List of political parties in Australia

The politics of Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal/National Coalition. Federally, 17 of the 151 members of the lower house (Members of Parliament, or MPs) are not members of major parties, as well as 21 of the 76 members of the upper house (senators).

The Parliament of Australia has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, with full-preference instant-runoff voting in single-member seats to elect the lower house, the Australian House of Representatives, and the use of the single transferable vote to elect the upper house, the Australian Senate.

Other parties tend to perform better in the upper houses of the various federal and state parliaments since these typically use a form of proportional representation, except for in Tasmania where the lower house is proportionally elected and the upper house is made up of single member districts.

History

Two political groups dominate the Australian political spectrum, forming a de facto two-party system. One is the Australian Labor Party (ALP), a centre-left party which is formally linked to the Australian labour movement. Formed in 1893, it has been a major party federally since 1901, and has been one of the two major parties since the 1910 federal election. The ALP is in government in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Federal Government of Australia.

The other group is a conservative grouping of parties that are in coalition at the federal level, as well as in New South Wales, but compete in Western Australia and South Australia. It is in government in Tasmania and the Northern Territory. The main party in this group is the centre-right Liberal Party. The Liberal Party is the modern form of a conservative group that has existed since the combination of the Protectionist Party and Free Trade Party into the Commonwealth Liberal Party in 1909.^[1][2] Although this group has changed its nomenclature, there has been a general continuity of MPs and structure between different forms of the party. Its modern form was founded by Robert Menzies in 1944.^[1][3] The party's philosophy is generally liberal conservatism.^[4][5]

Every elected prime minister of Australia since 1910 has been a member of either the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, or one of the Liberal Party's previous incarnations (the Commonwealth Liberal Party, the Nationalist Party of Australia, and the United Australia Party).^[6]

The Liberal Party is joined by the National Party, a party that represents rural and agricultural interests.^[7] The Nationals contest a limited number of seats and do not generally directly compete with the Liberal Party. Its ideology is generally more socially conservative than that of the Liberal Party. In 1987, the National Party made an abortive run for the office of prime minister in its own right, in the Joh for Canberra campaign.^[8] However, it has generally not aspired to become the majority party in the coalition, and it is generally understood that the prime minister of Australia will be a member of either the Labor or Liberal parties. On two occasions (involving Earle Page in 1939, and John McEwen from December 1967 to January 1968), the deputy prime minister, the leader of the National Party (then known as the Country Party), became the prime minister temporarily, upon the death of the incumbent prime minister. Arthur Fadden was the only other Country Party, prime minister. He assumed office in August 1941 after the resignation of Robert Menzies and served as prime minister until October of that year.^[9]

The Liberal and National parties have merged in Queensland and the Northern Territory/South Australia, although the resultant parties are different. The Liberal National Party of Queensland, formed in 2008, is a branch of the Liberal Party, but it is affiliated with the Nationals and members elected to federal parliament may sit as either Liberals or Nationals.^[10] The Country Liberal Party was formed in 1978 when the Northern Territory gained responsible government.^[11] It is a separate member of the federal coalition, but it is affiliated with the two major members and its president has voting rights in the National Party. The name refers to the older name of the National Party.

Federally, these parties are collectively known as the Coalition. The Coalition has existed continually (between the Nationals and their predecessors, and the Liberals and their predecessors) since 1923, with minor breaks in 1940, 1973, and 1987.

Historically, support for either the Coalition or the Labor Party was often viewed as being based on social class, with the upper and middle classes supporting the Coalition and the working class supporting Labor. This has been a less important factor since the 1970s and 1980s when the Labor Party gained a significant bloc of middle-class support and the Coalition gained a significant bloc of working-class support.^[12]

The two-party duopoly has been relatively stable, with the two groupings (Labor and Coalition) gaining at least 70% of the primary vote in every election between 1910 and 2019 (including the votes of autonomous state parties). Third parties have only rarely received more than 10% of the vote for the Australian House of Representatives in a federal election, such as the Australian Democrats in the 1990 election and the Australian Greens in 2010, 2016, 2019 and 2022. Additionally, support for Independent politicians in Australia has resulted in major parties having to come to agreements to form government at times, including the 2010 Australian Federal Election.

