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:
| 7 | PIPER, Tony (Christian Democratic Party) |
| 5 | MARKUS, Louise (Liberal) |
| 4 | TEMPLEMAN, Susan (Labor) |
| 6 | ELARO, Teresa (Democratic Labour Party) |
| 3 | MAXWELL, Philip Daniel (Palmer United Party) |
| 8 | HODGSON, Matt (Australian First Party) |
| 1 | WHEELER, Danielle (The Greens) |
| 2 | LITTLEJOHN, Mark (Sex Party) |
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. A line divides the ballot paper horizontally. You can either number at least six boxes above the line, indicating parties or groups of your choice, or, you can number at least 12 boxes below the line for individual candidates of your choice.
This voting method has changed since the 2013 federal election, where the options were either a single "1" above the line, or filling in all the boxes below the line. With the previous method, if you voted "1" above the line, and that candidate was not elected, preferences flowed to other candidates or parties in line with the group voting ticket (GVT) lodged by the party you voted for.
With the new system for the 2016 election, GVTs have been abolished, so you will always choose where your preferences go, much as with the green ballot for the House of Representatives. The difference is that you don't have to number all the boxes, just six above the line or 12 below the line. But the more boxes you number, the further your preferences flow, so please consider numbering as many as possible.
Remember, it's your vote, and your choice where your preferences land. If your most preferred candidate doesn't get elected, your vote goes to your next preferred candidate and so on until the count reaches the end of your ballot.
More Information
For more information, see the Australian Electoral Commissions's How to Vote guide.
If anyone ever suggests that a vote for a minor party is a wasted vote, show them this excellent comic
