List of Australian Senate appointments

This is a list of appointments to the Australian Senate, which is the upper house of the Parliament of Australia, filling casual vacancies, from the Senate's creation in 1901 until the present day. There is a second list of invalid elections and appointments to the Senate.

Appointment procedures

Further information: Casual vacancies in the Australian Parliament § Senate

States

Section 15 of the Australian Constitution requires the parliament of the relevant state to choose a replacement. This is done in a joint sitting of the upper and lower house (except for Queensland, which has a unicameral parliament). In the event that the state parliament is not in session, the Governor of the state (acting on the advice of the state's executive council) may appoint a replacement senator, but such an appointment lapses if it is not confirmed by a joint sitting of the parliament within 14 days.

Prior to 29 July 1977, the filing of casual vacancies was complex. While senators were elected for a six-year term, people appointed to a casual vacancy only held office until the earlier of the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate, at which the vacancy would be filled by the electors of the relevant state. ^[1] It was also an established convention that the state parliament choose (or the governor appoint) a replacement from the same political party as their predecessor, however this convention was not always followed. ^{[n 1]}

As a result of the 1977 referendum: ^[2]

• a state legislature must replace a senator with a member of the same political party, and
• the new senator's term continues until the end of the original senator's term.

Territories

Replacement senators for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) or the Northern Territory (NT) are chosen by the relevant territory legislature, under s.44 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 . Where the legislature is not in session, the choice is made by the Administrator of the NT (acting on the advice of the territory's executive council) or the Chief Minister of the ACT. The procedure has been in use in the NT since 1980 and the ACT since 1989.

Between 1980 and 1989, replacement senators in the ACT were chosen by a joint sitting of both houses of the Federal Parliament, under s.9 of the Senate (Representation of Territories) Act 1973. Prior to 1980, replacement senators in the ACT or the NT were to be elected in a by-election, though this never occurred.

