About 7000 polling places will be operating from 8am to 6pm on election day, Saturday, July 2.

Failing to vote attracts a $20 penalty.

Failure to pay may lead to the matter being referred to court, where a fine of up to $180 plus court costs may be levied and a criminal conviction may be recorded.

Source: Australian Electoral Commission

When faced with the Senate ballot paper, you may be overwhelmed by a raft of names of unfamiliar parties. Here are some of them and what they stand for:

Health Australia Party

The HAP, which has won the coveted first spot on the ballot, is campaigning in enthusiastic defiance of modern medicine. It opposes the use of vaccines and water fluoridation, and would see alternative therapies put on equal footing as science-based medicine. "Even if you are dissatisfied with the performance of the major parties, please don't vote for the Health Australian Party," says the Australian Medical Association's NSW president, Brad Frankum. "They are not experts, doctors, or particularly qualified to be advocating for people's health."

Family First Party

Though Family First describes itself as a secular organisation, it was founded by evangelical Christians in South Australia. It is sceptical of climate science and opposed to gay rights, abortion, surrogacy and native title. But unlike most conservative parties it opposes the so-called Pacific Solution, and would test asylum claims in Australia.

Liberal Democratic Party 

Lead LDP candidate David Leyonhjelm has been active in the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, the Shooters Party and the Outdoor Recreation Party. In recent years he has focused on shrinking government and stripping regulations. Leyonhjelm managed to squeak into the senate in 2013 after a name change from the Liberty and Democracy Party to the Liberal Democrats. "He is probably the only senator elected because people mistook his party for another," Fairfax Media reported at the time. "Looks like I'm going to be the senator for the donkeys," Leyonhjelm said after the votes were tallied.

Pirate Party Australia

"Our name might seem silly at first," begins the Q & A section on the Pirate Party's website. The Pirate Party was formed in Sweden in 2006 in protest at the international crackdown on copyright infringements and online pirating. Today it has members in national and regional governments in Germany and the Czech Republic, and has led national polls in Iceland.

Voteflux.org

Voteflux is the only party on the ballot to boast that its candidates have no views on any issue at all. Instead they will allow their votes in the nation's house of review to be directed by members via an app.

Online Direct Democracy

Similar to Voteflux and formerly known as Senator Online, ODD seeks to give its members direct control over policy and voting using new digital technology. It probably doesn't help the party that its founder in Australia and lead NSW candidate, Berge Der Sarkissian, was found by ASIC to have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct to secure extra Telstra shares during part of the telco giant's privatisation in 1999.

Democratic Labour Party

Like Family First, but with Catholics and unions.

Science Party

On the progressive end of the micro-party spectrum, the Science Party advocates doubling research funding, implementing the Gonski reforms and ending mandatory detention. Its leader, Dr James Jansson, sought – without success – to gather the progressives on a single ticket.

Australian Cyclists Party 

Another progressive outfit that advocates improving cycling infrastructure and introducing what it calls a "legislated bias towards protecting vulnerable road users through improved enforcement". That and a review of mandatory helmet laws.

Renewable Energy Party

REP founder Peter Breen first bounced from the Young Libs to the Bill of Rights Group to the Reform the Legal System party. He went on to join the Labor Party before founding the Human Rights Party, then worked as a staffer to Senator Ricky Muir of the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party alongside the preference whisper himself, Glenn Druery. After Muir turfed the two of them in 2014, Breen founded the Renewable Energy Party. He says the Greens' platform is too broad and a single-issue party focused on new energy technology can contribute.

Australian Antipaedophile Party

Opposed to paedophiles and the Family Court. And, if you pay heed to its Facebook traffic, the Safe Schools Coalition which seeks to combat bullying of LGBTQI school students.

Derryn Hinch's Justice Party 

Fresh from a recent prison stint for breaching a court suppression order, Hinch is running on an anti-paedophile platform, but stresses he is not a single-issue candidate. He would like to see "more jail, less bail" – and more animal rights. Hinch has won the endorsement of his most famous former wife, Jacki Weaver, who on his website is reported as saying: "He's honest. He's decent. He's got a good heart. Now that he's not drinking, he's really reliable." Hinch has a chance at a Victorian seat, though his lead NSW candidate, Ken Stevens, is more of a long shot.

Rise Up Australia Party

After being turfed out of Family First in 2004 for "making demeaning comments about a minority group", Catch the Fire Ministries pastor Daniel Nalliah has pursued his political interests via other channels. In 2007, Nalliah held a prayer meeting in Canberra to drive away evil spirits after the discovery of a "black mass altar" at Mount Ainslie. His Rise Up Australia Party opposes multiculturalism in favour of assimilation, in which foreign cultures "complement" rather than "override" Australian culture. It opposes Sharia law, tax and the climate change findings of "so-called scientists".

Australian Liberty Alliance

Another of the parties competing with Pauline Hanson for the right-wing nationalist vote, the ALA has secured Angry Anderson as a NSW candidate. It is opposed to Islamic immigration, political correctness and Waleed Aly's Gold Logie.

Nick O'Malley