List of political parties in Australia
Updated: 5/20/2026, 7:11:00 PM Wikipedia source
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.
Tables
Membership requirement(s) · Membership requirement
Federal
Federal
State/Level
Federal
Requirement
1,500
New South Wales
New South Wales
State/Level
New South Wales
Requirement
750
Victoria
Victoria
State/Level
Victoria
Requirement
500
Queensland
Queensland
State/Level
Queensland
Western Australia
Western Australia
State/Level
Western Australia
South Australia
South Australia
State/Level
South Australia
Requirement
200
Northern Territory
Northern Territory
State/Level
Northern Territory
Tasmania
Tasmania
State/Level
Tasmania
Requirement
100
Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
State/Level
Australian Capital Territory
| 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 |
· Federal parties › Federal parliamentary parties
| Political party | Members of Parliament (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 | Matt Canavan | Conservatism Agrarianism | |
| | Australian Greens | 1 / 150 | 10 / 76 | Larissa Waters | Green politics Progressivism | |
| | One Nation | 2 / 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 | 0 / 150 | 1 / 76 | David Pocock | Progressivism | |
| 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 | 0 / 150 | 1 / 76 | Ralph Babet | Australian nationalism Right-wing populism | ||
· Federal parties › Federal non-parliamentary parties
| Name | Leader(s) | Ideology | ||
| Animal Justice Party | Angela Pollard | Animal welfare | ||
| Australian Christians | Maryka Groenewald | 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 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Michael Balderstone | Cannabis legalisation | ||
| | Libertarian Party | Anthony Bull | Right-libertarianism | |
| People First Party | Gerard Rennick | Conservatism | ||
| Power 2 People | Tristan Van Rye | Right-wing populism | ||
| Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party | Robert Brown | Conservatism | ||
| | Socialist Alliance | Jacob Andrewartha Sarah Hathway Sam Wainwright | Eco-socialism | |
| Sustainable Australia Party | Celeste Ackerly | Environmentalism | ||
| | Australian Federation Party | Suellen Wrightson | Trumpism | |
| | Victorian Socialists | Collective leadership | Democratic socialism | |
| Western Sydney Community | Dai Le Frank Carbone | Western Sydney localism | ||
· State and territory parties › New South Wales › Parliamentary parties
| Name | MPs | MLCs | Leader | Ideology | ||
| NSW Labor | 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 | ||
· State and territory parties › New South Wales › Non-parliamentary parties
| Name | Registered officer | Ideology | |
| Australian Christians | Karl Schubert | Conservatism Christian Right | |
| Australian Citizens Party | Kingsley Liu | LaRouchism Australian nationalism | |
| Family First Party | Barbara Helvadjian | Conservatism | |
| HEART Party | Michael O'Neill | Anti-vaccination | |
| Josh for NSW | Marie Xenos | Social liberalism Independent Politician Community advocacy | |
| One Nation | Pauline Hanson | Hansonism | |
| New South Wales Soc | Eleanor Morley | Socialism anti-capitalism | |
| Public Education Party | Glen Stelzer | Single-issue politics | |
| The Rural Party | Brian Roberts | Agrarianism | |
| Socialist Alliance | Federico Fuentes | Anti-capitalism | |
| Sustainable Australia Party | William Bourke | Environmentalism | |
| The Small Business Party | Eddie Dogramaci | Small business advocacy | |
References
- David Pocock was elected as a member of a political party also named "David Pocock," formed to allow him to appear as an
- wwwhttps://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_22_-_Political_parties
- newshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=lL5f5cZgq8MC&dat=19090527&printsec=frontpage&hl=en
- National Archives of Australiahttps://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/robert-menzies
- Liberal Party of Australiahttps://www.liberal.org.au/our-beliefs
- wwwhttps://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/APF/monographs/Principle_and_Programatism/chapter3
- "Littleproud announces split of 'untenable' Coalition, saying Ley 'knew consequences' of hate speech divide"https://web.archive.org/web/20260121235929/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jan/22/liberal-nationals-coalition-split-david-littleproud-sussan-ley-hate-speech-laws
- ABC Newshttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-08/deal-done-to-bring-coalition-back-together/102760848
- The Nationalshttps://nationals.org.au/about/what-we-stand-for/
- The Australian Quarterlyhttps://www.jstor.org/stable/20635480
- National Archives of Australiahttps://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/arthur-fadden
- Liberal National Party of Queenslandhttps://www.lnp.org.au/the-party/lnp-history
- Country Liberal Partyhttps://www.clp.org.au/about/
- "The Party Contest: Liberal vs. Labor"https://web.archive.org/web/20090928000422/http://www.ozpolitics.info/guide/parties/contest
- "Changes to federal election rules including party sizes and names pass Parliament"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/federal-election-rule-change-party-size-name-pass-parliament/100410134
- Antony Green's Election Bloghttps://antonygreen.com.au/more-on-minimum-membership-requirements-for-registering-political-parties/
- The Sydney Morning Heraldhttps://www.smh.com.au/national/wallaby-star-scores-above-the-line-20220406-p5abf9.html
- "Senator David Pocock"https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=256136
- The Fiji Timeshttps://www.fijitimes.com/wallabies-great-david-pocock-turns-to-politics-in-post-rugby-life/
- "Current Register of Political Parties"http://aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/Party_Registration/Registered_parties/index.htm