List of appointments to the Senate

47th Parliament (2022–2025)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia	6 February 2025	Simon Birmingham		Liberal	Leah Blyth		Liberal	Resignation
Victoria	29 May 2024	Linda White		Labor	Lisa Darmanin		Labor	Death
Victoria	1 May 2024	Janet Rice		Greens	Steph Hodgins-May		Greens	Resignation
Western Australia	1 February 2024	Pat Dodson		Labor	Varun Ghosh		Labor	Resignation
New South Wales	30 November 2023	Marise Payne		Liberal	Dave Sharma		Liberal	Resignation
New South Wales	31 May 2023	Jim Molan		Liberal	Maria Kovacic		Liberal	Death
46th Parliament (2019–2022)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia	18 May 2022	Ben Small		Liberal	Ben Small		Liberal	Resignation [n 2]
Victoria	6 April 2022	Kimberley Kitching		Labor	Jana Stewart		Labor	Death
Victoria	2 December 2021	Scott Ryan		Liberal	Greg Mirabella		Liberal	Resignation
South Australia	21 September 2021	Alex Gallacher		Labor	Karen Grogan		Labor	Death
Western Australia	14 September 2021	Rachel Siewert		Greens	Dorinda Cox		Greens	Resignation
Western Australia	25 November 2020	Mathias Cormann		Liberal	Ben Small		Liberal	Resignation
Victoria	4 September 2020	Richard Di Natale		Greens	Lidia Thorpe		Greens	Resignation
South Australia	6 February 2020	Cory Bernardi		Independent [n 3]	Andrew McLachlan		Liberal	Resignation
New South Wales	14 November 2019	Arthur Sinodinos		Liberal	Jim Molan		Liberal	Resignation
Victoria	11 September 2019	Mitch Fifield		Liberal	Sarah Henderson		Liberal	Resignation
45th Parliament (2016–2019)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
New South Wales	20 March 2019	David Leyonhjelm		Liberal Democrats	Duncan Spender		Liberal Democrats	Resignation
Tasmania	6 March 2019	David Bushby		Liberal	Wendy Askew		Liberal	Resignation
Victoria	6 March 2019	Jacinta Collins		Labor	Raff Ciccone		Labor	Resignation
Queensland	6 September 2018	Andrew Bartlett		Greens	Larissa Waters		Greens	Resignation
New South Wales	15 August 2018	Lee Rhiannon		Greens	Mehreen Faruqi		Greens	Resignation
Queensland	21 March 2018	George Brandis		LNP	Amanda Stoker		LNP	Resignation
New South Wales	14 February 2018	Sam Dastyari		Labor	Kristina Keneally		Labor	Resignation
South Australia	14 November 2017	Nick Xenophon		Xenophon	Rex Patrick		Xenophon	Resignation
Western Australia	16 August 2017	Chris Back		Liberal	Slade Brockman		Liberal	Resignation
Victoria	25 October 2016	Stephen Conroy		Labor	Kimberley Kitching		Labor	Resignation
44th Parliament (2014–2016)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia	2 May 2016	Joe Bullock		Labor	Pat Dodson		Labor	Resignation
Victoria	9 March 2016	Michael Ronaldson		Liberal	James Paterson		Liberal	Resignation
South Australia	22 September 2015	Penny Wright		Greens	Robert Simms		Greens	Resignation
Tasmania	19 August 2015	Christine Milne		Greens	Nick McKim		Greens	Resignation
Queensland	21 May 2015	Brett Mason		LNP	Joanna Lindgren		LNP	Resignation
New South Wales	6 May 2015	John Faulkner		Labor	Jenny McAllister		Labor	Resignation
Australian Capital Territory	25 March 2015	Kate Lundy		Labor	Katy Gallagher		Labor	Resignation
New South Wales [n 4]	2 July 2014	Bob Carr		Labor	Deborah O'Neill		Labor	Resignation
43rd Parliament (2011–2014)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Queensland [n 5]	11 February 2014	Barnaby Joyce		LNP	Barry O'Sullivan		LNP	Resignation
New South Wales [n 4]	13 November 2013	Bob Carr		Labor	Deborah O'Neill		Labor	Resignation
Victoria	21 August 2013	David Feeney		Labor	Mehmet Tillem		Labor	Resignation
New South Wales	21 August 2013	Matt Thistlethwaite		Labor	Sam Dastyari		Labor	Resignation
Western Australia	15 May 2013	Chris Evans		Labor	Sue Lines		Labor	Resignation
South Australia	5 September 2012	Mary Jo Fisher		Liberal	Anne Ruston		Liberal	Resignation
Tasmania	20 June 2012	Bob Brown		Greens	Peter Whish-Wilson		Greens	Resignation
Tasmania	20 June 2012	Nick Sherry		Labor	Lin Thorp		Labor	Resignation
Western Australia	2 May 2012	Judith Adams		Liberal	Dean Smith		Liberal	Death
New South Wales	6 March 2012	Mark Arbib		Labor	Bob Carr		Labor	Resignation
New South Wales	13 October 2011	Helen Coonan		Liberal	Arthur Sinodinos		Liberal	Resignation
42nd Parliament (2008–2011)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia	12 March 2009	Chris Ellison		Liberal	Chris Back		Liberal	Resignation
41st Parliament (2005–2008)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria [n 5]	8 May 2008	Robert Ray		Labor	Jacinta Collins		Labor	Resignation
Tasmania	30 August 2007	Paul Calvert		Liberal	David Bushby		Liberal	Resignation
Western Australia	19 June 2007	Ian Campbell		Liberal	Mathias Cormann		Liberal	Resignation
