Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope has today formally determined that the number of seats in the House of Representatives will remain unchanged – at 150 – for Australia’s next federal election.
While the total number of House of Representatives seats for each state and territory will remain unchanged, Mr Pope said that population data provided by the Bureau of Statistics shows clear trends in Australia’s relative population growth that could lead to changes at future elections, especially in Queensland and Western Australia.
“Queensland and Western Australia are showing a strong trend of population growth above other states that could see their entitlement to seats grow after 2028,” Mr Pope said.
Electorates per state / territory | |
|---|---|
NSW | 46 |
VIC | 38 |
QLD | 30 |
WA | 16 |
SA | 10 |
TAS* | 5 |
ACT | 3 |
NT | 2 |
*Tasmania is guaranteed a minimum of five members under section 24 of the Constitution.
What is an entitlement determination?
The Australian Electoral Commissioner is required to determine each state and territory’s entitlement to Members of the House of Representatives one year after the first sitting day for a new House of Representatives. The first sitting of the 48th Parliament occurred on Tuesday 22 July 2025.
AEC TV video: Entitlement determination explainer
What about QLD?
Today’s entitlement determination clears the way for a redistribution of Queensland’s federal electorates, which is expected to commence in the coming weeks.
A federal redistribution for Queensland was due to commence in March of 2025 but was deferred twice – once for the 2025 federal election , and a second time in case there was a change to the state’s entitlement.
“Queensland will keep its entitlement to 30 electorates at the next election. While it came close to an extra seat Queensland’s slowing growth left it just short of having an additional seat added for the next election,” Mr Pope said.
“The task for the Queensland Redistribution Committee now turns to analysing the population growth and sprawl across the state and updating electorate boundaries to ensure that each of Queensland’s federal electorates have roughly the same number of voters.”
The Redistribution Committee is expected to open the floor to written submissions about Queensland’s federal electorate boundaries and names later in 2026, with the process due to be formally completed in the second half of 2027. The public’s ideas and contributions are encouraged.
