Parliaments of the Australian states and territories

The parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia.

All the parliaments are based on the Westminster system, and each is regulated by its own constitution. Queensland and the two territories have unicameral parliaments, with the single house being called the Legislative Assembly. The other states have a bicameral parliament, with a lower house called the Legislative Assembly (New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia) or House of Assembly (South Australia and Tasmania), and an upper house called the Legislative Council.

Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia prevents persons with dual citizenship from being members of the Federal Parliament, but there are no laws preventing holders of dual citizenship being members of State Parliaments.^[1][2]

Background

Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing colonies, with parliaments which had come into existence at various times between 1825, when the New South Wales Legislative Council was created, to 1891, when Western Australia became the last of the colonies to gain full self-government.

The colonies ratified the Constitution of Australia, becoming States of the Commonwealth in the new federation, and ceding certain of their legislative powers to the Commonwealth Parliament, but otherwise retaining their self-governing status with their own constitutions and parliaments. The state parliaments were all created by legislation of the British Imperial Parliament, and their original constitutions were contained in Acts of that Parliament; however now the power to amend state constitutions resides with the respective state parliaments, in accordance with its constitution. The Commonwealth Parliament cannot amend a state's constitution.

The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, by contrast, are territories of the Commonwealth, and their parliaments were created by way of legislation of the Commonwealth Parliament. Although the Commonwealth treats the territories as though they were states for many purposes, they are not states, and the legislative powers of their parliaments can be altered or even abolished by the Commonwealth Parliament. The Commonwealth can also overturn legislation passed by the territory parliaments.

Overview

State/ Territory		Lower House					Upper House					Total no. of reps
		Established	Name	No. of reps	Electoral System		Established	Name	No. of reps	Electoral System	Staggered
States	NSW	1856	Legislative Assembly	93	Single Member Instant Runoff (IR)		1825	Legislative Council	42	Single Transferable Vote (STV) at-large	Yes	135
	VIC	1855	Legislative Assembly	88	Single Member IR		1851	Legislative Council	40	STV in eight constituencies	No	128
	QLD	1859	Legislative Assembly	93	Single Member IR		Unicameral (Legislative Council existed 1860–1922)					93
	WA	1890	Legislative Assembly	59	Single Member IR		1832	Legislative Council	36	STV in six constituencies	No	95
	SA	1857	House of Assembly	47	Single Member IR		1840	Legislative Council	22	STV at-large	Yes	69
	TAS	1856	House of Assembly	35	STV in five constituencies		1825	Legislative Council	15	Single Member IR	Yes	50
Self-governing Territories	ACT	1989	Legislative Assembly	25	STV in five constituencies		Unicameral					25
	NT	1974	Legislative Assembly	25	Single member IR							25
External Territories	CX	1993	Shire Council	9	STV at-large							9
	CC	1993	Shire Council	7	STV at-large							7
	NI	2016	Regional Council	5	STV at-large							5
Nation	Aus	1901	House of Representatives	151	Single Member IR		1901	Senate	76	STV in six states and two territories	Yes	227

Legislative buildings of States, Territories and Nation

New South Wales	Victoria	Queensland
Parliament House, Sydney	Parliament House, Melbourne	Parliament House, Brisbane
Western Australia	South Australia	Tasmania
Parliament House, Perth	Parliament House, Adelaide	Parliament House, Hobart
Australian Capital Territory	Northern Territory	Australia
Legislative Assembly Building, Canberra	Parliament House, Darwin	Parliament House, Canberra

States and territories

Map showing the jurisdictions of Australia and their governing political parties as of October 2024.

  Labor

  Liberal

New South Wales

Main article: Parliament of New South Wales

The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature comprising the New South Wales Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly and the King, represented by the Governor of New South Wales. The Legislative Council has 42 members elected for eight-year terms with half the members facing re-election every four years. The Legislative Council cannot block appropriation bills.^[3] They are elected by proportional voting with the whole state being one electorate. The Legislative Assembly has 93 members elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using optional preferential voting.

