Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives

The Australian House of Representatives is elected from 151 single-member areas called Divisions. They are also commonly known as electorates or seats.

Allocation

The Divisions are divided among the states and territories of Australia as set out in the Australian Constitution and the Electoral Act[1] It is based on population, with the following exceptions:

  • Each original state must have at least five Members of Parliament. This means that Tasmania has more divisions than it would get based on its population.
  • The Northern Territory has been given more representation under recent legislative amendments
  • The Constitution says that the House of Representatives should be about twice as large as the Senate

Within each state and territory, the boundaries of the divisions must be redrawn in a process known as redistribution at least once every seven years, or when the state's allocation of Divisions changes. Boundaries are drawn by Redistribution Committee. Population is based on the number of enrolled voters not the total number of residents.

Within a state or territory, the number of voters in each Division can not vary by more than 10% from the average across the state. The number of voters cannot vary by more than 3.5% from the average projected enrolment three-and-a-half years into the future.

Naming

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

In some cases where a Division is named after a place, the connection to that place may have changed a lot. For example, the Division of Werriwa, was named after the Aboriginal word for Lake George near Canberra. However, Werriwa has not included Lake George for many years. The boundary of Werriwa is now 200km north of the lake.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is in charge of creating, abolishing, or redistributing the boundaries of the Divisions. Some of the guidelines the AEC use when naming new Divisions are listed below:[2]

  • Name divisions after deceased Australians who have given excellent service to their country, with consideration given to former Prime Ministers
  • Keep the names of Divisions used at Federation in 1901
  • Avoid place names
  • Use Aboriginal names
  • Do not use names which are used as state electoral districts

List
A map of the 151 electorates, as of the 2022 federal election.

New South Wales

For the 2019 elections there were 47 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Sydney area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Outside Sydney area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Rest of New South Wales, before 2019

Victoria
Electoral divisions: Melbourne area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Outside Melbourne area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Rest of Victoria, before 2019

For the 2019 election there were 38 Divisions in Victoria:

Queensland

For the 2019 elections there were 30 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Brisbane area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Outside Brisbane area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Rest of Queensland, before 2019

There are 30 Divisions in Queensland:

Name Map
Blair
Bonner
Bowman
Brisbane
Capricornia
Dawson
Dickson
Fadden
Fairfax
Fisher
Flynn
Forde
Griffith
Groom
Herbert
Hinkler
Kennedy
Leichhardt
Lilley
Longman
Maranoa
McPherson
Moncrieff
Moreton
Oxley
Petrie
Rankin
Ryan
Wide Bay
Wright

Western Australia

For the 2019 election there were 16 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Perth area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Outside Perth area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Rest of Western Australia, before 2019

South Australia

For the 2019 elections there were 10 Divisions:

Electoral divisions: Adelaide area, before 2019
Electoral divisions: Rest of South Australia, before 2019
Name Map
Adelaide
Barker
Boothby
Grey
Hindmarsh
Kingston
Mayo
Spence
Sturt

Tasmania

For the 2019 election there were five Divisions:

Name Map
Bass
Braddon
Clark
Franklin
Lyons

Australian Capital Territory
Name Map
Bean
Canberra
Fenner

Northern Territory

There are two Divisions in the Northern Territory:

Abolished Divisions

These Australian Divisions no longer exist:

  • Angas (1903–34) (SA)
  • Angas (1949–77) (SA)
  • Australian Capital Territory (1949–74) (ACT)
  • Balaclava (1901–84) (VIC)
  • Barrier (1901–22) (NSW)
  • Batman (1906–2019) (VIC)
  • Bland (1901–06) (NSW)
  • Bonython (1955–2004) (SA)
  • Bourke (1901–49) (VIC)
  • Burke (1949–55) (VIC)
  • Burke (1969–2004) (VIC)
  • Canobolas (1901–06) (NSW)
  • Charlton (1984–2016) (NSW)
  • Cook (1906–55) (NSW)
  • Coolgardie (1901–13) (WA)
  • Corinella (1901–06) (VIC)
  • Corinella (1990–96) (VIC)
  • Dalley (1901–69) (NSW)
  • Dampier (1913–22) (WA)
  • Darebin (1949–69) (VIC)
  • Darling (1901–77) (NSW)
  • Darling Downs (1901–84) (QLD)
  • Darwin (1903–55) (TAS)
  • Denison (1903–2019) (TAS)
  • Diamond Valley (1969–84) (VIC)
  • Dundas (1977–93) (NSW)
  • East Sydney (1901–69) (NSW)
  • Echuca (1901–37) (VIC)
  • Evans (1949–77) (NSW)
  • Fawkner (1906–69) (VIC)
  • Fraser (1974–2016) (ACT)
  • Grampians (1901–22) (VIC)
  • Gwydir (1901–2007) (NSW)
  • Hawker (1969–93) (SA)
  • Henty (1913–90) (VIC)
  • Higinbotham (1949–69) (VIC)
  • Hoddle (1949–55) (VIC)
  • Illawarra (1901–22) (NSW)
  • Isaacs (1949–69) (VIC)
  • Kalgoorlie (1901–2010) (WA)
  • Laanecoorie (1901–13) (VIC)
  • Lang (1901–77) (NSW)
  • Lawson (1949–69) (NSW)
  • Lowe (1949–2010) (NSW)
  • Martin (1922–55) (NSW)
  • McMillan (1949–2019) (VIC)
  • Melbourne Ports (1901–2019) (VIC)
  • Mernda (1901–13) (VIC)
  • Moira (1901–06) (VIC)
  • Murray (1949–2019) (VIC)
  • Namadgi (1996–98) (ACT)
  • Nepean (1906–22) (NSW)
  • Northern Melbourne (1901–06) (VIC)
  • Northern Territory (1922–2001) (NT)
  • Oxley (1901–34) (QLD)
  • Parkes (1901–69) (NSW)
  • Phillip (1949–93) (NSW)
  • Port Adelaide (1949–2019) (SA)
  • Prospect (1969–2010) (NSW)
  • Riverina-Darling (1984–93) (NSW)
  • Scullin (1955–69) (VIC)
  • South Australia (1901–03) (SA)
  • South Sydney (1901–34) (NSW)
  • Southern Melbourne (1901–06) (VIC)
  • St George (1949–93) (NSW)
  • Stirling (1955-2022) (WA)
  • Streeton (1984–90) (VIC)
  • Tasmania (1901–03) (TAS)
  • Throsby (1984–2016) (NSW)
  • Wakefield (1903–2019) (SA)
  • Watson (1934–69) (NSW)
  • West Sydney (1901–69) (NSW)
  • Wilmot (1903–84) (TAS)
  • Wimmera (1901–77) (VIC)
  • Yarra (1901–69) (VIC)

Other websites

References
  1. Australian Electoral Commission.Research Report 4 - Australian Federal Redistributions 1901-2003. Accessed May 5, 2008.
  2. Australian Electoral Commission. Guideline for Naming Divisions. August 3, 2007. Accessed May 5, 2008.
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