South Australia	6 June 2007	Amanda Vanstone		Liberal	Mary Jo Fisher		Liberal	Resignation
South Australia	3 May 2007	Jeannie Ferris		Liberal	Simon Birmingham		Liberal	Death
Queensland	19 April 2007	Santo Santoro		Liberal	Sue Boyce		Liberal	Resignation
South Australia	4 May 2006	Robert Hill		Liberal	Cory Bernardi		Liberal	Resignation
Tasmania	25 August 2005	Sue Mackay		Labor	Carol Brown		Labor	Resignation
40th Parliament (2002–2005)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
New South Wales [n 5]	5 May 2005	John Tierney		Liberal	Concetta Fierravanti-Wells		Liberal	Resignation
Victoria	31 March 2004	Richard Alston		Liberal	Mitch Fifield		Liberal	Resignation
Australian Capital Territory	18 February 2003	Margaret Reid		Liberal	Gary Humphries		Liberal	Resignation
Queensland	29 October 2002	John Herron		Liberal	Santo Santoro		Liberal	Resignation
39th Parliament (1999–2002)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Tasmania [n 5]	26 February 2002	Brian Gibson		Liberal	Guy Barnett		Liberal	Resignation
Tasmania [n 5]	4 February 2002	Jocelyn Newman		Liberal	Richard Colbeck		Liberal	Resignation
Queensland	31 July 2001	John Woodley		Democrats	John Cherry		Democrats	Resignation
South Australia	14 September 2000	John Quirke		Labor	Geoff Buckland		Labor	Resignation
Queensland	16 May 2000	Warwick Parer		Liberal	George Brandis		Liberal	Resignation
New South Wales	4 May 2000	David Brownhill		National	Sandy Macdonald		National	Resignation
38th Parliament (1996–1999)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
New South Wales	14 October 1998	Belinda Neal		Labor	Steve Hutchins		Labor	Resignation
Northern Territory	16 June 1998	Bob Collins		Labor	Trish Crossin		Labor	Resignation
Queensland	30 October 1997	Cheryl Kernot		Democrats	Andrew Bartlett		Democrats	Resignation
South Australia	18 September 1997	Dominic Foreman		Labor	John Quirke		Labor	Resignation
New South Wales	17 September 1997	Bruce Childs		Labor	George Campbell		Labor	Resignation
Western Australia	19 May 1997	John Panizza		Liberal	Ross Lightfoot		Liberal	Death
Victoria	13 May 1997	Jim Short		Liberal	Karen Synon		Liberal	Resignation
New South Wales	9 April 1997	Bob Woods		Liberal	Marise Payne		Liberal	Resignation
New South Wales	18 September 1996	Michael Baume		Liberal	Bill Heffernan		Liberal	Resignation
Tasmania	5 September 1996	John Coates		Labor	Kerry O'Brien		Labor	Resignation
South Australia	24 July 1996	Jeannie Ferris		Liberal	Jeannie Ferris		Liberal	Resignation (eligibility) [n 6]
37th Parliament (1993–1996)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria [n 5]	30 April 1996	Gareth Evans		Labor	Stephen Conroy		Labor	Resignation
Tasmania [n 5]	8 March 1996	John Devereux		Labor/Independent [n 7]	Sue Mackay		Labor	Resignation
South Australia	29 November 1995	John Coulter		Democrats	Natasha Stott Despoja		Democrats	Resignation
New South Wales	24 May 1995	Stephen Loosley		Labor	Tom Wheelwright		Labor	Resignation
Victoria	3 May 1995	Olive Zakharov		Labor	Jacinta Collins		Labor	Death
New South Wales	10 May 1994	Graham Richardson		Labor	Michael Forshaw		Labor	Resignation
New South Wales	8 March 1994	Bronwyn Bishop		Liberal	Bob Woods		Liberal	Resignation
New South Wales	8 March 1994	Kerry Sibraa		Labor	Belinda Neal		Labor	Resignation
Tasmania	22 February 1994	Brian Archer		Liberal	Eric Abetz		Liberal	Resignation
Tasmania	24 August 1993	Michael Tate		Labor	Kay Denman		Labor	Resignation
36th Parliament (1990–1993)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria [n 5]	28 April 1993	John Button		Labor	Kim Carr		Labor	Resignation
South Australia	26 May 1992	John Olsen		Liberal	Alan Ferguson		Liberal	Resignation
Western Australia	12 March 1992	Jo Vallentine		Greens WA	Christabel Chamarette		Greens WA	Resignation
New South Wales	29 August 1991	Paul McLean		Democrats	Karin Sowada		Democrats	Resignation
New South Wales	11 February 1991	Peter Baume		Liberal	John Tierney		Liberal	Resignation
35th Parliament (1987–1990)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia [n 5]	16 May 1990	Fred Chaney		Liberal	Ian Campbell		Liberal	Resignation
Queensland [n 5]	8 May 1990	John Stone		National	Bill O'Chee		National	Resignation
South Australia [n 5]	7 May 1990	Tony Messner		Liberal	John Olsen		Liberal	Resignation
South Australia [n 5]	4 April 1990	Janine Haines		Democrats	Meg Lees		Democrats	Resignation
Tasmania	7 March 1990	Norm Sanders		Democrats	Robert Bell		Democrats	Resignation
New South Wales	4 April 1989	Arthur Gietzelt		Labor	John Faulkner		Labor	Resignation
Australian Capital Territory	16 February 1988	Susan Ryan		Labor	Bob McMullan		Labor	Resignation
