2016 Australian Senate Election

It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the Senate that replaced group voting tickets with optional preferential voting.

2016 Australian federal election
(Senate)

← 2013 2 July 2016 2019 →
All 76 seats in the Australian Senate 39 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader George Brandis Penny Wong Richard Di Natale Party Liberal/National Coalition Labor Greens Leader since 20 September 2015 26 June 2013 6 May 2015 Leader's seat Queensland South Australia Victoria Seats before 33 25 10 Seats won 30 26 9 Seat change 3 1 1 Popular vote 4,868,246 4,123,084 1,197,657 Percentage 35.18% 29.79% 8.65% Swing 2.52% 0.16% 0.58%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Pauline Hanson Nick Xenophon David Leyonhjelm Party One Nation Xenophon Team Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Queensland (won seat) South Australia New South Wales Seats before 0 1 1 Seats won 4 3 1 Seats after 4 3 1 Seat change 4 2 Popular vote 593,013 456,369 298,915 Percentage 4.29% 3.30% 2.16% Swing 3.76% 1.37% 1.59%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Derryn Hinch Jacqui Lambie Party Justice Lambie Network Leader's seat Victoria (won seat) Tasmania (won seat) Seats before New New Seats won 1 1 Seats after 1 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 266,607 69,074 Percentage 1.93% 0.50% Swing 1.93% 0.50%
Government (30) Coalition   Liberal (21)   LNP (5)   National (3)   CLP (1) Opposition (26)   Labor (26) Crossbench (20)   Greens (9)   One Nation (4)   Xenophon Team (3)   Family First (1)   Liberal Democrat (1)   Lambie (1)   Hinch (1)
Leader of the Senate before election George Brandis Liberal/National coalition Elected Leader of the Senate George Brandis Liberal/National coalition

The final outcome in the 76-seat Australian Senate took over four weeks to complete despite significant voting changes. Earlier in 2016, legislation changed the Senate voting system from a full-preference single transferable vote with group voting tickets to an optional-preferential single transferable vote. The final Senate result was announced on 4 August: Liberal/National Coalition 30 seats (−3), Labor 26 seats (+1), Greens 9 seats (−1), One Nation 4 seats (+4) and Nick Xenophon Team 3 seats (+2). Former broadcaster and founder of the Justice Party Derryn Hinch, won a seat, while Jacqui Lambie, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm and Family First's Bob Day retained their seats. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20. The Liberal/National Coalition will require at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority, an increase of three.

A number of initially-elected senators were declared ineligible a result of the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, and replaced after recounts.

The two major parties negotiated to allocate a six-year term to the first elected six of twelve senators in each state, while the last six received a three-year term. This was consistent with the Senate practice on all seven previous occasions. In 1983 the Joint Select Committee on Electoral Reform had unanimously recommended an alternative "recount" method to reflect proportional representation, and the Commonwealth Electoral Act provides for a recount on that basis. This alternative method had been supported by both Labor and the Coalition in two separate, identical, bipartisan senate resolutions, passed in 1998 and 2010. By not adhering to their previous resolutions, Labor and the Coalition each gained one senate seat from 2019.

The final Senate result was announced on 4 August. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government won 30 seats, a net loss of three − the Coalition lost four Senators, one each from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia, but gained a Senator in Victoria. The Labor opposition won 26 seats, a gain of one − a Senator in Western Australia. The number of crossbenchers increased by two to a record 20. The Liberal/National Coalition would require at least nine additional votes to reach a Senate majority, an increase of three.

 

Senate (STV OPV) – Turnout 91.93% (CV) – Informal 3.94% 

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Change
	Liberal–National Coalition		4,868,246	35.18	–1.32	30	3
		Liberal/National joint ticket	2,769,426	20.01	−1.16	10
		Liberal	1,066,579	7.71	+0.77	14	2
		Liberal National	960,467	6.94	−1.16	5	1
		Country Liberal	37,156	0.27	−0.05	1
		National (WA)	34,618	0.25	−0.06	0
	Labor		4,123,084	29.79	+0.16	26	1
	Greens		1,197,657	8.65	−0.58	9	1
	One Nation		593,013	4.29	+3.76	4	4
	Xenophon Team		456,369	3.30	+1.37	3	2
	Liberal Democrats		298,915	2.16	–1.59	1
	Justice		266,607	1.93	+1.93	1	1
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers		192,923	1.39	+0.44
	Family First		191,112	1.38	+0.26	1
	Christian Democrats		162,155	1.17	+0.63
	Animal Justice		159,373	1.15	+0.46
	Liberty Alliance		102,982	0.74	+0.74
	Democratic Labour		94,510	0.68	–0.18	0	1
	Sex Party		94,262	0.68	–0.64
	Health Australia		85,233	0.62	+0.62
	Sex Party/HEMP joint ticket		76,744	0.55	+0.55
	Lambie Network		69,074	0.50	+0.50	1	1
	Christians		66,525	0.48	+0.09
	Drug Law Reform		61,327	0.44	+0.38
	Motoring Enthusiasts		53,232	0.38	–0.12	0	1
	Katter's Australian		53,123	0.38	–0.50
	Glenn Lazarus Team		45,149	0.33	+0.33
	Marriage Equality		44,982	0.33	+0.33
	Arts		37,702	0.27	+0.27
	Rise Up Australia		36,424	0.26	–0.10
	Pirate		35,184	0.25	–0.11
	Renewable Energy		29,983	0.22	+0.22
	Science/Cyclists joint ticket		29,934	0.22	+0.22
	HEMP		29,510	0.21	–0.50
	Sustainable Australia		26,341	0.19	+0.08
	Palmer United		26,210	0.19	–5.42	0	3
	Cyclists		24,276	0.18	+0.18
	Voluntary Euthanasia		23,252	0.17	–0.06
	Seniors United		22,213	0.16	+0.16
	VOTEFLUX.ORG		20,453	0.15	+0.15
	Mature Australia		18,920	0.14	+0.14
	Online Direct Democracy		11,857	0.09	+0.06
	Secular		11,077	0.08	–0.01
	Defence Veterans		10,391	0.08	+0.08
	Socialist Alliance		9,968	0.07	+0.04
	Citizens Electoral Council		9,850	0.07	+0.06
	Country		9,316	0.07	+0.07
	Socialist Equality		7,865	0.06	+0.02
	Progressives		6,251	0.05	+0.05
	CountryMinded		5,989	0.04	+0.04
	Manufacturing and Farming		5,268	0.04	+0.04
	Australia First		3,005	0.02	+0.02
	Recreational Fishers		2,376	0.02	+0.02
	Non-Custodial Parents		2,102	0.02	+0.01
	Science		1,306	0.01	+0.01
	Unendorsed/ungrouped		25,280	0.18	+0.00
Total			13,838,900			76
Invalid/blank votes			567,806	3.94	+1.01
Registered voters/turnout			15,671,551	91.93	–1.52
Source: Federal Election 2016

Australian Capital Territory

Northern Territory