List of political parties in Australia

History

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. 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. The party's philosophy is generally liberal conservatism.

On 22 January 2026, The Liberal–National Coalition was dissolved 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 National Party represents rural and agricultural interests. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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.

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.

Membership requirement

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. 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.

Federal parties

Federal parliamentary parties

Federal non-parliamentary parties

Parties listed in alphabetical order as of December 2025:

State and territory parties

New South Wales

As of the New South Wales Electoral Commission:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

Victoria

As of the Victorian Electoral Commission:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

Queensland

As of the Queensland Electoral Commission:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

Western Australia

As of the Western Australian Electoral Commission:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

South Australia

As of the Electoral Commission of South Australia:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

Tasmania

As of the Tasmanian Electoral Commission:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

Australian Capital Territory

As listed with the ACT Electoral Commission:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

Northern Territory

As of the Northern Territory Electoral Commission:

Parliamentary parties

Non-parliamentary parties

Local government parties

Main article: List of local government political parties in Australia

Historical parties

Main article: List of historical political parties in Australia

References

References

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32. "TEC Party Register".
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