Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives

Electoral divisions for the Australian House of Representatives are commonly known as electorates, seats or divisions. There are currently 150 single-member electorates for the Australian House of Representatives.

Apportionment

Section 24 of the Constitution of Australia requires that the total number of members of the Australian House of Representatives shall be "as nearly as practicable" twice as many as the number of members of the Australian Senate.

Section 24 also requires that electorates be apportioned among the states in proportion to their respective populations; provided that each original state has at least 5 members in the House of Representatives, a provision that gives Tasmania higher representation than its population would justify.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 sets out further provisions.[1] There are also two electorates in both the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.

Within each state and territory, electoral boundaries are redrawn from time to time in a process known as redistribution. This takes place at least once every 7 years, or when the state's entitlement to the number of members of the House of Representatives changes. Boundaries are drawn by a Redistribution Committee, and apportionment within a state is on the basis of the number of enrolled voters rather than total residents.

Within a state or territory, the number of enrolled voters in each Division can not vary by more than 10% from the average across the state, nor can the number of voters vary by more than 3.5% from the average projected enrolment three-and-a-half years into the future.

Divisions are divided into four classes according to population and demographic: inner metropolitan (well-established portions of a state capital city), outer metropolitan (more recently developed portions of a state capital), provincial (divisions made up predominantly of regional cities) and rural.[2]

Naming

The Divisions of the House of Representatives are unusual in that many of them are not named after geographical features or numbered, as is the case in most other legislatures around the world. Most Divisions are named in honour of prominent historical people, such as former politicians (often Prime Ministers), explorers, artists and engineers.

In some cases where a Division is named after a geographical locality, the connection to that locality is sometimes tenuous. For instance, the Division of Werriwa, created in 1901, was named after the Aboriginal word for Lake George in the Canberra region. However, Werriwa has not contained Lake George for many decades, and has steadily moved some 200 km north to the south-western suburbs of Sydney over the past century.

The redistribution, creation and abolition of Divisions is the responsibility of the Australian Electoral Commission. Some of the criteria the AEC use when naming new Divisions are listed below:[3]

List of Commonwealth Electoral Divisions, 2010–present

The maps below show the Division boundaries as they existed at the Australian federal election, 2010.

New South Wales

There are 48 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Sydney area
Electoral divisions: Outside Sydney area
Electoral divisions: Rest of New South Wales

Due to changing demographics, New South Wales will lose one seat in the House of Representatives as of the next federal election. The redistribution will involve extensive changes to existing boundaries, with approximately 20% of voters in New South Wales being moved into a new electorate. The Australian Electoral Commission has announced that the Division of Hunter will be abolished and its voters will be absorbed into the neighboring electorates of Charlton, New England, and Paterson. Due to the AEC's practice of giving preference to the names of the so-called 'Federation divisions,' those contested at the first federal election in 1901, the Division of Charlton will be renamed Division of Hunter.[4]

Further, the Division of Throsby will be renamed Division of Whitlam, after former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, part of another AEC practice of honouring deceased Prime Ministers with electoral divisions.[5]

Victoria

Electoral divisions: Melbourne area
Electoral divisions: Outside Melbourne area
Electoral divisions: Rest of Victoria

There are 37 Divisions:

Queensland

There are 30 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Brisbane area
Electoral divisions: Outside Brisbane area
Electoral divisions: Rest of Queensland

Western Australia

There are 15 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Inner Perth area
Electoral divisions: Outer Perth area
Electoral divisions: Rest of Western Australia

Due to Western Australia's growing population, the state has gained a 16th seat in the Australian House of Representatives as of the next Australian federal election.[6] The Australian Electoral Commission has proclaimed the 16th seat the Division of Burt, named after one of Western Australia's most prominent legal families, and three members thereof in particular:

Burt is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Perth, and has been created out of portions of the neighbouring divisions of Canning, Hasluck and Tangney, and a small portion of Swan.[8]

Based on the results of the 2013 federal election, the new electorate of Burt is notionally a Liberal seat, with a TPP margin of 5.2 percent.[9]

South Australia

There are 11 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Adelaide area
Electoral divisions: Rest of South Australia

Tasmania

There are 5 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Tasmania

The Territories

Electoral divisions: Australian Capital Territory
Division of Lingiari in Northern Territory
Division of Solomon in Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

There are 2 Divisions:

As of the next federal election, the Division of Fraser will be renamed Division of Fenner, to honour the Australian virologist Frank Fenner (1914–2010).[10] The change is due to plans by the Australian Electoral Commission to name a Victorian electorate after former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser when that state next undergoes an electoral redistribution.[11]

Northern Territory

There are 2 Divisions:

Abolished Divisions

These Australian electoral divisions no longer exist.

See also

External links

References

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