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 Party of Australia. Federally, 13 of the 150 members of the lower house (Members of Parliament, or MPs) are not members of major parties, as well as 20 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.

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 the Liberal–National Coalition, an alliance of the Liberal Party of Australia and National Party of Australia. The parties are in a formal coalition at federal level and in New South Wales and Victoria, but are not formally allied in Western Australia and South Australia. 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 Fusion 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]

On 22 January 2026, The Liberal–National Coalition was dissolved^[6] over an internal dispute over a hate speech bill. The Liberal Party of Australia voted yes to the bill and the National Party of Australia voted no to the bill. The Coalition reformed on 8 February 2026.^[7]

The National Party represents rural and agricultural interests.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

The Liberal and National parties have merged in Queensland and the Northern Territory. 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.^[11] The Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory is likewise affiliated with both the Liberals and Nationals and its members may join either federal parliamentary party room.^[12]

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.^[13]

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, 2022 and 2025. In some parliaments, support for smaller parties and Independents has resulted in major parties having to come to Confidence and supply agreements to form government, such as after the 2010 Australian federal election.

Parties can choose whether they wish to register their party for federal or state elections. To run candidates in a federal election, it is not compulsory to register with the AEC. The AEC doesn't run state elections. Each state has their own commission that runs state and local elections.

Once registered for a federal election, 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.^[14][15]
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.^[15]

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

Political party			Members of the Parliament of Australia as of May 2025		Party leader(s)	Ideology
			House of Reps	Senate
		Australian Labor Party	94 / 150	29 / 76	Anthony Albanese	Social democracy
		Liberal Party	28 / 150	23 / 76	Angus Taylor	Liberal conservatism
		National Party	14 / 150	4 / 76	David Littleproud	Conservatism Agrarianism
		Australian Greens	1 / 150	10 / 76	Larissa Waters	Green politics Progressivism
		One Nation	1 / 150	4 / 76	Pauline Hanson	Hansonism Right-wing populism
		Australia's Voice	0 / 150	1 / 76	Fatima Payman	Progressivism
		Centre Alliance	1 / 150	0 / 76	No leader	Social liberalism Populism
		David Pocock[a]	0 / 150	1 / 76	David Pocock	Progressivism[18]
		Jacqui Lambie Network	0 / 150	1 / 76	Jacqui Lambie	Populism Social conservatism
		Katter's Australian Party	1 / 150	0 / 76	Robbie Katter	Populism Agrarian socialism
		United Australia Party[b]	0 / 150	1 / 76	Ralph Babet	Australian nationalism Right-wing populism

Parties listed in alphabetical order as of December 2025:^[21]

Name		Leader(s)	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party	Angela Pollard	Animal welfare
	Australian Christians	Maryka Groenewald[22]	Christian right
	Australian Citizens Party	Craig Isherwood	LaRouchism
	Australian Democrats	Lyn Allison	Social liberalism
	Better Together Party	Lucy Bradlow Bronwen Bock	Progressivism
	Family First Party	Lyle Shelton	Social conservatism
	Fusion Party	Drew Wolfendale	Secular humanism
	The Great Australian Party	Rod Culleton	Right-wing populism
	HEART Party	Michael O'Neill	Anti-vaccination
	Indigenous-Aboriginal Party	Uncle Owen Whyman	Indigenous rights
	Kim for Canberra	Kim Rubenstein	Progressivism[23]
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Balderstone	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party	Anthony Bull	Right-libertarianism
	People First Party	Gerard Rennick	Conservatism
	Power 2 People	Tristan Van Rye
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	Robert Brown	Conservatism
	Socialist Alliance	Jacob Andrewartha Sarah Hathway Sam Wainwright	Eco-socialism
	Sustainable Australia Party	Celeste Ackerly	Environmentalism
	Trumpet of Patriots	Suellen Wrightson	Trumpism
	Victorian Socialists	Collective leadership	Democratic socialism
	Western Sydney Community	Dai Le Frank Carbone	Western Sydney localism

As of the New South Wales Electoral Commission:^[24]

Name			MPs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Labor Party		46 / 93	15 / 42	Chris Minns	Social democracy
	Coalition	Liberal Party	24 / 93	9 / 42	Kellie Sloane	Liberal conservatism
		National Party	11 / 93	5 / 42	Gurmesh Singh	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	Conservatism
	Animal Justice Party		0 / 93	1 / 42	Emma Hurst	Animal welfare
	Legalise Cannabis		0 / 93	1 / 42	Jeremy Buckingham	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party		0 / 93	1 / 42	John Ruddick	Right-libertarianism

Name[25]		Registered officer	Ideology
	Family First Party	Barbara Helvadjian	Conservatism
	HEART Party	Michael O'Neill	Anti-vaccination[26]
	One Nation	Pauline Hanson	Hansonism
	Public Education Party	Glen Stelzer	Single-issue politics
	Socialist Alliance	Federico Fuentes	Anti-capitalism
	Sustainable Australia Party	William Bourke	Environmentalism
	The Small Business Party	Eddie Dogramaci	Small business advocacy

As of the Victorian Electoral Commission:^[27]

Name			MLAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Australian Labor Party		54 / 88	15 / 40	Jacinta Allan	Social democracy
	Coalition	Liberal Party	20 / 88	12 / 40	Jess Wilson	Liberal conservatism
		National Party	9 / 88	2 / 40	Danny O'Brien	Conservatism Agrarianism
	Australian Greens		3 / 88	4 / 40	Ellen Sandell	Green politics Progressivism
	Legalise Cannabis		0 / 88	2 / 40	No leader	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party		0 / 88	1 / 40	David Limbrick	Right-libertarianism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party		0 / 88	1 / 40	Jeff Bourman	Conservatism
	One Nation		0 / 88	1 / 40	Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell	Hansonism
	Animal Justice Party		0 / 88	1 / 40	Georgie Purcell	Animal welfare

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Companions and Pets Party	John Hutchison	Greyhound racing advocacy, horse racing advocacy[28]
	Democratic Labour Party	No leader	Social conservatism
	Family First Party	Lyle Shelton	Christian right[29]
	Freedom Party of Victoria	Morgan Jonas	Anti-lockdown politics
	New Democrats	Kaushaliya Vaghela	Anti-corruption
	Sustainable Australia Party	Clifford Hayes	Environmentalism
	Victorian Socialists	No leader	Democratic socialism

As of the Queensland Electoral Commission:^[30]

Name		MPs	Leader	Ideology
	Liberal National Party	52 / 93	David Crisafulli	Liberal conservatism
	Australian Labor Party	35 / 93	Steven Miles	Social democracy
	Katter's Australian Party	3 / 93	Robbie Katter	Populism Agrarian socialism
	Queensland Greens	1 / 93	No leader	Green politics

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party	No leader	Animal welfare
	Family First Party	Lyle Shelton	Christian right[29]
	Legalise Cannabis	Melody Lindsay	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party	No leader	Right-libertarianism
	One Nation	James Ashby	Hansonism

As of the Western Australian Electoral Commission:^[31]

Name		MLAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	WA Labor	46 / 59	16 / 37	Roger Cook	Social democracy
	Liberal Party Western Australia	7 / 59	10 / 37	Basil Zempilas	Liberal conservatism
	The Nationals WA	6 / 59	2 / 37	Shane Love	Conservatism Agrarianism
	The Greens (WA)	0 / 59	4 / 37	Brad Pettitt	Green politics
	Pauline Hanson's One Nation	0 / 59	2 / 37	Rod Caddies	Hansonism
	Legalise Cannabis Party WA	0 / 59	1 / 37	Brian Walker	Cannabis legalisation
	Australian Christians	0 / 59	1 / 37	Jamie van Burgel	Christian right
	Animal Justice Party	0 / 59	1 / 37	No leader	Animal welfare

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Stop Pedophiles! Protect kiddies!	No leader	—N/a
	Libertarian Party	No leader	Right-libertarianism
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers	Rick Mazza	Conservatism
	Sustainable Australia Party – Anti-corruption	No leader	—N/a
	Western Australia Party	No leader	—N/a

As of the Electoral Commission of South Australia:^[32]

Name		MHAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Australian Labor Party	29 / 47	9 / 22	Peter Malinauskas	Social democracy
	Liberal Party	13 / 47	8 / 22	Ashton Hurn	Liberal conservatism
	Australian Greens SA	0 / 47	1 / 22	No leader	Green politics
	Jing Lee - Better Community	0 / 47	1 / 22	Jing Lee	—N/a
	SA-Best	0 / 47	1 / 22	Connie Bonaros	Centrism
	Sarah Game Fair Go for Australians	0 / 47	1 / 22	Sarah Game	—N/a

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party	No leader	Animal welfare
	Australian Family Party	No leader	Right-wing populism
	Citizens Party	No leader	LaRouchism
	Family First Party	Lyle Shelton	Christian right[29]
	Legalise Cannabis	No leader	Cannabis legalisation
	Libertarian Party SA	No leader	Right-libertarianism
	National Party	No leader	Conservatism Agrarianism
	One Nation	Cory Bernardi	Hansonism
	Real Change	Stephen Pallaras	—N/a
	SA Socialists	Tom Gilchrist	Democratic socialism
	United Voice Australia	Mark Aldridge	—N/a

As of the Tasmanian Electoral Commission:^[33]

Name		MHAs	MLCs	Leader	Ideology
	Liberal Party	14 / 35	4 / 15	Jeremy Rockliff	Liberal conservatism
	Australian Labor Party	10 / 35	3 / 15	Dean Winter	Social democracy
	Tasmanian Greens	5 / 35	1 / 15	Rosalie Woodruff	Green politics
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	1 / 35	0 / 15	Carlo Di Falco	Conservatism

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party	No leader	Animal welfare
	National Party of Australia	No leader	Conservatism
	Jacqui Lambie Network	Jacqui Lambie	Populism

As listed with the ACT Electoral Commission:^[34]

Name		MLAs	Leader	Ideology
	Australian Labor Party	10 / 25	Andrew Barr	Social democracy
	Liberal Party	9 / 25	Leanne Castley	Liberal conservatism
	ACT Greens	4 / 25	Shane Rattenbury	Green politics
	Fiona Carrick Independent	1 / 25	Fiona Carrick	—N/a

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party	No leader	Animal welfare
	Belco Party	Bill Stefaniak	—N/a
	Canberra Progressives	Kerry Markoulli	Progressivism
	Democratic Labour Party	No leader	Social conservatism
	Family First Party	Lyle Shelton (No ACT leader)	Christian right[29]
	First Nation Party	Paul Girrawah House	—N/a
	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	No leader	Conservatism
	Sustainable Australia Party	No leader	Environmentalism[35]
	The Community Action Party	No leader	—N/a

As of the Northern Territory Electoral Commission:^[36]

Name		MLAs	Leader	Ideology
	Country Liberal Party	17 / 25	Lia Finocchiaro	Conservatism
	Australian Labor Party	4 / 25	Selena Uibo	Social democracy
	NT Greens	1 / 25	No leader	Green politics

Name		Leader	Ideology
	Animal Justice Party	No leader	Animal welfare
	Trumpet of Patriots	No leader	Conservatism

• List of political parties by country
• Politics of Australia