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The upcoming Indigenous voice referendum will be a "generational issue", according to the electoral commissioner, as finishing touches are being placed on information campaigns ahead of the vote.
Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers said campaigns would soon be rolling out across the country explaining how people can vote in the upcoming referendum, slated to be held between October and December this year.
It has been 24 years since the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has conducted a referendum, and Mr Rogers said it would be a critical task.
"We'll be running a very comprehensive national campaign to try and make sure that everyone's aware, because ... a large number of people were not alive or nor able to vote the last time Australia had a referendum," he told ABC Radio.
"This is a very important task for us. We're putting the finishing touches on some of those campaigns at the moment."
The commissioner said while the AEC ran federal elections every three years, referendums would be a different scenario.
"Referenda unleash passions that don't necessarily exist at election time, not just this referendum, but referendums more broadly," he said.
"An election occurs every three years, people get to have a say. So whilst people get very passionate, they understand that in three years time they get another crack, whereas this is a generational issue."
As part of changes to how referendums are conducted, the remote mobile polling period will be increased from 12 to 19 days before the vote.
Mr Rogers said the changes would allow staff more time to visit remote communities to ensure they cast their vote on the Indigenous voice.
"The increase in time from effectively two weeks to three weeks will really assist us to a further reach into the community," he said.
"Last time we had about 40 teams, they visited 350 locations. And it's a really important part of making sure everybody can have their say."
