IVE PRINTS 13 MILLION VOICE JOB, DISTRIBUTION TO EVERY HOUSE TO BEGIN

IVE has just finished printing the biggest print job of the year, producing almost 13 million copies of the Voice referendum pamphlet. 

Marketing services group IVE, which is Australia's largest print operation,  will now begin the even bigger job of distributing it to every household in the country, whether waterfront mansions, suburban unit blocks, caravan parks or Indigenous settlements.

The Voice referendum pamphlet, outlining the Yes and No cases, ran to 20pp, with an additional 4pp attached pamphlet explaining the ins and outs of how to vote.

The Australian Electoral Commissioner, Tom Rogers, picked the last copy off the presses. “I was on hand to observe the process and picked the last copy off the presses myself,” he said.

“I’m satisfied with the quality and checking programme that was in evidence right through the process.

“We’ve produced nearly 13 million copies, they 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.

“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.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not yet given the date for the Voice referendum, but it must be held by the end of the year. The AEC made the decision to print without knowing the date, so as to ensure the pamphlet could be distributed in time to every household. By law, it has to have arrived at every home no later than two weeks prior to the referendum date.

The printed copy is the longest run referendum pamphlet ever produced – reflecting the increase in households since the last referendum – although its size is dwarfed by that referendum, on the Republic, which ran to 72pp. The Voice job has been printed only in English, but it is being translated into 35 other languages, and a range of Indigenous languages, for upload in electronic format. 

The printed pamphlet for the Voice almost didn’t happen, even though it is legislated than any referendum must be accompanied by a printed pamphlet distributed to every home in the country. The government originally wanted to run an online only information pack, citing costs, but both the Yes and the No campaigns railed against that approach, with print business employers' association PVCA lobbying strongly for a printed version, arguing that only print is inclusive and capable of engaging every person in the country.