The Electoral Commissioner must determine how many House of Representatives seats each state and territory will have at the next federal election. The Electoral Act specifies when this is to occur, sets out the calculations to be used and requires the latest population statistics are used.
The number of members of the House of Representatives to be chosen in each state and territory was determined on Thursday 27 July 2023.
State/Territory | Number of members of the House of Representatives to be chosen in the State or Territory |
---|---|
New South Wales |
46 |
Victoria |
38 |
Queensland |
30 |
Western Australia |
16 |
South Australia |
10 |
Tasmania1 |
5 |
Australian Capital Territory2 |
3 |
Northern Territory3 |
2 |
Norfolk Island |
0 |
The Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
0 |
The Territory of Christmas Island |
0 |
Australian Antarctic Territory |
0 |
Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands |
0 |
Coral Sea Islands Territory |
0 |
Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands |
0 |
TOTAL |
150 |
1 Tasmania is guaranteed a minimum of five members under section 24 of the Constitution.
2 For the proposes of Part III of the Electoral Act the Jervis Bay territory is taken to be part of the ACT. Under sub-section 48(2BA) of the Electoral Act, Norfolk Island is taken for the purposes of this determination to be part of the ACT because it lacks sufficient population to qualify for representation in its own right.
3 Under sub-section 48(2C) of the Electoral Act, the territories of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island are taken for the purposes of this determination to be part of the Northern Territory because they lack sufficient population to qualify for representation in their own right.
The populations and calculations underlying the determination is to be found in 2023 Notification of Determination.
The process followed to make these calculations is found at How entitlement is determined.
Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Electoral Act), the Electoral Commissioner is required to use the latest official published statistics of the Commonwealth to ascertain the Australian population on the day after the one year anniversary of the first meeting of the House of Representatives.
The Electoral Commissioner then makes a determination of the number of members of the House of Representatives each state is entitled to. A similar exercise is used to calculate the entitlements of the territories.
The next entitlement determination will occur after the following have happened:
The Electoral Commissioner is required to calculate the representation of each state and territory in the House of Representatives once the House has met continuously for a period of 12 months after the day of its first meeting.
Division 3 of Part III of the Electoral Act specifies the legislative requirements for this process.