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Australian Senate

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Senate
48th Parliament of Australia
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Sue Lines, Labor
since 26 July 2022
Penny Wong, Labor
since 1 June 2022
Katy Gallagher, Labor
since 1 June 2022
Michaelia Cash, Liberal
since 25 January 2025
Jonathon Duniam, Liberal
since 25 January 2025
Structure
Seats76
Political groups
Government (26)

  Labor (26)
Opposition (31)
Coalition
  Liberal (25)[a]
  National (6)[b]
Crossbench (19)
  Greens (11)
  One Nation (2)
  Lambie Network (2)
  United Australia (1)

  Independent (3)[c]
Length of term
6 years (state senators)
3 years (territory senators)
Elections
Proportional representation (single transferable vote)
Last election
3 May 2025
(Half Senate election)
Next election
On or before 20 May 2028
Meeting place
Senate Chamber
Parliament House
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,
Australia
Website
Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The lower house is the House of Representatives. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years. But some senators have three year terms. The Senate has a lot of power from the Australian Constitution.

There are currently 76 people in the Senate.

  1. Including three Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators who sit in the Liberals party room.
  2. Including two Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators and one Country Liberal Party senator who sit in the Nationals party room.
  3. David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and David Van