Prime Minister John Howard is seeking a fourth consecutive term in office, but he faces tough competition from Mark Latham, the leader of the opposition Labor Party.

BBC News Online is asking anyone with a camera to send in their digital pictures of the pre-election build-up.

Have you any photographs of the campaign trail? What type of preparations are underway in your area? Do you live in a remote part of Australia where voting arrangements are unusual, or are you an ex-pat voting from overseas?

Just send your images - together with your name, where you live, and brief details about the picture you have sent - to yourpics@bbc.co.uk, marked "Australia poll".

Feel free to include your views on the election, what matters most to you, and who you think will win.

If you submit an image, you do so in accordance with the BBC's Terms and Conditions.

In contributing to BBC News Online you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way that we want, and in any media. (See the Terms and Conditions for the full terms of our rights.)

It's important to note, however, that you still own the copyright to everything you contribute to BBC News Online. This means you are perfectly free to take what you have produced and re-publish it somewhere else. Please note that if your image is accepted, we will publish your name alongside it on the BBC News website. The BBC cannot guarantee that all pictures will be published and we reserve the right to edit your comments.