Victoria

Main article: Parliament of Victoria

The Parliament of Victoria is a bicameral legislature comprising the Victorian Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly and the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria. The Legislative Council has 40 members, elected for four-year terms, elected from eight multi-member constituencies, each with five members, using proportional voting. The Legislative Assembly has 88 members elected for fixed four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using preferential voting. Voting is compulsory, and elections take place on the last Saturday of November every four years.^[4]

Queensland

Main article: Parliament of Queensland

The Parliament of Queensland is a unicameral legislature comprising the Legislative Assembly and the King, represented by the Governor of Queensland. The Legislative Assembly has 93 members elected for fixed four-year terms in single-member constituencies using preferential voting.^[5] Voting is compulsory, and elections take place on the last Saturday of October every four years.

South Australia

Main article: Parliament of South Australia

The Parliament of South Australia is a bicameral legislature comprising the South Australian Legislative Council and the House of Assembly. According to the South Australian Constitution, unlike the Federal Parliament, and the parliaments of the other states and territories of Australia, neither the Sovereign nor the Governor is considered to be a part of the South Australian Parliament.^[6] The Legislative Council has 22 members, elected for eight-year terms by proportional voting with half the members facing re-election every four years, and the House of Assembly which has 47 members, elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using preferential voting. Voting is compulsory.

Western Australia

Main article: Parliament of Western Australia

The Parliament of Western Australia is a bicameral legislature comprising the Western Australian Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly and the King, represented by the Governor of Western Australia. The Legislative Council has 36 members, elected for fixed four-year terms from six multi-member electoral regions by "community of interest" —3 metropolitan and 3 rural—each electing 6 members by proportional voting.^[7][8] There is a significant malapportionment in the Legislative Council in favour of rural regions. The Legislative Assembly has 59 members, elected for fixed four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using preferential voting. Voting is compulsory, with elections being held every four years on the second Saturday in March,^[9][10] though the term of the Legislative Council does not expire until May after the election.

Tasmania

Main article: Parliament of Tasmania

The Parliament of Tasmania is a bicameral legislature comprising the Tasmanian Legislative Council, the House of Assembly and the Governor of Tasmania.^[11] The Legislative Council has 15 members, elected for six-year terms, elected from single-member constituencies on a rotational basis with either two or three being elected each year, using full preferential voting. The House of Assembly has 35 members elected for four-year terms from multi-member constituencies, using the Hare-Clark system of proportional representation. Voting is compulsory.

Australian Capital Territory

Main article: Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly

The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly has 25 members, elected for four-year terms from multi-member constituencies, using the Hare-Clark system of proportional voting.

Northern Territory

Main article: Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly is a unicameral legislature. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, elected for four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using preferential voting. The head of government is called the Chief Minister, while the Administrator of the Northern Territory (appointed by the federal government) forms a similar role to state governors in providing assent to legislation.

Norfolk Island

Main article: Norfolk Island Regional Council

In the external territory of Norfolk Island located in the South Pacific Ocean, the local legislative body is the Norfolk Island Regional Council, established in 2016. The island was previously governed by a Norfolk Island Legislative Assembly. Formed after the Norfolk Island Act 1979 was passed in the Australian parliament, its first members were elected on the tenth of August 1979.^[12] The assembly consisted of 9 members elected every three years by popular vote. It was abolished in June 2015 as part of a reorganisation of the territory's government by the Parliament of Australia.

Christmas Island

Main article: Shire of Christmas Island

In the external territory of Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, the Shire Council provides local governance. The nine-member Shire Council was established in 1993. Councilors serve four-year terms, with four or five being chosen every second year.^[13]

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Main article: Shire of Cocos

In the external territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean, the Shire of Cocos is the local legislative body. Established in 1993, the Shire Council consists of 7 members serving terms of four years. Elections for half the seats are held every two years.

Current compositions

Main article: List of political parties in Australia

Shading indicates party or coalition in government.^[a] Greyed out cells indicate that party is not active within that state.

