Lyla Lindsey
Australia's government is a bicameral federal parliament, with the House of Representatives forming the lower house and the Senate forming the upper house. The House of Representatives is made up of single-member electorates, or seats, with a population of roughly equal size. The number of seats in the House of Representatives is currently 151, with each state allocated seats based on its population. The Senate, on the other hand, plays an active role in legislation and is modelled after the United States Senate, giving equal representation to each state. The voting system in Australia has undergone several changes, with the current system allowing for the emergence of minor parties and a shift away from the two-party system that once dominated Australian politics.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of seats in the House of Representatives | 151 |
| Number of seats in the Senate | 60 |
| Number of seats won by the Labor Party in the 2022 election | 77 |
| Number of seats won by the Liberal/National Coalition in the 2022 election | 58 |
| Number of seats won by the Greens in the 2022 election | 4 |
| Number of seats won by Katter's Australian Party in the 2022 election | 1 |
| Number of seats won by Centre Alliance in the 2022 election | 1 |
| Number of independent seats in the 2022 election | 12 |
| Voting system | Full preferential voting |
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What You'll Learn
House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia. The upper house is the Senate. The House of Representatives is presided over by the speaker, who has disciplinary powers. The current Parliament is the 47th Australian Parliament, which first sat on 26 July 2022.
The House of Representatives is made up of single-member electorates, also known as geographic districts or 'seats', with a population of roughly equal size. Each state is allocated seats based on its population, with each original state, regardless of size, guaranteed at least five seats. One vote, one value legislation requires all electorates to have approximately the same number of voters with a maximum of 10% variation, with most electorates holding 85,000 to 105,000 voters. The Constitution provides that the number of members of the House of Representatives must be "as nearly as practicable, twice the number of Senators". The House presently consists of 151 members.
The House of Representatives is elected using a full preferential voting system. This was introduced after the 1918 Swan by-election, which the Labor Party unexpectedly won due to vote splitting among the conservative parties. The Nationalist Party government, a predecessor of the modern-day Liberal Party of Australia, changed the voting system from first-past-the-post to full preferential voting for the 1919 election. This system has remained in place ever since.
The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House, although the House is almost always dissolved earlier. Elections for members of the House of Representatives have been held at the same time as those for the Senate since the 1970s.
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Senate seats
The Australian Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, with the House of Representatives forming the lower house. The Senate was established by the Constitution of Australia as the second chamber of the national parliament. Unlike upper houses in other Westminster system governments, the Australian Senate is not a vestigial body with limited legislative power. Instead, it plays an active role in legislation, modelled after the United States Senate, by giving equal representation to each state. The Constitution intended to give less populous states a stronger voice in a federal legislature, while also providing for the revising role of an upper house in the Westminster system.
The number of senators has changed over time. The original arrangement involved a first-past-the-post and block voting system, on a state-by-state basis. This was replaced in 1919 by preferential block voting. In 1948, the number of senators was expanded from 36 to 60, and single transferable vote with proportional representation on a state-by-state basis became the method for electing senators.
In the case of a double dissolution, each state elects a 12-seat Senate delegation, while the two territories represented in the Senate elect two senators each. As of the 2022 election, the Labor government retained 26 seats in the Senate, the Liberal/National Coalition dropped to 32 seats, the Greens increased to 12 seats, the Jacqui Lambie Network had 2 seats, One Nation had 2 seats, the United Australia Party won 1 seat, and independent David Pocock retained his seat.
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Voting systems
Australia's voting system has evolved over the years, with a shift away from the two major parties towards independent and minor party candidates. The country's voting system is based on the Westminster system, with a bicameral Parliament consisting of the House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Senate (the upper house).
The House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is made up of single-member electorates or geographic districts commonly referred to as "seats". The Constitution of Australia requires that all electorates have roughly the same number of voters, with a maximum variation of 10%. Each state is allocated seats based on its population, with each original state guaranteed at least five seats. The current House has 151 members, with the number required to be "nearly as practicable, twice the number of Senators".
The Senate
The Senate, on the other hand, is composed of 12-seat delegations from each state, with the two territories represented by two senators each. The Australian Senate is modelled after the United States Senate, giving equal representation to each state and a stronger voice to less populous states in the federal legislature.
