Australia: Parliamentary Election, 2 July 2016

At stake in this election:

• 150 seats in the House of Representatives

Note on the results: In this election, competition was largely between the Labour Party and the Liberal/National Coalition, composed of the Liberal Party, the Liberal National Party, the National Party of Australia, and the Country Liberals. 

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); represented by Governor General Sir Peter COSGROVE (since 28 March 2016)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Malcolm TURNBULL (since 15 September 2015)
• Assembly: Australia has a bicameral Federal Parliament consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Senate is composed of 76 seats and the House of Representatives has 150 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• Members of the House of Representatives are directly elected in single-seat constituencies by majority preferential vote to serve 3-year terms.

Last Election:

• Elections for the House of Representatives were last held on 7 September 2013. The coalition of the Liberal Party and National Party won 90 seats in total, while the Labor Party won 55. Additionally, the Greens, Katter’s Australian Party, and Palmer United Party won 1 seat each, along with 2 independents.

Note: Prime Minister TURNBULL dissolved both house of parliament, thus moving the election to this earlier date.

Main candidates in the election:

• Liberal National Coalition[1]
  • Leader: Malcolm TURNBULL
  • Seats won in last election: 90
• Australian Labor Party
  • Leader: Bill SHORTEN
  • Seats won in last election: 55
• Australian Greens
  • Leader: Richard DI NATALE
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Palmer United Party
  • Leader: Clive PALMER
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Katter’s Australian Party
  • Leader: Bob KATTER
  • Seats won in last election: 1

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 22,751,014 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 14,722,754 (2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 11,343,812 (July 2015 est.)

·         Is Australia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Australia ratified CEDAW: Yes (28 July 1983)

·         Gender Quota: No[2]

·         Female candidates in this election:

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 68 (30.01%)[3]

·         Human Development Index Position: 2

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Australia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Australia ratified CRPD: Yes (17 July 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 3,412,652