34th Parliament (1985–1987)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
New South Wales	11 February 1987	Doug McClelland		Labor	Sue West		Labor	Resignation
Victoria	26 August 1986	Don Chipp		Democrats	Janet Powell		Democrats	Resignation
Victoria	7 May 1986	Alan Missen		Liberal	Richard Alston		Liberal	Death
Tasmania	13 March 1986	Peter Rae		Liberal	Jocelyn Newman		Liberal	Resignation
33rd Parliament (1983–1985)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Queensland	22 November 1984	Kathy Martin		Liberal	Warwick Parer		Liberal	Resignation
32nd Parliament (1981–1983)
No appointments made
31st Parliament (1978–1981)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Australian Capital Territory	5 May 1981	John Knight		Liberal	Margaret Reid		Liberal	Death
Queensland [n 5]	12 March 1981	Glen Sheil		NCP	Florence Bjelke-Petersen		NCP	Resignation
Western Australia [n 5]	11 March 1981	Allan Rocher		Liberal	John Martyr		Liberal	Resignation
Tasmania	15 October 1980	Ken Wriedt		Labor	Jean Hearn		Labor	Resignation
Victoria	11 March 1980	James Webster		NCP	Laurence Neal		NCP	Resignation
New South Wales	9 August 1978	Jim McClelland		Labor	Kerry Sibraa		Labor	Resignation
New South Wales	26 July 1978	Sir Robert Cotton		Liberal	Chris Puplick		Liberal	Resignation
30th Parliament (1975–1978)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia [n 5]	14 December 1977	Steele Hall		Liberal Movement/Liberal [n 8]	Janine Haines		Democrats [n 9]	Resignation
Victoria	7 December 1976	Ivor Greenwood		Liberal	Austin Lewis		Liberal	Death
29th Parliament (1974–1975)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Queensland	3 September 1975	Bertie Milliner		Labor	Albert Field		Independent	Death
New South Wales	27 February 1975	Lionel Murphy		Labor	Cleaver Bunton		Independent	Resignation
27th/28th Parliament (1971–1974)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia	16 January 1974	Edgar Prowse		Country	David Reid		Country	Resignation
26th Parliament (1968–1971)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Queensland [n 5]	11 June 1971	Dame Annabelle Rankin		Liberal	Neville Bonner [n 10]		Liberal	Resignation
New South Wales [n 5]	16 March 1971	James Ormonde		Labor	Jim McClelland		Labor	Death
New South Wales	6 August 1970	Colin McKellar		Country	Douglas Scott		Country	Death
Victoria	19 November 1969	Sam Cohen		Labor	Bill Brown		Labor	Death
South Australia	23 May 1969	Keith Laught		Liberal	Martin Cameron		Liberal	Death
25th Parliament (1965–1968)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria [n 5]	21 February 1968	John Gorton		Liberal	Ivor Greenwood		Liberal	Resignation
South Australia	2 November 1967	Clive Hannaford		Liberal/Independent [n 11]	Condor Laucke		Liberal	Death
Victoria	26 October 1966	Charles Sandford		Labor	George Poyser		Labor	Death
Queensland	14 April 1966	Bob Sherrington		Liberal	Bill Heatley		Liberal	Death
Western Australia	17 February 1966	Sir Shane Paltridge		Liberal	Reg Withers		Liberal	Death
New South Wales	4 August 1965	Sir William Spooner		Liberal	Bob Cotton		Liberal	Resignation
24th Parliament (1962–1965)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria [n 5]	9 December 1964	Harrie Wade		Country	James Webster		Country	Death
Western Australia	26 November 1964	Seddon Vincent		Liberal	Peter Sim		Liberal	Death
Queensland	9 October 1962	Max Poulter		Labor	George Whiteside		Labor	Death
23rd Parliament (1959–1962)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia [n 5]	8 February 1962	Nancy Buttfield		Liberal	Gordon Davidson		Liberal	Resignation [n 12]
South Australia	28 September 1961	Rex Pearson		Liberal	Gordon Davidson [n 12]		Liberal	Death
22nd Parliament (1956–1959)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia	12 August 1958	Harrie Seward		Country	Tom Drake-Brockman		Country	Death
New South Wales	30 July 1958	Bill Ashley		Labor	James Ormonde		Labor	Death
Victoria	6 June 1957	Jack Devlin		Labor	Charles Sandford		Labor	Death
Victoria	28 August 1956	John Spicer		Liberal	George Hannan		Liberal	Resignation
21st Parliament (1953–1956)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia	11 October 1955	George McLeay		Liberal	Nancy Buttfield		Liberal	Death
20th Parliament (1951–1953)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Tasmania	3 March 1953	Jack Chamberlain		Liberal	John Marriott		Liberal	Death
Western Australia	30 September 1952	Edmund Piesse		Country	Bill Robinson		Country	Death
Western Australia	7 February 1952	Richard Nash		Labor	Joe Cooke		Labor	Death
19th Parliament (1950–1951)
No appointments made
18th Parliament (1947–1950)
No appointments made
