Campaigners for both sides of the Indigenous voice referendum have hit the hustings as early voting opens across the country.
The yes and no campaigns have less than two weeks to make their case over whether to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution.
Early voting has opened in the Northern Territory, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
Polling stations will open in New South Wales, the ACT, Queensland and South Australia on Tuesday, after public holidays in those parts of the country.
Anthony Albanese remained optimistic the voice would get up despite poor standings in published polls, saying some undecided voters cast yes ballots after talking through the proposal.
“The key to the next fortnight is those one-on-one conversations with people to accept this request of the overwhelming majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” the prime minister told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.
Dean Parkin, the Yes23 campaign director, was also on the hustings in Melbourne, with Victoria widely considered a “must win” state.
The yes campaign’s 50,000 volunteers will staff booths in the lead-up to 14 October.
“As with any election, Australians tend to really put their focus into their decision-making much closer to the vote. So 12 days out there’s plenty of time for us to have that conversation,” Parkin told Sky News.
“There is a very clear choice in this referendum. A yes vote gives us real recognition and a chance for practical change, whereas a no vote gives us absolutely nothing.”
The no campaign used the first day of pre-polling to shore up support in Western Australia, where analysts expect a majority of people to vote against the voice.
The opposition Indigenous Australians spokesperson and prominent no campaigner, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, was in Perth to attend an event.
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She and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, recently toured regional NSW to campaign for a no vote and offset what is expected to be a high yes vote in metropolitan areas.
Various published polls have predicted Queensland and WA would vote no and Tasmania yes.
With South Australia seen as a swing state, Victoria and NSW need to vote in favour for the voice to succeed.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, said many residents in remote and regional communities were not aware of the referendum.
“It’s important the AEC works very hard now to make sure that Australians understand they can go and vote from now on and they can do it early if they please,” he told Sky News.
The electoral commission has started carrying out voting in remote polling locations across the country, with the referendum having the largest number of eligible Australians on the electoral roll.
People can find an early polling location using this AEC tool.
The commission said 97.7% of eligible Australians were enrolled to vote, an increase of more than 447,000 people from last year’s federal election.
Indigenous enrolment is also at a high of 94.1%, while 91.4% of Australians aged 18 to 24 are also enrolled.
Australians needed to ensure they were able to cast their ballot on 14 October or consider early voting options if they could not, Australian electoral commissioner Tom Rogers said.