About 14.7 million Australians will give their verdict on Saturday on whether Kevin Rudd will continue to lead the nation or Tony Abbott will become the 28th prime minister.
A record 1717 candidates have nominated to contest the 2013 federal election, an increase of 43 per cent from the 2010 election.
The figure includes 529 Senate candidates for the 40 Senate vacancies and 1188 candidates for the 150 House of Representatives seats across Australia.
Polling booths open from 8am to 6pm on September 7, and a list of polling booths can be found on the Australian Electoral Commission's (AEC) website or in local newspapers.
Once inside the polling station, voters will receive two ballot papers.
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The small green one is for the representative for the local area (or electorate) in the House of Representatives.
Voters must fill in the candidates in the order they want to see them elected and all the boxes must be filled in to make the vote count.
The big white ballot paper is a vote for the state or territory representative for the Senate, with two options.
The first option for voters is to place their number 1 pick above the black line. Voting above the line means preferences are allocated in the way the party voted for determines.
The second option is to vote below the line, by numbering all of the candidates below the line. This means voters have complete control over their preferences.
The AEC says that if people have limited English or are confused about what to do they should speak to a polling official immediately.