17th Parliament (1944–1947)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria	15 May 1946	Richard Keane		Labor	Alexander Fraser		Country	Death
South Australia	10 October 1944	Oliver Uppill		United Australia	Ted Mattner		United Australia	Resignation
16th Parliament (1941–1944)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia	8 October 1942	Bertie Johnston		Country	Charles Latham		Country	Death
15th Parliament (1938–1941)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria	12 July 1938	John Barnes		Labor	Jim Sheehan		Labor	Death
14th Parliament (1935–1938)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia	21 October 1937	Oliver Badman		Country	Philip McBride		UAP	Resignation
Queensland	2 September 1937	John MacDonald		Labor	Ben Courtice		Labor	Death
Western Australia	19 August 1936	William Carroll		Country	Thomas Marwick		Country	Death
New South Wales	26 September 1935	Lionel Courtenay		UAP	Guy Arkins		UAP	Death
13th Parliament (1932–1935)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Western Australia [n 5]	5 March 1935	Sir Walter Kingsmill		UAP	Allan MacDonald		UAP	Death
Western Australia	6 April 1933	Sir Hal Colebatch		UAP	Herbert Collett		UAP	Resignation
11th/12th Parliament (1929–1932)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Tasmania [n 5]	3 March 1932	James Ogden		UAP	Charles Grant		UAP	Death
New South Wales [n 5]	23 December 1931	Walter Duncan		UAP	Patrick Mooney		Labor (NSW)	Resignation
Victoria	12 May 1931	Harold Elliott		UAP	Tom Brennan		UAP	Death
South Australia	1 April 1931	John Chapman		Country	Harry Kneebone		Labor	Death
10th Parliament (1926–1929)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Victoria [n 5]	18 December 1928	David Andrew		Country	Richard Abbott		Country	Death
Queensland	1 August 1928	Thomas Givens		Nationalist	John MacDonald		Labor	Death
New South Wales	5 June 1928	John Grant		Labor	Albert Gardiner		Labor	Death
South Australia	18 April 1928	Sir Henry Barwell		Nationalist	Albert Robinson		Nationalist	Resignation
South Australia	30 August 1927	Charles McHugh		Labor	John Verran		Nationalist	Death
9th Parliament (1923–1926)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia [n 5]	24 February 1926	Benjamin Benny		Nationalist	Alexander McLachlan		Nationalist	Resignation
South Australia [n 5]	18 December 1925	James O'Loghlin		Labor	Sir Henry Barwell		Nationalist	Death
Victoria	25 August 1925	Edward Russell		Nationalist	William Plain		Nationalist	Death
Tasmania	29 July 1925	George Foster		Nationalist	Charles Grant		Nationalist	Resignation
New South Wales	1 April 1925	Jack Power		Labor	William Gibbs		Labor	Death
New South Wales	20 November 1924	Allan McDougall		Labor	Jack Power		Labor	Death
Victoria	22 July 1924	Stephen Barker		Labor	Joseph Hannan		Labor	Death
New South Wales	17 October 1923	Edward Millen		Nationalist	Walter Massy-Greene		Nationalist	Death
Tasmania	12 September 1923	Thomas Bakhap		Nationalist	John Hayes		Nationalist	Death
8th Parliament (1920–1923)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Queensland	26 May 1922	John Adamson		Nationalist	John MacDonald		Labor	Death
New South Wales	15 December 1921	Herbert Pratten		Nationalist	Henry Garling		Nationalist	Resignation
South Australia	9 August 1921	Edward Vardon		Nationalist	Edward Vardon		Nationalist	Lapsed [n 13]
South Australia	16 February 1921	Robert Guthrie		Nationalist	Edward Vardon		Nationalist	Death
7th Parliament (1917–1920)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
Tasmania	15 January 1919	James Long		Labor	Edward Mulcahy		Nationalist	Resignation
6th Parliament (1914–1917)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia [n 5]	24 May 1917	William Story		Nationalist	James Rowell		Nationalist	Resignation
Tasmania	1 March 1917	Rudolph Ready		Labor	John Earle		Nationalist	Resignation
5th Parliament (1913–1914)
No appointments made
4th Parliament (1910–1913)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia	31 July 1912	William Russell		Labor	John Shannon		Liberal	Death
3rd Parliament (1907–1910)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
South Australia	11 July 1907	Joseph Vardon		Anti-Socialist	James O'Loghlin		Labor	Election declared void [n 14]
2nd Parliament (1904–1906)
No appointments made
1st Parliament (1901–1903)
State	Date	Incumbent	Party		Appointee	Party		Cause
New South Wales	8 October 1903	Richard O'Connor		Protectionist	Charles Mackellar		Protectionist	Resignation
Western Australia	20 May 1903	Norman Ewing		Free Trade	Henry Saunders		Free Trade	Resignation
Victoria	21 January 1903	Sir Frederick Sargood		Free Trade	Robert Reid		Free Trade	Death

