A by-election was held in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Lytton on 5 October 1996. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting Labor member Tom Burns. The by-election was won by Labor candidate Paul Lucas.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Paul Lucas | 10,832 | 54.7 | -1.5 | |
| Liberal | Jenny Mansell | 5,480 | 27.7 | -7.3 | |
| Democrats | Marianne Dickie | 1,223 | 6.2 | +6.2 | |
| Shooters | Wendy Kelly | 750 | 3.8 | +3.8 | |
| Independent | Nigel Freemarijuana | 608 | 3.1 | +3.1 | |
| Greens | Norma Nord | 570 | 2.9 | -5.9 | |
| Independent | B Groom | 147 | 0.7 | +0.7 | |
| Independent | B Richardson | 131 | 0.7 | +0.7 | |
| Independent | Steve Purtill | 47 | 0.2 | +0.2 | |
| Total formal votes | 19,788 | 98.9 | +0.4 | ||
| Informal votes | 229 | 1.1 | -0.4 | ||
| Turnout | 20,017 | 88.1 | |||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Paul Lucas | 11,952 | 66.1 | +4.8 | |
| Liberal | Jenny Mansell | 6,129 | 33.9 | -4.8 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | +4.8 | |||