Membership requirement

To maintain registration, parties must demonstrate that they have a certain number of members.

Federally, since 2022, unless a party has current parliamentary representation, they must demonstrate they have 1,500 members.^[13][14]
For the state and territory elections, parties require 100 members in Tasmania and the ACT, 200 in South Australia and Northern Territory, 500 in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, and 750 in New South Wales.^[14]

Membership requirement(s)

State/Level	Requirement
Federal	1,500
New South Wales	750
Victoria	500
Queensland
Western Australia
South Australia	200
Northern Territory
Tasmania	100
Australian Capital Territory

Federal parties

Federal parliamentary parties

Political party			Members of the Parliament of Australia as of December 2024		Party leader(s)	Ideology
			House of Reps	Senate
	Australian Labor Party		78 / 151	25 / 76	Anthony Albanese	Social democracy
	Coalition	Liberal Party	40 / 151	25 / 76	Peter Dutton	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
		National Party	15 / 151	6 / 76	David Littleproud	Conservatism, agrarianism
	Australian Greens		4 / 151	11 / 76	Adam Bandt	Green politics, progressivism
	One Nation		0 / 151	2 / 76	Pauline Hanson	Right-wing populism, Hansonism
	Australia's Voice		0 / 151	1 / 76	Fatima Payman	Progressivism
	Centre Alliance		1 / 151	0 / 76	—	Social liberalism, populism
	David Pocock[a]		0 / 151	1 / 76	David Pocock	Environmentalism, progressivism[17]
	Jacqui Lambie Network		0 / 151	1 / 76	Jacqui Lambie	Populism, social conservatism
	Katter's Australian Party		1 / 151	0 / 76	Robbie Katter	Social conservatism, developmentalism
	People First Party		0 / 151	1 / 76	Gerard Rennick	Social conservatism, nationalism
	Tammy Tyrrell for Tasmania[b] [18]		0 / 151	1 / 76	Tammy Tyrrell	Populism, Tasmanian regionalism
	United Australia Party[c]		0 / 151	1 / 76	Ralph Babet	Right-wing populism
	Western Sydney Community[d]		1 / 151	0 / 76	Dai Le Frank Carbone	Western Sydney localism

1. David Pocock was elected as a member of a political party also named "David Pocock," formed to allow him to appear as an above-the-line group on the Senate ballot.^[15] He is listed as an independent by the parliamentary website;^[16] however, the party remains registered, and the AEC lists David Pocock as a parliamentary party.
2. Tammy Tyrrell, the party's sole MP, continues to officially sit as an independent in the Senate, despite being a member of the party.
3. The United Australia Party was voluntarily deregistered on 8 September 2022.^[19] However, Ralph Babet, the party's sole parliamentary representative, stated that the change was made for "administrative reasons," and he continues to represent the deregistered UAP in the Senate.^[20]
4. Dai Le, the party's sole MP, continues to officially sit as an independent in the House of Representatives, despite being a member of the party.

Federal non-parliamentary parties

Parties listed in alphabetical order as of September 2024:^[21]

