Elections - federal and state

Australia is a Commonwealth which is made up of six states and two territories. The states are NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. The territories are the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

The federal government governs the whole of Australia and includes representatives from every state and territory.

Each of the states and territories have their own Parliaments and government. Elections are held for the federal government and for each state and territory.

Federal government and elections

The last federal election was held on 24 November 2007.
Elections are held every three years. It is normal for the House of Representatives and half Senate elections to be held together. [Source: AEC]
If a double dissolution is called, the the House of Representatives and the FULL Senate are dissolved and elections held for all positions.

House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is made up of 150 members, each representing one electorate. Every member stands for re-election at each election. Each person votes for someone to represent them in the House of Representatives and also for the Senate.

Senate
The Senate has 12 Senators for each State and two for each of the two territories, making a total of 76 Senators. It was initially established (at Federation in 1901) as a states' 'House of Review' - however most Senators now are generally members of political parties and the Senate usually operates on a party political basis.

Senators are elected for a six year term - they only face election at alternate elections. Half the Senate 'retires' at each election, so States just elect 6 Senators each time.

The Australian Electoral Commission runs the election and is responsible for all matters relating to these.
Check out their website to find out how the system works, recent voting patterns, who your representative is, what electorate you are in, etc...
Click here.

For the ABC's review of the 2004 federal election, click here.
For Antony Green's review of the 2007 federal election on the ABC website, click here.

State elections:

Each state has their own electoral commission that oversees elections.

Click here for a summary of election dates, processes and scheduled elections.
(2006 APH government document.)

Summary of State and Territory Election Dates:

Elections held in 2006
SA - held 18 March 2006
TAS - held 18 March 2006
QLD - held September 2006
VIC - held 25 November 2006

Elections... held in 2007
NSW - 24 March 2007

ACT - fixed date - 18 October 2008
WA - between 21 June 2008 and 28 March 2009
NT - between 5 July 2008 and 27 June 2009

NEXT ELECTIONS:

Tasmania - to be held on Saturday March 20, 2010.

State Electoral Commissions

Click on the name of each State or territory to go to the Electoral Commission or electoral office for that state...

NSW

Queensland

South Australia

Tasmania

Victoria

Western Australia

Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

ABC Elections Overview
For the ABC's update page on elections click here.

This ABC website includes analyst Antony Green's comments, predictions and overview for each election held in Australia.