Research Guides: Commonwealth Government publications: Elections

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The term of the Commonwealth of Australia government is three years, however a government can choose to call an election at any time within this period but needs the accession of the Governor General to do so. The latest an election can be called is 3 years and 68 days after the first day of sitting of the new parliament.

This page provides links to information on federal elections and results. For more detail on the history of the Australian system of government and voting try the 'Australian parliamentary system' box under the Get started tab.

For details concerning the rules and procedures of elections see relevant chapters in House of Representative practice and Australian Senate practice. For more information see tab Parliamentary Practice.

Online & CD-ROM

Australian Electoral Commission
Broad information, including information about conduct of elections, candidates, electoral boundaries, enrolling to vote, summaries of results. During an election the AEC operates a virtual tally room showing voting as it happens.
Federal elections
Links to detailed results for 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010 Federal elections. Content and organisation of information differs from election to election. See also archived versions of the Virtual Tally Room website, available from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.
Australian politics and elections database by University of Western Australia
Contains tables summarising the results in each state and territory for all elections from 1901 to current.
Election statistics 2001
CD-ROM, request for use. Includes details of voting polling place by polling place (this information is not available from the Electoral Commission's website). Requires Microsoft Excel so should be viewable - but as we only have an Excel viewer, data cannot be readily manipulated .
Election statistics 1993, 1996, 1998
CD-ROM, request for use. Includes details of voting polling place by polling place (this information is not available from the Electoral Commission's website). Requires Microsoft Excel so should be viewable - but as we only have an Excel viewer, data cannot be readily manipulated.

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Federal election results 1949-2004
Results summaries.
Behind the scenes: the 2004 election report including national election results
Election 2001
Detailed five-volume report. Does not include detailed polling place breakdown of votes. This is only available on the CD-ROM (see above).
Election 98
Detailed five-volume report. Does not include detailed polling place breakdown of votes. This is only available on the CD-ROM (see above).
Election 96
Detailed four volume report.
Elections statistics 1993: result of count: Senate, House of Representatives
Election statistics 1993: House of Representatives, full distribution of preferences
Fourteen separate volumes with details of voting in each state and the territories for House of Representatives and Senate. Find separate volumes in catalogue with title entry Election statistics 1993 : [Name of house] : [Name of state]
[Election 1990]
Use this canned catalogue search to find 1990 election statistics. There are separate entries for each state and the territories, for the overall result and for the distribution of preferences in the House of Representatives.
[Election 1987]
Use this canned catalogue search to find 1987 election statistics. There are separate entries for each state and the territories, for the overall result and for the distribution of preferences in the House of Representatives.
[Election 1984]
Use this canned catalogue search to find 1984 election statistics. There are separate entries for each state and the territories and for the distribution of preferences in the House of Representatives.
[Elections 1970 to 1983]
Using Advanced search search the catalogue using the call number 324.99406 Au7E in one box and the year of the election in the next box. See this example for 1975.
For detailed results by polling places in Advanced search use call number 324.99406 Au7EL in one box and the year of the election in the second box and the term 'polling' in the third box. See this example for 1980.
Voting for the Australian House of Representatives 1965-1984
Shows voting in each electorate and distribution of preferences. The most accessible source for election results in this period.
Voting for the Australian House of Representatives 1901-1964
Shows voting in each electorate and distribution of preferences. The most accessible source for election results in this period.
[Elections 1901 to 1970]
Detailed official election results are included in Parliamentary papers. See indexes to Parliamentary papers listed in this guide.

Political ephemera

The State Library of Victoria collects a large range of election material, including posters, pamphlets and how to vote cards as part of our Riley & Ephemera Collection.

Election leaflets from 2010 to current are also available online via Open Australia Foundation.

Commonwealth Government publications

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Online & CD-ROM

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Political ephemera

State Library Victoria