Name		Leader(s)	Ideology / objective
	Animal Justice Party	Angela Pollard	Animal protection, animal rights
	Australian Christians	Maryka Groenewald[22]	Social conservatism, Christian right
	Australian Citizens Party	Craig Isherwood	LaRouche movement, economic nationalism
	Australian Democrats	Lyn Allison	Social liberalism, anti-corruption[23][24]
	Fusion Party	Drew Wolfendale	Secular humanism, progressivism
	Family First Party	Lyle Shelton	Christian politics, social conservatism
	Indigenous-Aboriginal Party	'Uncle' Owen Whyman	Indigenous rights, constitutional reform
	Kim for Canberra	Kim Rubenstein	Progressivism[25]
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Balderstone	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party	Anthony Bull	Classical liberalism, right-libertarianism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	Robert Brown	Agrarianism, green conservatism
	Socialist Alliance	Jacob Andrewartha Sarah Hathway Sam Wainwright	Eco-socialism, anti-capitalism
	Sustainable Australia Party	Celeste Ackerly	Environmentalism, sustainable development
	The Great Australian Party	Rod Culleton	Right-wing populism
	Trumpet of Patriots	Glenn O'Rourke	Agrarianism, conservatism
	Victorian Socialists	Collective leadership	Socialism

State and territory parties

See also: Parliaments of the Australian states and territories § Current compositions

New South Wales

As of the New South Wales Electoral Commission:^[26]

Parliamentary parties

Name			MPs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	NSW Labor Party		45 / 93	15 / 42	Chris Minns	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Coalition	Liberal Party	24 / 93	9 / 42	Mark Speakman	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
		National Party	11 / 93	5 / 42	Dugald Saunders	Conservatism, agrarianism
	The Greens NSW		3 / 93	4 / 42	No leader	Green politics, progressivism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party		0 / 93	2 / 42	Robert Borsak	Green conservatism, Agrarianism
	Animal Justice Party		0 / 93	1 / 42	Emma Hurst	Animal protection, animal rights
	Legalise Cannabis		0 / 93	1 / 42	Jeremy Buckingham	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party		0 / 93	1 / 42	John Ruddick	Classical liberalism, right-libertarianism
	One Nation		0 / 93	1 / 42	Tania Mihailuk	Right-wing populism, Hansonism

Non-parliamentary parties

Name[28]		Returning officer	Ideology
	HEART Party	Michael O'Neill	Anti-vaccination,[29] Anti-fluoridation
	Public Education Party	Glen Stelzer	Public education, social justice[30]
	Socialist Alliance	Kathryn Fairfax	Socialism, anti-capitalism
	Sustainable Australia Party	William Bourke	Environmentalism, sustainable development
	The Small Business Party	Eddie Dogramaci	Small business advocacy

Victoria

As of the Victorian Electoral Commission:^[31]

Parliamentary parties

Name			MLAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Australian Labor Party		55 / 88	15 / 40	Jacinta Allan	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Coalition	Liberal Party	19 / 88	11 / 40	John Pesutto	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
		National Party	9 / 88	2 / 40	Peter Walsh	Conservatism, agrarianism
	Australian Greens		4 / 88	4 / 40	Ellen Sandell	Green politics, progressivism
	Legalise Cannabis		0 / 88	2 / 40		Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party		0 / 88	1 / 40	David Limbrick	Classical liberalism, right-libertarianism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party		0 / 88	1 / 40	Jeff Bourman	Green conservatism, Agrarianism
	One Nation		0 / 88	1 / 40		Right-wing populism, Hansonism
	Animal Justice Party		0 / 88	1 / 40	Georgie Purcell	Animal protection, animal rights

Non-parliamentary parties

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Companions and Pets Party	John Hutchison	Greyhound racing advocacy, horse racing advocacy[32]
	Freedom Party of Victoria	Morgan Jonas	Social conservatism, right-wing populism
	New Democrats	Kaushaliya Vaghela	Anti-corruption
	Sustainable Australia Party	Clifford Hayes	Environmentalism, sustainable development
	Victorian Socialists	No leader	Socialism

Queensland

As of the Queensland Electoral Commission:^[33]

Parliamentary parties

Name		MPs	Leader	Ideology
	Liberal National Party	52 / 93	David Crisafulli	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
	Australian Labor Party	36 / 93	Steven Miles	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Katter's Australian Party	3 / 93	Robbie Katter	Populism, agrarian socialism
	Australian Greens	2 / 93	Gemmia Burden (convenor)	Green politics, left-wing populism