Party		Federal			NSW		Vic		Qld	WA		SA		Tas		ACT	NT
		House	Senate		Assembly	Council	Assembly	Council	Assembly	Assembly	Council	Assembly	Council	Assembly	Council	Assembly	Assembly
	Australian Labor Party	78 / 151	25 / 76		45 / 93	15 / 42	55 / 88	15 / 40	36 / 93	53 / 59	21 / 36	27 / 47	9 / 22	10 / 35	3 / 15	10 / 25	4 / 25
Liberal–National Coalition
	Liberal Party	40 / 151	25 / 76		25 / 93	10 / 42	19 / 88	11 / 40	52 / 93 [b]	3 / 59 [c]	7 / 36 [c]	16 / 47 [c]	8 / 22 [c]	14 / 35	4 / 15	9 / 25	17 / 25 [d]
	National Party	15 / 151	6 / 76		11 / 93	5 / 42	9 / 88	2 / 40		3 / 59 [c]	3 / 36 [c]	0 / 47 [c]	0 / 22 [c]
	Australian Greens	4 / 151	11 / 76		3 / 93	4 / 42	4 / 88	4 / 40	1 / 93	0 / 59	1 / 36	0 / 47	2 / 22	5 / 35	1 / 15	6 / 25	1 / 25
	Centre Alliance/SA-Best[e]	1 / 151	0 / 76									0 / 47	1 / 22
	Katter's Australian Party	1 / 151	0 / 76						3 / 93
	Dai Le and Frank Carbone Network	0 / 151 [f]	0 / 76		0 / 93	0 / 42
	One Nation	0 / 151	2 / 76		0 / 93	1 / 42	0 / 88	1 / 40	0 / 93	0 / 59	1 / 36	0 / 47	1 / 22
	Jacqui Lambie Network	0 / 151	1 / 76											3 / 35	0 / 15
	United Australia Party	0 / 151	1 / 76			0 / 42	0 / 88	0 / 40
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers	0 / 151	0 / 76		0 / 93	2 / 42	0 / 88	1 / 40	0 / 93	0 / 59	0 / 36			0 / 35	0 / 15	0 / 25	0 / 25
	Animal Justice Party	0 / 151	0 / 76		0 / 93	1 / 42	0 / 88	1 / 40	0 / 93	0 / 59	0 / 36	0 / 47	0 / 22	0 / 35	0 / 15	0 / 25	0 / 25
	Legalise Cannabis	0 / 151	0 / 76		0 / 93	1 / 42	0 / 88	2 / 40	0 / 93	0 / 59	2 / 36	0 / 47	0 / 22
	Libertarian Party	0 / 151	0 / 76		0 / 93	1 / 42	0 / 88	1 / 40		0 / 59	0 / 36	0 / 47	0 / 22			0 / 25
	Independents	12 / 151	5 / 76		9 / 93	2 / 42	1 / 88	2 / 40	1 / 93	0 / 59	1 / 36	6 / 47	1 / 22	3 / 35	7 / 15	0 / 25	3 / 25
In some upper chambers the party in government does not have a majority and relies on crossbench support, but as the government is formed in the lower chambers the party of government in the upper chamber is the same. In Queensland the Liberal Party and National Party merged in 2008 to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland. The Liberal Party and National Party do not have a formal coalition in Western Australia and South Australia. Instead they behave as separate independent parties. In the Northern Territory the Coalition is represented by the Country Liberal Party. Centre Alliance which runs candidates at federal elections and SA-Best which runs candidates in South Australian elections are not technically the same party but do share a common heritage, both being founded by Nick Xenophon, and work closely together. Dai Le is a member of the Dai Le and Frank Carbone Network, however she sits as an independent in parliament.

See also

• Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories
• Members of multiple Australian legislatures

References

1. Finlay, Lorraine (17 July 2018). "Think the dual citizenship saga does not affect state parliamentarians? It might be time to think again". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 27 January 2023.
2. "State politicians not safe as dual citizenship crisis rolls on".
3. Ganghof, Steffen (May 2018). "A new political system model: Semi-parliamentary government: A NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM MODEL". European Journal of Political Research. 57 (2): 261–281. doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12224.
4. "State elections". Victorian Electoral Commission. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
5. Green, Antony (24 March 2018) [20 Apr 2016]. "Electoral Law Ructions in the Queensland Parliament - Antony Green's Election Blog - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
6. Constitution Act 1934, retrieved 6 June 2022
7. Election of the Legislative Council Archived 18 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine on website of Parliament of Western Australia
8. Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005 (No.1 of 2005)
9. "New laws fix state election dates". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
10. Green, Antony (8 February 2011). "Future election dates". Blogs.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
11. Constitution Act 1934 (Tas) s.10
12. "Assembly". Norfolk.gov.nf. Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
13. "Welcome to the Shire of Christmas Island Archived 27 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine." Shire of Christmas Island. Retrieved on 23 February 2009.

External links

• The New South Wales Parliament
• The Queensland Parliament
• The South Australian Parliament
• The Tasmanian Parliament
• The Victorian Parliament
• The Western Australian Parliament
• The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
• The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly