This Quick Guide explains the rules for Commonwealth election scheduling and, where applicable, the earliest and latest possible dates it may occur. It also lists the dates for upcoming state, territory, and local government elections.

The rules

While the calling of a Commonwealth election is partly a matter of political judgement and timing, a constitutional and legislative framework governs the electoral timetable and process. The Australian Constitution requires periodic elections for both Houses of Parliament, with separate provisions reflecting the different constitutional role of each House. The maximum term of the House of Representatives is set by section 28 of the Constitution, which states “Every House of Representatives shall continue for 3 years from the first meeting of the House, and no longer, but may be sooner dissolved by the Governor-General”.

• The Constitution (section 28) and the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (CEA) provide the following timetabling provisions for elections (with the specific dates set out in the writ):[1]
• writs are to be issued for the election of members of the House of Representatives and senators for the Territories by the Governor-General within 10 days following the expiry of the House, or proclamation of its dissolution (Constitution, section 32; CEA, section 151)
• writs are to be issued for the election of senators for the states by the state Governors within 10 days following the expiry of the Senate, or proclamation of its dissolution (Constitution, section 12)
• the rolls close at 8 pm on the seventh day after the date of the writ (CEA, section 155)[2]
• nominations of candidates close at 12 pm not less than 10 days nor more than 27 days after the date of the writs (CEA, section 156; section 175), and a request that the party name appear adjacent to the name of the candidate under CEA, section 169 can be made at any time before the close of nominations
• the declaration of candidates occurs at 12pm the day after nominations close (CEA, section 175)
• pre-poll voting cannot begin earlier than the day that is 12 days before polling day in the election (the Monday 2 weeks before polling day, CEA, section 200BA)[3]
• the polling day shall not be less than 23 days nor more than 31 days after the date of nomination (CEA, section 157)
• the election must be held on a Saturday (CEA, section 158)
• the writ must be returned no more than 100 days after being issued (CEA, section 159)[4]
• following the return of the writ, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), a candidate or qualified voter at that election, may lodge a petition with the High Court acting as the Court of Disputed Returns within 40 days challenging the result of the election (CEA, section 355; section 357) and[5]
• Parliament must meet not later than 30 days after the date appointed for the return of the writs (Constitution, section 5). Parliament may meet before the appointed date if the writs have been returned.

The time allowed from the expiry or dissolution of the House to polling day is therefore not less than 33 days and not more than 68 days. These timings are summarised in Appendix C.

The Government, in its advice to the Governor-General, may use this flexibility around timings to ensure that key election events avoid causing inconvenience. For example, the writ for the 2019 federal election was timed so that electoral milestones did not occur on public holidays.

House of Representatives election

A House of Representatives election can be requested at any time. However, if the Government has majority support to proceed with its legislative program, the Governor-General is highly unlikely to approve an election within the first year of a new parliament.[6]

The latest possible date of the next election is within 68 days from the expiry of the House. As the 47th Parliament first met on Tuesday 26 July 2022, it is therefore due to expire on Friday 25 July 2025.[7] The election for the House of Representatives must therefore be held by 27 September 2025, the last Saturday within this 68-day period. However, elections are generally called well before constitutionally or legally necessary.

There has been only 1 instance (in 1910) of an election being held after a parliament expired through effluxion of time. Subsequently, Prime Minister William McMahon has gone closest to a full-term parliament, dissolving the House in 1972 after 2 years, 11 months and 8 days. The 41st Parliament under Prime Minister John Howard also went close, with a term from 16 November 2004 to 17 October 2007, of 2 years, 11 months and 1 day. The length of the 46th Parliament was determined largely by the requirement to hold a half-Senate election, as discussed in the next section.

Half-Senate election

Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate is a continuing body. Half the state senators’ terms expire on 30 June every 3 years, except in the case of a simultaneous dissolution of both Houses.[8] Section 13 of the Constitution requires that an election be held within 1 year before the places of retiring senators become vacant. The terms of senators for the territories coincide with the House of Representatives elections.

There is no constitutional requirement that House of Representatives and state senator elections be held simultaneously. However, they are generally held together to avoid the duplication of costs and voter inconvenience. The last time a half-Senate only election was held was in 1970.[9] Where elections for the House of Representatives and half the Senate are held simultaneously, the date must conform with the constitutional provisions relating to the terms of senators and the period during which the Senate election must be held.

The 6-year terms of senators elected in 2019 will expire on 30 June 2025. Territory senators terms are tied to the House of Representatives and consequently the timing of House/general elections.[10] Therefore the next half-Senate election must be held between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025. However, it is generally considered that the election period begins with the issue of the writ. Accordingly, a half-Senate election effectively cannot be held in July 2024, given the minimum 33 days from expiry/dissolution to polling day. So, the earliest possible date for such an election is Saturday 3 August 2024.

Similarly, practicalities of timings between polling day and the swearing in of new senators has traditionally precluded June from being available for half-Senate elections. Allowing for a maximum election period, the latest date for the next half-Senate election would be Saturday 17 May 2025. This date allows for the maximum 100-day period between the issue of the writs (Saturday 22 March) to their return (30 June 2025) so that the elected senators could commence on 1 July 2025.[11]

Note, however, that the latest date is not nearly as fixed as the earliest. Section 159 of the CEA requires a maximum of 100 days for return of the writs; in practice, the Governor-General (on advice from the Prime Minister), could specify less time.[12]

Simultaneous half-Senate and House of Representatives election

As House of Representatives and half-Senate elections are usually held together, both the earliest and latest days for an election would be dictated by the half-Senate election. As such, the earliest date for a simultaneous election would be Saturday, 3 August 2024 and the latest possible date would be Saturday 17 May 2025.

Double dissolution election

Section 57 of the Constitution provides that both houses may be simultaneously dissolved should there be a legislative deadlock between them. A deadlock occurs when a 3-month period has elapsed between the Senate rejecting a Bill and the House passing it a second time only for it to be rejected again.[13] Once these conditions have been met, a double dissolution election can be called, though not within 6 months of the expiry date (currently Friday 25 July 2025) for the House of Representatives. This means that the last possible date for the dissolution of both houses of the current parliament is Friday 24 January 2025.

If there is a double dissolution of the Parliament on Friday 24 January 2025, the usual timetabling requirements apply.[14] The writs may be issued on the same day as the dissolution occurs, but as section 12 of the Constitution requires the writs for Senate elections to be issued by the State Governors, these writs may not necessarily be issued on the same day as the dissolution. Should the writs be issued on the same day (24 January 2025), and the shortest times apply, polling would be on Saturday 22 February 2025.

Should the maximum times apply, the writs would have to be issued by 8 February 2025 and the latest possible polling date for a double dissolution election is Saturday 29 March 2025.

Next Commonwealth election

The Government usually opts for a relatively short period between dissolving the Parliament and announcing the election and polling day.[15] The Government also usually tries to avoid election campaigns over the Easter period, although this occurred in both the 2019 and 2022 election periods. As Easter Sunday is on 20 April in 2025, this may be a factor in election timing considerations.

Table 1 sets out the earliest and latest election dates, and possible election timetables, for the various types of elections. In establishing the latest polling date, the maximum timetable period has been used. The specific dates of key election milestones are set out in Appendix A (for a simultaneous House and half-Senate election) and Appendix B (for the latest possible double dissolution election). It should be noted that in these appendices theoretical limits are used. For practical, political and financial reasons, a government is unlikely to have a maximum campaign period of 68 days.

Table 1: Commonwealth elections—Next election dates

Source: Parliamentary Library.

Appendix A: Simultaneous half-Senate and House of Representatives election possible timetables

Source: Parliamentary Library.

Appendix B: Double dissolution election possible timetables

Note that the terms of the new senators will be backdated to begin on the 1 July previous to the election.
Source: Parliamentary Library.

Appendix C: The election timetable

Source: Adapted from the 2019 Australian Electoral Commission Electoral Pocketbook publication, with added updates to reflect recent legislative changes.

Appendix D: upcoming elections across all Australian jurisdictions

Note that dates of specific electoral events may change.
Source: Compiled by the parliamentary Library

• References

  [1].   The writ is an instruction to the Electoral Commissioner to hold an election. It is issued by either the Governor-General (for an election of all House of Representatives seats and the senators for the territories), by a state governor (for Senate elections for a state), or by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (for a by-election).

  [2].   The 8pm deadline for close of rolls is established in the requirements for lodging claims for enrolment under the following provisions: Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, sections 94A(4)(a), 95(4)(a), 96(4)(a), 99B(2)(c)(ii), 102(4)(a)(i), 103A(5)(a), 103B(5)(a) and 118(5)(a).

  [3].   CEA subsection 200BA(1AA); the commencement of pre-poll voting was changed from the fifth day after the date of nominations to 12 days before the election by the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Counting, Scrutiny and Operational Efficiencies) Act 2021, which came into effect on 3 September 2021.

  [4].   Section 286 of the CEA allows the Governor-General or respective state governor to extend the time for holding the election or for returning the writ.

  [5].   The decision by the High Court of Australia in Alley v Gillespie (2018) 353 ALR 1, [2018] HCA 11 made it clear that the qualification of a member to sit in parliament could only be challenged in the Court of Disputed Returns either by a referral by the respective Chamber or by a petition under sections 355 or 357 of the CEA.

  [6].   House of Representatives practice notes that ‘While the decision to dissolve the House may be made by the Governor-General, the decision to call a general election may only be made on and with the advice of the Executive Council, that is, the Government’.

  [7].   This date has been calculated based on the 3-year period in section 28 of the Constitution including the first day on which the House sat on 26 July 2022.

  [8].   This has occurred 7 times since Federation, most recently in 2016.

  [9].   With the exception of the stand-alone 2014 Western Australian Senate election, required due to the voiding of the 2013 Senate election in the state by the Court of Disputed Returns following the loss of ballot papers.

  [10]. CEA section 115.

  [11]. Calculated as 30 June 2025 minus 100 days (22 March 2025) for the last date for the issue of the writ, plus the last Saturday within the next 58 days as the maximum period between the issue of the writ and election day.

  [12]. In 2019, there was some debate as to how late the election could be held before the new senators took their place.

  [13]. A critical consideration is the date from which the 3-month interval is calculated. Although some aspects of section 57 remain unclear, a majority of the High Court held in Victoria v Commonwealth and Connor (1975) 134 CLR 81, [1975] HCA 39 that the 3-month interval commences on the date the Senate rejects or fails to pass the Bill. The High Court has not determined as to the commencement of the 3-month period in which the Senate passes a Bill with amendments ‘to which the House will not agree’.

  [14]. The Australia Day public holiday on Monday 27 January 2025 should not affect the election timing.

  [15]. Notwithstanding the 2016 double dissolution election campaign, which lasted 54 days.

  [16]. The first meeting of Parliament following an election is usually a Tuesday (see House of Representatives practice) .

  [17]. Parliament can meet as soon as the writs have been returned.

  [18]. Although technically Friday 13 June 2025, it would more likely be on Tuesday 10 June 2025; see footnote 16 above.

  [19]. Tasmanian local government election polls close on the last Tuesday in October unless otherwise determined by the Governor.

  [20]. Tasmanian Legislative Council elections are held on the first Saturday in May each year for either 2 or 3 members.

  [21]. Western Australian local government elections are held on the third Saturday in October every 2 years.

  [22]. Queensland local government elections are held every 4 years on the last Saturday in March, unless changed by regulation.

  [23]. Northern Territory elections occur on the fourth Saturday in August every 4 years.

  [24]. NSW local government elections are held on the second Saturday in September every 4 years.

  [25]. ACT Legislative Assembly elections are held on the third Saturday in October every 4 years.

  [26]. Section 19B of the Constitution of Queensland requires elections be held on last Saturday in October in the fourth calendar year after the calendar year in which the last general election was held (unless various other specific circumstances eventuate).

  [27]. Victorian local government elections are held on the fourth Saturday in October every 4 years.

  [28]. The Tasmanian House of Assembly continues for 4 years after the previous return of the writ, which was on 13 May 2021.

  [29]. Northern Territory local government elections are held on the fourth Saturday in August 4 years after the previous election.

  [30]. South Australian state elections are held on the third Saturday in March every 4 years.

  [31]. South Australian local government elections are held every 4 years.

  [32]. Victorian state elections are held on the last Saturday in November every 4 years.

  [33]. NSW state elections are held on the fourth Saturday in March following the Legislative Assembly’s 4-year term expiry.

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