1. Of the 66 appointments to 1977, 12 (18%) were from a different party, John Shannon (1912), John Earle (1917); Edward Mulcahy (1919), John MacDonald (1922), Sir Henry Barwell (1925), John Verran (1927), Harry Kneebone (1931), Patrick Mooney (1931), Philip McBride (1937), Alexander Fraser (1946), Cleaver Bunton (1975), and Albert Field, (1975).
2. Small resigned from the Senate after he discovered that he held dual Australian-New Zealand dual citizenship. After renouncing his New Zealand citizenship, he was reappointed to the Senate casual vacancy caused by his own resignation.
3. Bernardi was elected as a member of the Liberal Party before the start of the 45th Parliament, but resigned from the party and founded the Australian Conservatives during his term. Prior to the start of the 46th Parliament, the Australian Conservatives was dissolved and Bernardi became an Independent.
4. Carr resigned one month after the 2013 federal election where he was re-elected for a new Senate term that was due to start on 1 July 2014. His resignation resulted in a vacancy in his current term expiring on 30 June 2014 and his new term due to start on 1 July 2014. ^[3] O'Neill was appointed to fill both casual vacancies in two separate joint sittings of the NSW Parliament on 13 November 2013 and 2 July 2014.
5. Occurred after an election but before the new Senate was sworn in.
6. In the period between the election and her term formally commencing, Ferris worked as a member of parliamentary staff. In order to avoid any argument that she was disqualified for holding "an office of profit under the crown", Ferris resigned and was re-appointed to the vacancy.
7. Elected as a member of the ALP, but resigned from the party during his term.
8. Elected as a member of the Liberal Movement, but joined the Liberal party on the break-up of the Liberal Movement.
9. Haines had also been on the Liberal Movement ticket with Hall in 1974 however she had joined the Democrats on the break-up of the Liberal Movement.
10. First Indigenous Australian to be a member of the Parliament of Australia
11. Elected as a member of Liberal Party, but quit during his term to become an independent.
12. Liberal Senator Rex Pearson died on 11 September 1961; Liberal member Gordon Davidson was appointed to fill the ensuing vacancy on 28 September. He did not stand at the 9 December 1961 election and his position was won by Liberal candidate Nancy Buttfield. In order to take up the seat with a term finishing on 30 June 1965, Buttfield resigned her pre-existing seat won at the 1955 election and scheduled to expire on 30 June 1962; Davidson was appointed to that position on 8 February 1962. ^[1]
13. The appointment lapsed on 4 August due to lack of confirmation by the South Australian Parliament, but Vardon was reappointed.
14. The election of Anti-Socialist senator Joseph Vardon was declared void on 31 May 1907; ^[4] on 11 July ALP member James O'Loghlin was appointed to replace him. This appointment was declared void on 20 December, ^[5] and a supplemental election was held in 1908.

