The Australian Electoral Commission has announced pamphlets detailing the Yes and No case of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum will begin arriving in the mailboxes of Australian households this month.
It comes as the AEC launches a major advertising campaign designed to educated voters ahead of the referendum, which is set to be held towards the end of 2023.
Printing of the millions of copies concluded last week under the eye of AEC commissioner Tom Rogers.
"I was on hand to observe the process and picked the last copy off the presses myself," Mr Rogers said.
"I'm very satisfied with the quality and checking program that was in evidence right through the process".
Mr Rogers said millions of copies will be sent to various residence types across Australia, with delivery across the nation to conclude by mid-next month.
"We've produced nearly 13 million copies that will be distributed as unaddressed mail to households across the country - this will include residents at places like caravan parks and nursing homes, and to have stock on hand at AEC offices and polling venues," he said.
"This is one of the nation's, and the AEC's, largest printing and distribution jobs so it'll take time for all deliveries to occur – delivery is getting underway shortly and will be completed by mid-late September.
"While we don't yet know the date for the referendum, our decision to begin this activity now ensures all households will get their copy prior to the voting period commencing."
In announcing the delivery schedule, Mr Rogers stressed the AEC's administrative role in pamphlet distribution, with the Commission not adjusting content provided by the respective Yes and No campaigns.
"We are just a post box," Mr Rogers said.
"The official Yes and No cases were written and authorised by parliamentarians.
"The AEC had absolutely no lawful authority to change or 'fact check' the material regardless of how strongly some people may feel about it."
The Yes/No case pamphlet has been available on the AEC's website since July 18, one day after the deadline for written submissions from the Yes and No camps to the AEC.
"At every step, we're making the pamphlet available as soon as we're able – we published the authorised cases on our website the day after the deadline for submission from parliamentarians and now we're moving as swiftly as possible to deliver the pamphlet, so Australians have time to consume the material," Mr Rogers said.
Although only English copies of the 20-page pamphlet will be delivered to Australian households, the pamphlet is currently being translated into 35 CALD languages, a range of First Nations languages, and accessible formats such as large print and audio files.
"The creation of translated copies of the pamphlet and accessible formats takes time – not just to do the work but to have them quality assured," Mr Rogers said.
"We'll upload other formats as soon as we're able to and expect this to begin – and continue progressively - in the coming weeks."
Online versions of the pamphlet will remain publicly available on the AEC website, with posters to be erected at polling venues linking to the online version of the pamphlet for people to view prior to voting.