I always vote below the line in the Senate, and I have now done my research so I can vote in an informed manner.
If you want to do the same, you can find the information you’ll need at the AEC election website, which lists candidates as well as the registered preference tickets for the Senate. The tickets can be helpful for candidates about whom there is very little info, because you can get an idea of who they’re willing to jump into bed with.
(For that matter, if you are planning on voting above the line, I highly recommend that you look at the preference deals that have been made – after all, we don’t want another Family-First-in-Victoria debacle if we can avoid it! By the way, if sufficient people had voted for Fielding to get him into the Senate, or had clearly approved of the preference deals, I’d have no problem with him being there. My point is that many people likely voted for parties above the line which shuttled preferences to Family First and Fielding against the expectations of the people voting, ie Fielding really did get into the Senate without a whole lot of people voting for him.)
If you’re in NSW, The Thinking Snake’s Guide to microparties in the NSW Senate race provides a helpful summary of what each of the microparties or groups stand for. It’s based on The Thinking Snake’s online research and you’ll be able to find the same material yourself via google, but it might save you a bit of time.
One reason I like voting below the line is that I get a significant amount of satisfaction from writing large numbers in boxes beside the names of candidates I find particularly odious. My only disappointment is that I can’t write ’84’ beside the names of about 25 candidates.
But mostly, I vote below the line because I don’t support any party strongly enough for me to feel comfortable with them deciding my preferences. I felt that way even before the advent of Fielding, but that certainly strengthened my resolve in that respect.
I would love to be able to assign preferences above the line (although I might still vote below the line on a pretty regular basis) – and I think that a lot of people would take that option up.
Wallaby 
I’m in Victoria and always vote below the line – I hope that many more Victorians join me this time after the Fielding debacle! We have 60 candidates this year.
many people likely voted for parties above the line which shuttled preferences to Family First and Fielding against the expectations of the people voting
And just to add, yes, this is exactly what happened, and the party responsible was Labor, trying to keep the Greens out. It worked, despite the Greens getting vastly more primary votes than Fielding, but then we got Fielding instead.
You know, I wouldn’t even have a problem with the idea that the Greens got more primary votes than Fielding but Fielding got in on preferences if I felt confident that the people who voted for the ALP would have wanted their preferences to go to Fielding. After all, that’s basically the point of a preferential system.
But IIRC, the outcry – and surprise – after Fielding got in suggested that at least some of the people whose preferences had been directed to him weren’t too happy about that.
I really do think the AEC should do some research on how having a preferences-above-the-line option would influence people’s voting choices, and then lobby the government. But of course, the current system favours the major parties (because if fewer people vote below the line, the major parties have much more control over preference flows, and hence much more control over who they have to deal with in the Senate).
Hmm, maybe I should suggest it to GetUp.
Below The Line is also useful for deciding your preferences – you can print out your own how-to-vote card to take with you to the polls.
Yeah, I saw that Deborah at In a Strange Land had mentioned something similar and felt a lot less clever ;)