage Protection Act, and had our expert recommendations included in the final report of the inquiry into the destruction of Juukan Gorge.
• Won an inquiry into Morrison’s $50m for frackers in the Beetaloo, and brought Traditional Owners’ voices to Parliament and Origin’s AGM
• Defeated Morrison and Hanson’s racist Voter ID Bill.
• Made national media headlines with our Who Controls Our Media? Report, which made it onto the public record at a live Senate Inquiry hearing in questioning to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and then over 6,500 GetUp members sent the report to their MP’s and Senator – putting our recommendations for reform in front of every politician in the country.
• Staved off Angus Taylor’s repeated attacks on renewable energy.
• Presented a petition to the Crossbench on the lawns of Parliament from 55,000 members calling for a Federal ICAC.

It is clear that in this election, together we make the future.

Our how-to-vote cards feature our 2022 campaign priority issues of First Nations justice, climate action and tackling inequality, alongside other long-standing GetUp campaigns, like fighting for a federal anti-corruption commission.

When people vote on an issue it has a powerful impact on the election. It sends a strong message to the next government to deliver on the issues GetUp members care about.

It’s simple – candidates or parties who stacked up on the issues that matter to GetUp members, who have also demonstrated community support. Each how-to-vote card features at least two candidates, and many have up to three or four. It’s for voters to make the final decision on how to cast their vote.

GetUp independently researched parties and candidates across 60 different policy areas and assessed the strength of those policies. We also invited all major parties and candidates to respond to our party policy survey, offering them an opportunity to tell us their stance on a select range of policy areas. To decide the order of preferences, we prioritised parties/candidates whose policy platforms are broadly aligned with the GetUp movement's core values and policy priorities.

You can access a copy of the comprehensive policy questions we put to parties and candidates here.

We have done our best to provide a fair representation of party/candidate policies. If you think you've spotted a mistake, please contact us here

We don’t back candidates, we judge them on their policies. GetUp is campaigning on issues identified as top priorities by GetUp members, such as strong climate action and justice for First Nations communities. In line with this, we're giving people information about how to support the parties and candidates with the strongest public policy positions on these issues.

GetUp independently researches parties and candidates and invites all major parties and candidates to respond to a policy survey, then ranks them based on how their policy platforms align with the GetUp movement's core values and policy priorities.

This is in line with GetUp’s commitment to political independence. We engage in elections because they are great change moments for our issues and provide the best opportunity to build a more fair, flourishing and just community for all. GetUp's political independence allows GetUp to work with, and critique, all political parties and candidates without fear or favour.

For more information you can check out GetUp’s statement of independence here: getup.org.au/about/getup-statement-of-independence

In February 2019, the Australian Electoral Commission deemed GetUp's how-to-vote cards consistent with our standing as an independent third party organisation.

The outcome of their review confirmed the independence of our 2016 election how-to-vote campaign, highlighting that our voting guides emphasise issues, rate candidates on issues, feature multiple candidates and that we never give or receive money in connection with any political party or candidate. Read more.