The ABS originally promised to mail ballot papers to registered voters overseas, but its website now suggests people should communicate their opinion to a reliable confidant in Australia.
“Eligible Australians that are overseas for this entire period could ask a trusted person to receive their form on their behalf, open it, complete it based on their instruction and return it to the ABS,” the statistics bureau has written on its website.
Opening another person’s post is legal under the Telecommunications and Postal Services Act 1989, as long as the intended recipient gives you clear permission.
“A person cannot self-declare themselves to be a trusted person for someone else,” the ABS instructions state.
The bureau will also allow overseas Australians, along with Indigenous people living in remote areas, to access a ‘paperless’ voting option.
They would be given a special “access code” to unlock an automated phone service or an online form.
One overseas voter took to Twitter to voice her frustrations.
"How we can pretend this is a legit exercise is beyond me," she wrote.
SBS World News has contacted the ABS for comment.
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