Non-parliamentary parties

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party		Animal protection, animal rights
	Family First Party	Tom Kenyon	Christian politics, social conservatism
	Legalise Cannabis		Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party		Classical liberalism, right-libertarianism
	One Nation	James Ashby	Right-wing populism, Hansonism

Western Australia

As of the Western Australian Electoral Commission:^[34]

Parliamentary parties

Name		MLAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Australian Labor Party	53 / 59	21 / 36	Roger Cook	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Liberal Party	3 / 59	7 / 36	Libby Mettam	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
	National Party	3 / 59	2 / 36	Shane Love	Conservatism, agrarianism
	Legalise Cannabis	0 / 59	1 / 36		Cannabis legalisation
	Australian Greens	0 / 59	1 / 36	Brad Pettitt	Green politics

Non-parliamentary parties

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party		Animal protection, animal rights
	Australian Christians	Jamie van Burgel	Conservatism, Christian right
	Democratic Labour Party		Distributism, social conservatism
	Libertarian Party		Classical liberalism, right-libertarianism
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	Rod Caddies	Right-wing populism, Hansonism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	Rick Mazza	Agrarianism, green conservatism

South Australia

As of the Electoral Commission of South Australia:^[35]

Parliamentary parties

Name		MHAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Australian Labor Party	27 / 47	9 / 22	Peter Malinauskas	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Liberal Party	16 / 47	8 / 22	David Speirs	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
	Australian Greens	0 / 47	2 / 22	Tammy Franks	Green politics
	One Nation	0 / 47	1 / 22	Jennifer Game	Right-wing populism, Hansonism
	SA-Best	0 / 47	1 / 22	Connie Bonaros	Social liberalism

Non-parliamentary parties

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party		Animal protection Animal rights
	Australian Family Party	Bob Day	Christian politics Right-wing populism Conservatism
	Child Protection Party	Tony Tonkin	Child protection advocacy
	Family First Party	Tom Kenyon	Christian politics Social conservatism
	Legalise Cannabis	Damon Adams	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party		Classical liberalism Right-libertarianism
	National Party	Jonathon Pietzsch	Conservatism Agrarianism
	Real Change SA	Stephen Pallaras

Tasmania

As of the Tasmanian Electoral Commission:^[36]

Parliamentary parties

Name		MHAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Liberal Party	14 / 35	4 / 15	Jeremy Rockliff	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
	Australian Labor Party	10 / 35	3 / 15	Dean Winter	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Australian Greens	5 / 35	1 / 15	Rosalie Woodruff	Green politics
	Jacqui Lambie Network	1 / 35	0 / 15	Jacqui Lambie	Social conservatism, veterans' rights

Non-parliamentary parties

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party		Animal protectionism, Animal rights
	Local Network	Leanne Minshull	Hyperlocalism, Progressivism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	Carlo Di Falco	Green conservatism, Agrarianism

Australian Capital Territory

As listed with the ACT Electoral Commission:^[37]

Parliamentary parties

Name		MLAs	Leader	Ideology
	Australian Labor Party	10 / 25	Andrew Barr	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Liberal Party	9 / 25	Elizabeth Lee	Liberal conservatism, economic liberalism
	Australian Greens	4 / 25	Shane Rattenbury	Green politics
	Independents for Canberra	1 / 25	Thomas Emerson
	Fiona Carrick Independent	1 / 25	Fiona Carrick

Non-parliamentary parties

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party		Animal protection, animal rights
	Belco Party	Bill Stefaniak
	Canberra Progressives	Kerry Markoulli	Progressivism
	Democratic Labour Party		Christian democracy, distributism
	Family First Party	Tom Kenyon	Christian politics, social conservatism
	First Nation Party	Paul Girrawah House
	Libertarian Party		Classical liberalism, right-libertarianism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party		Green conservatism, Agrarianism
	Strong Independents	Peter Strong and Ann Bray
	Sustainable Australia Party	John Haydon	Environmentalism,[38] sustainable development
	The Community Action Party

