Call for action on voter non-enrolment

Nearly one million people are missing from Australia's electoral roll which highlights the need for action on direct enrolments, a Queensland political scientist says.

Professor Clive Bean says non-enrolment is still high despite laws being passed in 2012 to allow the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to directly enrol voters based on data from other government agencies.

"The irony in Australia is that enrolment to vote is compulsory but it has to be done on the initiative of the voter, whereas in some countries enrolment is done automatically by the authorities," he said.

The Queensland University of Technology political scientist said it was vital to find effective ways and technology to directly enrol voters.

"That will take time, so it's also important for more targeted marketing," he said.

"It's not enough to just send someone a letter when they turn 16 to tell them they can now enrol to vote in preparation for being allowed to vote at 18."

AEC statistics show Australia's voter enrolment rate was 94 per cent at March 31.

An estimated 978,933 eligible voters were missing from the electoral roll.