List of invalid elections and appointments to the Senate

See also: Category:Australian court of disputed returns cases

This is a list of people who have been declared to have been elected or appointed to the Australian Senate that the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, has subsequently declared to be ineligible. Some of these have actually sat in the Senate and participated in proceedings; however, the High Court has held that their presence did not invalidate the proceedings of the Senate. ^[5]

State	Date	Person	Party		Replacement	Party		Cause
Australian Capital Territory	23 May 2018	Katy Gallagher		Labor	David Smith		Labor	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
South Australia	16 February 2018	Skye Kakoschke-Moore		Nick Xenophon Team	Tim Storer		Nick Xenophon Team/Independent [6]	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
Tasmania	9 February 2018	Stephen Parry		Liberal	Richard Colbeck		Liberal	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
Tasmania	9 February 2018	Jacqui Lambie		Jacqui Lambie Network	Steve Martin		Independent	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
New South Wales	22 December 2017	Fiona Nash		National	Jim Molan		Liberal	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
Queensland	10 November 2017	Malcolm Roberts		One Nation	Fraser Anning		One Nation/Independent	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
Queensland	10 November 2017	Larissa Waters		Greens	Andrew Bartlett		Greens	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
Western Australia	10 November 2017	Scott Ludlam		Greens	Jordon Steele-John		Greens	Citizen of foreign power. [a]
South Australia	19 April 2017	Bob Day		Family First	Lucy Gichuhi		Family First	Indirect pecuniary interest [b]
Western Australia	27 March 2017	Rod Culleton		One Nation/Independent [c]	Peter Georgiou		One Nation	Awaiting sentence on a criminal charge. [c]
Western Australia	1 July 2014	Wayne Dropulich [d]		Sports	Zhenya Wang		Palmer United Party	Entire election declared void. [e]
Queensland	1 July 1999	Heather Hill [d]		One Nation	Len Harris		One Nation	Citizen of foreign power. [f]
New South Wales	21 July 1988	Robert Wood		NDP	Irina Dunn		NDP/Independent [g]	Not Australian citizen. [g]
South Australia	15 February 1908	James O'Loghlin		Labour	Joseph Vardon		Anti-Socialist	Appointment declared void. [h]
South Australia	11 July 1907	Joseph Vardon		Anti-Socialist	James O'Loghlin		Labour	Election declared void. [h]

