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Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives facts for kids

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The Australian House of Representatives is elected from 150 single-member areas called Divisions. They are also commonly known as electorates or seats.

Allocation

The Divisions are divided among the states and territories of Australia as set out in the Australian Constitution and the Electoral Act It is based on population, with the following exceptions:

  • Each original state must have at least five Members of Parliament. This means that Tasmania has more divisions than it would get based on its population.
  • The Northern Territory has been given more representation under recent legislative amendments
  • The Constitution says that the House of Representatives should be about twice as large as the Senate

Within each state and territory, the boundaries of the divisions must be redrawn in a process known as redistribution at least once every seven years, or when the state's allocation of Divisions changes. Boundaries are drawn by Redistribution Committee. Population is based on the number of enrolled voters not the total number of residents.

Within a state or territory, the number of voters in each Division can not vary by more than 10% from the average across the state. The number of voters cannot vary by more than 3.5% from the average projected enrolment three-and-a-half years into the future.

Naming

The Divisions of the House of Representatives are unusual in the way they are named. Many of them are not named after geographical features or numbered, as in most other legislatures around the world. Most Divisions are named after important historical people, such as former politicians (often Prime Ministers), explorers, artists and engineers.

In some cases where a Division is named after a place, the connection to that place may have changed a lot. For example, the Division of Werriwa, was named after the Aboriginal word for Lake George near Canberra. However, Werriwa has not included Lake George for many years. The boundary of Werriwa is now 200km north of the lake.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is in charge of creating, abolishing, or redistributing the boundaries of the Divisions. Some of the guidelines the AEC use when naming new Divisions are listed below:

  • Name divisions after deceased Australians who have given excellent service to their country, with consideration given to former Prime Ministers
  • Keep the names of Divisions used at Federation in 1901
  • Avoid place names
  • Use Aboriginal names
  • Do not use names which are used as state electoral districts

List of Commonwealth Electoral Divisions, 2010-

The maps below show the Division boundaries as they were for the election in 2010.

New South Wales

There are 48 Divisions:

Sydney divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Sydney area
Outside Sydney divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Outside Sydney area
Rest of New South Wales divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Rest of New South Wales

Victoria

There are 37 Divisions:

Queensland

There are 30 Divisions:

Brisbane divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Brisbane area
Outside Brisbane divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Outside Brisbane area
Rest of Queensland divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Rest of Queensland

Western Australia

There are 15 Divisions:

Perth divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Perth area
Outside Perth divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Outside Perth area
Rest of Western Australia divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Rest of Western Australia

South Australia

There are 11 Divisions:

Adelaide divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Adelaide area
Rest of South Australia divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Rest of South Australia

Tasmania

There are 5 Divisions:

Tasmania divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Tasmania

The Territories

Australian Capital Territory divisions overview 2010
Electoral divisions: Australian Capital Territory
Division of Lingiari 2010
Division of Lingiari in Northern Territory
Division of Solomon 2010
Division of Solomon in Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

There are 2 Divisions:

Northern Territory

There are 2 Divisions:

Abolished Divisions

These Australian electoral divisions no longer exist.

  • Angas (1903-34) (SA)
  • Angas (1949-77) (SA)
  • Australian Capital Territory
  • Balaclava (VIC)
  • Barrier (NSW)
  • Bland (NSW)
  • Bonython (SA)
  • Bourke (VIC)
  • Burke (1949-55) (VIC)
  • Burke (1969-2004) (VIC)
  • Canobolas (NSW)
  • Cook (1906-55) (NSW)
  • Coolgardie (WA)
  • Corinella (1901-06) (VIC)
  • Corinella (1990-96) (VIC)
  • Dalley (NSW)
  • Dampier (WA)
  • Darebin (VIC)
  • Darling (NSW)
  • Darling Downs (QLD)
  • Darwin (TAS)
  • Diamond Valley (VIC)
  • Dundas (NSW)
  • East Sydney (NSW)
  • Echuca (VIC)
  • Evans (NSW)
  • Fawkner (VIC)
  • Grampians (VIC)
  • Gwydir (NSW)
  • Hawker (SA)
  • Henty (VIC)
  • Higinbotham (VIC)

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