Voting in Australia

This page outlines Australia's electoral system — how you vote and what you are actually voting for.

Australia's political system
Australia has a bicameral federal parliament. This means it has two chambers — the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Most new laws come from the House of Representatives, often called the Lower House. Before they can become laws, they must also be agreed to by the Senate, which is why the Senate is sometimes called the House of Review.

The House of Representatives
The House of Representatives, also known as the Lower House, has 150 members elected from 150 electorates with approximately equal numbers of voters. Each of these members occupies a seat in the House, which is why electorates are sometimes referred to as "seats", as in "the Seat of Greenway", or the "Seat of Chrisholm". Members of the House of Representatives are called Members of Parliament, or MP for short.

If a party achieves a majority of seats (76/150) in the House of Representatives, they request permission from the Governor-General to form Government. The leader of the governing party becomes the Prime Minister. Ministers (like the Minister for Trade, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Attorney-General, and so on) are chosen from the elected members of the governing party, and may be appointed from the members of either the House of Representatives or the Senate.

If no party achieves an outright majority, they may be able to form Government with the support of MPs from other parties. The Gillard-Rudd Labor Governments (2010-2013) have been minority Governments with the support of independents and Greens.

The Senate
The Senate, also known as the Upper House or House of Review, has 76 members. Unlike the House of Representatives, each state gets a fixed number of Senators — 12 per state. Both territories get two. Senators serve staggered six year terms, with six senators elected from each state every three years. Both territories elect senators for three year terms

The Senate provides equal representation for each of the states, to ensure that the larger states aren't over-represented, or that the smaller states aren't under-represented.

Voting
When you vote, you will be given two ballot papers — a smaller green one, and a larger white one.

The green ballot
The green ballot paper is for electing House of Representatives candidates. You must fill out every box on this ballot, numbering the candidates from most preferred to least preferred. An example might be:

It is important to understand that your vote is never "wasted". If you most preferred candidate does not win, your vote will transfer to the next candidate until eventually the most preferred candidate overall is elected.

All votes are tallied up, and the candidate with the least number of "1" votes ("primary votes") is eliminated. This means that the least preferred candidate will be eliminated. The votes will then be redistributed according to the "2" votes and this process continues until a clear winner appears.

In the above example, suppose Wheeler gets the least number of primary votes. She is the least preferred, and gets eliminated. The vote above will transfer to Littlejohn. It will continue transferring until it reaches the winner.

This means that even if, in the example above, the voter wanted Wheeler to win, they will still be able to say who their vote goes to if Wheeler isn't elected. This way, no votes are wasted — you can vote for who you want, and decide who gets your vote if your most preferred candidate doesn't win.

The white ballot
The white ballot paper — sometimes called "the tablecloth" because of it's sheer size. Because it is often large and unwieldy, Senate voting works differently to the House of Representatives.

There are two methods of voting for the Senate, and you can pick whichever you prefer. The less common method is "below the line". A line divides the ballot paper horizontally. Most of the boxes are below the line. To vote "below the line" you fill out each of the boxes below the line, from most preferred to least preferred, much the same as the House of Representatives. If your most preferred candidate is eliminated, your vote will transfer to your next preferred candidate, until it reaches someone with enough support to get elected.

Because there are often many candidates (in the 2013 election there were 110 candidates on the NSW Senate ballot!), most people prefer to vote "above the line". Before each election, parties submit a group voting ticket — GVT — which is a template for where votes will be transferred if a party does not get elected.

To vote above the line, all you need to do is put a "1" in the box beside the party you want elected. You do not need to fill out any further boxes. If the party you want elected does not receive the required amount of votes, your vote will transfer to the next party on their GVT.

For example: in NSW, you vote above the line by putting a "1" in the box beside "Pirate Party" above the line. If the Pirate Party does not get elected, your vote will transfer to whoever the next person on the Pirate Party's group voting ticket, until it reaches someone with enough votes to be elected.

This way, no votes are wasted. If your most preferred candidate doesn't get elected, your vote goes to the next preferred candidate on your below the line vote, or on your preferred party's group voting ticket.