1. On 27 October 2017 as part of the 2017 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, Scott Ludlam, Malcolm Roberts, Fiona Nash and Larissa Waters were held to be "incapable of being chosen" as senators as they were dual citizens. ^[7] Ludlam resigned on 14 July and Waters resigned on 18 July while Nash and Roberts continued to sit until the High Court decision. The date reflects when each was first elected. Three of the seats were filled by a recount, with the replacements appointed by the High Court on 10 November. Subsequently Jacqui Lambie, Stephen Parry and Skye Kakoschke-Moore were also found ineligible, and were replaced in February 2018. Katy Gallagher was later also found ineligible.
2. South Australian Family First Senator Bob Day resigned on 1 November 2016. On 5 April 2017 the High Court held that Day was "incapable of being chosen" or sitting as a Senator since February 2016 as he had an indirect interest in an agreement with the Commonwealth. Day's seat was filled by Lucy Gichuhi in a recount. ^[8] Day sat in the Senate between February and 1 November 2016.
3. Rod Culleton was elected as a member of One Nation, but announced his resignation from the party on 18 December 2016. The President of the Senate declared his seat vacant on 11 January 2017 due to his bankruptcy. ^[9] On 3 February the High Court declared that at the time of the 2016 election he was subject to being sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years and therefore he had never been validly elected. ^[10] Culleton sat in the Senate between 2 July and 23 December 2016.
4. The election was declared void before the commencement of the Senate term
5. The entire half-Senate election for WA was declared void by the High Court because 1,375 ballot papers were lost during an official recount. ^[11] Wayne Dropulich was the only candidate who was unsuccessful at the special election in 2014, the seat taken by Zhenya Wang.
6. Heather Hill was a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Australia, and the High Court declared she was disqualified from election as the citizen of a "foreign power". ^[12]
7. Robert Wood was a citizen of the United Kingdom, resident in Australia, however he had never obtained Australian citizenship. The High Court declared as he was not an Australian citizen Wood was disqualified from election. ^[13] Wood sat in the Senate between 1 July 1987 and 12 May 1988. Irina Dunn was declared elected on a recount and was expelled from the NDP because she did not resign to allow Wood to be re-appointed.
8. The election of Anti-Socialist senator Joseph Vardon was declared void on 31 May 1907; ^[4] on 11 July ALP member James O'Loghlin was appointed to replace him. This appointment was declared void on 20 December, ^[5] and a supplemental election was held in 1908 which was won by Vardon.

References

1. Evans, H. "Filling Casual Vacancies before 1977, Volume 3" (PDF). The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
2. Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) Act 1977 (Cth).
3. "Advice – Filling of vacancies following the resignation of the Honourable Bob Carr" (PDF). Crown Solicitor New South Wales. 1 November 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
4. Blundell v Vardon [1907] HCA 75, (1907) 4 CLR 1463.
5. Vardon v O'Loghlin [1907] HCA 69, (1907) 5 CLR 201.
6. "Senator Tim Storer". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia . Retrieved 6 November 2021.
7. Re Canavan [2017] HCA 45. "Judgment summary" (PDF). High Court. 27 October 2017.
8. Re Day (No 2) [2017] HCA 14, "Judgment summary" (PDF). High Court. 5 April 2017.
9. Re Culleton [2017] HCA 3.
10. Re Culleton (No 2) [2017] HCA 4.
11. Australian Electoral Commission v Johnston [2014] HCA 5, (2014) 251 CLR 463.
12. Sue v Hill [1999] HCA 30, (1999) 199  CLR  462.
13. Re Wood [1999] HCA 30, (1999) 199  CLR  462.

• Parliament of Australia – Senate vacancies

See also

• Casual vacancies in the Australian Parliament