The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a total of 76 senators: 12 are elected from each of the six Australian states regardless of population and 2 from each of the two autonomous internal Australian territories. Senators are popularly elected under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation.
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and the fourth largest by elected representation. The leader of the party is Adam Bandt, with Mehreen Faruqi serving as deputy leader. Larissa Waters currently holds the role of Senate leader.
The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The combination of two elected chambers, in which the members of the Senate represent the states and territories while the members of the House represent electoral divisions according to population, is modelled on the United States Congress. Through both chambers, however, there is a fused executive, drawn from the Westminster system.
The 1998 Australian federal election was held to determine the members of the 39th Parliament of Australia. It was held on 3 October 1998. All 148 seats of the House of Representatives and 40 seats of the 76-seat Senate were up for election. The incumbent centre-right Liberal/National Coalition government led by Prime Minister John Howard of the Liberal Party and coalition partner Tim Fischer of the National Party defeated the centre-left Australian Labor Party opposition led by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, despite losing the nationwide popular and two-party preferred vote.
Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory and for local government councils. Elections in all jurisdictions follow similar principles, although there are minor variations between them. The elections for the Australian Parliament are held under the federal electoral system, which is uniform throughout the country, and the elections for state and territory Parliaments are held under the electoral system of each state and territory.
The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as "the Coalition" or informally as the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in the Coalition are the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia. Its main opponent is the Australian Labor Party (ALP); the two forces are often regarded as operating in a two-party system. The Coalition was last in government from the 2013 federal election, before being unsuccessful at re-election in the 2022 Australian federal election. The group is led by Peter Dutton, who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 Australian federal election.
The politics of Australia take place within the framework of a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system under its Constitution, one of the world's oldest, since Federation in 1901. Australia is the world's sixth oldest continuous democracy and largely operates as a two-party system in which voting is compulsory. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Australia a "full democracy" in 2021. Australia is also a federation, where power is divided between the federal government and the states and territories.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election, 37 Coalition, 32 Labor, five Green, one Family First, and one independent, Nick Xenophon. Senators are elected for six-year terms, and took their seats from 1 July 2008, but senators representing the territories have three-year terms and take their seats immediately.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 2010 federal election. Senators total 34 Coalition, 31 Labor, nine Green, one Democratic Labor Party, and one independent, Nick Xenophon. New Senators took their places from 1 July 2011.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 2004 federal election. Senators total 37 coalition, 28 Labor, four Green, one Family First, two non-coalition National and four Democrats. Senator terms are six years, and took their seats from 1 July 2005, except the territories who took their seats immediately.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 2001 federal election. Senators total 35 coalition, 28 Labor, two Green, eight Democrats, two Independents and one One Nation. Senator terms are six years, and took their seats from 1 July 2002, except the territories who took their seats immediately.
The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolution federal election. All 151 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate were up for election.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1996 federal election. Senators total 35 coalition, 29 Labor, two Green, two non-coalition National, seven Democrats, and one Independent. Senator terms are six years, and took their seats from 1 July 1996, except the territories who took their seats immediately.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1993 federal election. Senators total 34 coalition, 30 Labor, two Green, two non-coalition National, seven Democrats, and one Independent. Senator terms are six years, and took their seats from 1 July 1993, except the territories who took their seats immediately.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1990 federal election. Senators total 31 coalition, 32 Labor, one WA Green, three non-coalition National, eight Democrats, and one independent. Senator terms are six years, and took their seats from 1 July 1990, except the territories who took their seats immediately.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1987 federal election. This election was a Double dissolution, which means that all 12 senators from each state were up for election. Senators total 29 coalition, 32 Labor, one Jo Vallentine Peace Group, four non-coalition National, seven Democrats, one Nuclear Disarmament and one Independent. Territory Senators served until the next federal election. State Senator terms were nominally three or six years, backdated from 1 July 1987. The Senate used the order-elected method to allocate three- and six-year seats, despite provisions for the AEC to conduct a special recount.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1984 federal election. Senators total 29 coalition, 34 Labor, one Nuclear Disarmament Party, four non-coalition National, seven Democrats, and one Independent. Senator terms are six years, and all took their seats immediately due to the expansion of the senate from 64 to 76 members.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1983 Australian federal election. Senators total 25 coalition, 30 Labor, three non-coalition National, five Democrats, and one Independent. Senate terms are six years. As the election was the result of a double dissolution, all 64 senate seats were vacant. All elected senators took their seats immediately with a backdated starting date of 1 July 1982, except for the territorial senators who took their seats at the election. Half of the senators elected in each state were allocated 3-year terms to restore the rotation.
The following tables show state-by-state results in the Australian Senate at the 1980 federal election. Senators total 31 coalition, 27 Labor, two non-coalition National, five Democrats, and one Independent. Senator terms are six years. Senators elected at this election began their terms on 1 July 1981, except for the territorial senators who took their seats at the election.
The next Australian federal election will be held some time in or before 2025 to elect members of the 48th Parliament of Australia. All 151 seats in the House of Representatives and likely 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate will be contested. It is expected that at this election, the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be seeking re-election to a second term in office, opposed by the Liberal/National Coalition under Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton.