Northern Territory

As of the Northern Territory Electoral Commission:^[39]

Parliamentary parties

Name		MLAs	Leader	Ideology
	Country Liberal Party	17 / 25	Lia Finocchiaro	Conservatism
	Australian Labor Party	4 / 25	Selena Uibo	Social democracy, social liberalism[27]
	Australian Greens	1 / 25	No leader	Green politics

Non-parliamentary parties

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party		Animal protection, animal rights
	Australian Federation Party		Conservatism

Local government parties

Main article: List of local government political parties in Australia

Historical parties

Main article: List of historical political parties in Australia

See also

• List of political parties by country
• Politics of Australia

References

1. "Infosheet 22 – Political parties". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
2. "The Sydney Morning Herald – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
3. "Robert Menzies". National Archives of Australia.
4. "Our Beliefs". Liberal Party of Australia. 12 June 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
5. "Chapter three". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
6. "Australia's prime ministers".
7. "What We Stand For". The Nationals. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
8. Simms, Marian (1988). "Political Review". The Australian Quarterly. 60 (2): 231–239. doi:10.2307/20635480. JSTOR 20635480.
9. "Arthur Fadden". National Archives of Australia.
10. "The Liberal National Party – History". Liberal National Party of Queensland. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011.
11. "About". Country Liberal Party. 28 March 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
12. "The Party Contest: Liberal vs. Labor". Oz Politics. Archived from the original on 28 September 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
13. "Changes to federal election rules including party sizes and names pass Parliament". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
14. Green, Antony. "More on Minimum Membership Requirements for Registering Political Parties". Antony Green's Election Blog. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
15. "Wallabies star scores above the line". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
16. "Senator David Pocock". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
17. "Wallabies great David Pocock turns to politics in post-rugby life". The Fiji Times. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
18. "Senator Tammy Tyrrell". Parliment of Australia. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
19. "United Australia Party Voluntary Deregistration" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
20. Butler, Josh (9 September 2022). "Clive Palmer's United Australia party deregistered but lone senator says he still represents it". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
21. "Current Register of Political Parties". Australian Electoral Commission. 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
22. "Maryka Groenewald: A Portrait of Heartfelt Leadership". 9 November 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
23. "National anti-corruption commission urgent". Australian Democrats. 20 October 2020.
24. "Rorts Watch". Australian Democrats.
25. Johnson, Chris (18 May 2022). "Election 2022: What's going on in Canberra's senate race?". The Mandarin. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
26. "State Register of Parties". elections.nsw.gov.au. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
27. Sources:
    • Judith Brett (1994). "Ideology". In Judith Brett; James A. Gillespie; Murray Goot (eds.). Developments in Australian Politics. Macmillan Education AU. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7329-2009-8.
    • Gwenda Tavan (2005). The Long, Slow Death of White Australia. Scribe Publications. p. 193.
    • Huo, Jingjing (2009). Third Way Reforms: Social Democracy After the Golden Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-521-51843-7.
    • Leigh, Andrew (29 June 2019). "Social liberalism fits Labor". The Saturday Paper. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
28. "Information About Registered Parties". elections.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
29. "No jab, no vote: new anti-vax party registered". Crikey. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
30. "What we stand for". Public Education Party. Public Education Party. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
31. "Currently registered parties". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
32. "Upstart party takes on Animal Justice". Weekly Times Now. 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
33. Queensland, Electoral Commission of (26 August 2022). "Registers". ecq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
34. "Registered Political Parties in WA". Western Australian Electoral Commission. 29 August 2022. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
35. "Register of political parties". Electoral Commission of South Australia. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
36. "TEC Party Register". tec.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
37. "Register of political parties". elections.act.gov.au. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
38. "Policy Platform – Sustainable Australia Party". Retrieved 8 January 2019.
39. Government, Northern Territory (13 July 2023). "Register of political parties". ntec.nt.gov.au. Retrieved 24 June 2024.