(courtesy of IFES election guide)

The monarchy is hereditary. In the Senate, 72 members are elected by popular vote via proportional representation to serve 6-year terms and 4 members are elected. In the House of Representatives 150 members are elected by universal adult suffrage to serve 3-year terms. 72 members of the Senate represent the Federal States (12 per each of the six states) and serve six-year terms, with half of these seats renewed every three years. The four remaining members of the Senate represent the two Federal Territories.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

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Election timing in Australia

(Courtesy of wikipedia)

DID YOU KNOW? Only eight of 43 referenda since 1909 have been approved by a majority of voters in a majority of states (as they must be to succeed) in Australia including the most recent referendum in 1999 that kept Queen Elizabeth the 2nd as Australia's Head of State.

Although elections for the House of Representatives have usually corresponded to half-elections of the Senate, the rules which determine when the elections occur differ:

• The House of Representatives lasts no more than three years after it first meets, but may be dissolved earlier. After the House is dissolved, the next house must meet within 140 days. The maximum period between elections is therefore 3 years, 140 days, and the minimum approximately a month.

• The duration of Senators' terms are fixed (unless a double dissolution occurs), and elections must occur within a year before the term expires.

If for some reason a House is dissolved early, House and Senate elections may be unsynchronised until either the House is again dissolved sufficiently early or a double dissolution occurs.

Most Recent Election

(Courtesy of wikipedia)

There are two major political groups: the Australian labor Party, and the Coalition. Since the election of 3 December 2007, the Labor Party led by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been in power. Every Australian parliament (federal, state, and territory) then had a Labor government until September 2008 when the Liberal Party formed a minority government in association with the National Party in Western Australia. In the 2004 election, the previous governing coalition led by John Howard won control of the Senate—the first time in more than 20 years that a party (or a coalition) has done so while in government.

Voting is compulsory for all enrolled citizens 18 years and over, in each state and territory and at the federal level. Enrolment to vote is compulsory in all jurisdictions except South Australia.