Voting Methods
The voting system in Australia has undergone several changes. Initially, the first-past-the-post voting system was used, but this was replaced by full preferential block voting in 1919, which tended to produce landslide majorities. In 1948, the system shifted again to single transferable vote with proportional representation, allowing for a more balanced representation of parties in the Senate.
In 1984, group ticket voting was introduced to reduce the rate of informal voting and to give smaller parties and independent candidates a better chance of winning. This system allowed voters to select a single party to represent their preferences or to vote directly for individual candidates by numbering each box.
Recent Trends
Over the last five decades, there has been a notable shift away from the two major parties, with a rise in support for independent and minor party candidates. This has resulted in a more collaborative and less oppositional system, as negotiations with other parties and independents are often necessary to pass legislation. The whole way Australia votes has transformed, with a slow but steady decline in the dominance of the two major parties.
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Election results
Australia's lower house, the House of Representatives, has 151 seats. The upper house, the Senate, has 76 seats. The House of Representatives is made up of single-member electorates with a population of roughly equal size. Each state is allocated seats based on its population, with each original state, regardless of size, guaranteed at least five seats.
The most recent federal election was held on 21 May 2022. The outcome of the 2022 election saw the Labor Party return to government for the first time in nine years, winning 77 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives. The Liberal/National Coalition, which had been in power since the 2013 election, lost 19 seats compared to the previous election, finishing with 58 seats. The crossbench grew to its largest-ever size, with 16 members: 4 Greens, 1 Centre Alliance MP, 1 Katter's Australian Party MP, and 12 independents.
In the Senate, the Labor government retained 26 seats, the Liberal/National Coalition dropped to 32 seats, the Greens increased to 12 seats, the Jacqui Lambie Network had 2 seats, One Nation had 2 seats, the United Australia Party won 1 seat, and independent David Pocock won a seat.
Over the past five decades, there has been a notable shift in the way Australians vote, with a decline in support for the major parties and a rise in support for independents and minor parties. In the 2022 election, the number of independent and minor-party MPs elected was the highest ever seen in the modern political era. This shift has been attributed to various factors, including the emergence of minor parties as a political force, the decline of the two-party system, and changes in the voting system.
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Historical changes
The Australian Parliament is currently made up of 151 members, with each state allocated seats based on its population. However, the original system for electing senators involved a first-past-the-post and block voting system, which was replaced in 1919 by preferential block voting. This system tended to produce landslide majorities, with the Nationalist Party holding all but one of the 36 seats from 1920 to 1923, and the Australian Labor Party holding all but three from 1947 to 1950.
In 1948, the system changed again to single transferable vote with proportional representation on a state-by-state basis, and the number of senators was increased to 60. This move towards proportional representation was intended to even up the balance between the states in the federal legislature.
In 1975, the Whitlam government was voted out of office, and voters swung behind Malcolm Fraser's Liberal Party. At this time, the two major parties dominated politics, and smaller parties and independents had yet to gain much traction. However, over time, minor parties started to grow their vote, including the Democrats, the Greens, and independents.
In 1984, group ticket voting was introduced to reduce the high rate of informal voting and to give small parties and independent candidates a better chance of winning a seat. This allowed voters to select a single party to distribute their preferences, but they could still choose to vote directly for individual candidates and distribute their own preferences.
Since 1962, the government has only secured a Senate majority on three occasions: after the 1975, 1977, and 2004 elections. The rise of minor parties and independents has resulted in a pattern of non-government control of the Senate, where neither the government nor the opposition holds a majority, and the government must rely on minor parties and independents to pass legislation.
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Frequently asked questions
The Australian Parliament is made up of two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives has 151 seats and the Senate has 12 seats.
The party or coalition of parties that has the majority in the House of Representatives forms the government, with the leader of that party or coalition becoming the prime minister. In the 2022 election, the Labor Party won 77 seats, the Liberal/National Coalition won 58 seats, and the crossbench grew to 16 members.
The term of members of the House of Representatives is a maximum of three years from the date of the first sitting of the House. However, the House is usually dissolved earlier, and elections for members of the House are held in conjunction with those for the Senate.
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the Australian Parliament, while the Senate is the upper house. The House of Representatives is made up of single-member electorates with roughly equal populations, while the Senate provides equal representation to each state, with each original state guaranteed at least five seats.
Seats are won through elections, which are held regularly. The voting system in Australia has changed several times, with the current system using full preferential voting. The emergence of minor parties and independents has also impacted the distribution of seats, with a decline in the dominance of the two major parties.
