Compulsory enrolment led to a large increase in voter turnout, even though voting was still voluntary.

[2] The Act also repeated the special jurisdiction of the High Court of Australia as the Court of Disputed Returns in federal election matters,[5] initially established by Part XVI of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1902.

This amendment was made specifically to overrule an act passed by the Queensland state government, which allowed state MPs to automatically return to parliament without a by-election if they ran unsuccessfully for federal parliament.

The Queensland government reportedly passed the legislation primarily for the benefit of Frank Forde, a future prime minister.

[8] The Chifley government amended the Electoral Act in 1949, in time for the 1949 federal election, as follows: Although in 1948 (effective in 1949) Australian nationality law had been altered to create an Australian citizenship, the nationality criterion for the franchise remained that of being a British subject.

In 1962, the Menzies government extended the franchise to all Indigenous Australians at federal elections,[4][10] though enrolment was voluntary.

In September 2021, the Electoral Act was amended by the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Party Registration Integrity) Act 2021 and made the rules surrounding the registration of political parties stricter.