Australia: Parliament, 2 July 2016

At stake in this election:

• 76 seats in the Senate

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:

• In the Senate, members are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 6-year terms. In the Senate, there are 12 members from each of the 6 states and 2 members from each of the 2 mainland territories. One-half of state membership is renewed every 3 years, and territory membership is renewed every 3 years.

Last Election:

• Elections for the Senate were last held on 7 September 2013. The coalition of the Liberal Party and National Party won 17 seats, the Labor Party won 12, the Greens won 4 seats, and the Palmer United Party won 3. Additionally, several smaller parties and independent candidates won senate seats.

Note: Elections for half of the senate members are normally held every 3 years. However in this election, all seats of the Senate are at stake due to the full dissolution of the government.

Main parties in the election:

• Liberal National Party[1]
  • Leader: Malcolm TURNBULL
  • Seats won in last election: 17
• Australian Labor Party
  • Leader: Bill SHORTEN
  • Seats won in last election: 12
• Australian Greens
  • Leader: Richard DI NATALE
  • Seats won in last election: 4
• Palmer United Party
  • Leader: Clive PALMER
  • Seats won in last election: 3
• Liberal Democratic Party
  • Leader: Gabriel BUCKLEY
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Family First Party
  • Leader: Bob DAY
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party
  • Leader: Ricky MUIR
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Nick Xenophon Group
  • Leader: Nick XENOPHON
  • 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