Can the number of senators change?
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900: Original Public Record Copy (1900).
Parliament House Art Collection, Art Services Parliament House
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900: Original Public Record Copy (1900).
Parliament House Art Collection, Art Services Parliament House
Description
This image shows the front page of the original public record copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900.
Permission for publication must be sought from Parliament House Art Collection. Contact DPS Art Services, phone: 02 62775034 or 02 62775123
Yes, the number of senators in the Australian Parliament can change. In fact, the number of senators has increased 3 times – in 1948, 1974 and 1983.
Today there are 76 senators. There are 12 senators from each state and 2 senators each from the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
Section 7 of the Australian Constitution gives Parliament the power to decide how many senators there are by passing a bill, although there are conditions:
- the original states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania) must have the same number of senators
- the original states must have at least 6 senators.
When the Senate first met in 1901 there were 36 senators (6 senators from the 6 states). In 1948, Parliament passed a law increasing the number of senators from 36 to 60 (10 senators from each state).
Section 122 gives the Australian Parliament the power to decide how many, if any, senators a territory may have. Parliament passed the Senate (Representation of Territories) Act 1973 which allowed the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory to be represented by 2 senators each. This law was passed in 1974.
In 1983, Parliament again increased the number of senators from 62 to 76 (increasing from 10 to 12 senators from each state).
A related rule in the Constitution is section 24, sometimes known as the ‘nexus provision’. This section requires that the number of members of the House of Representatives must be as near as possible to twice the number of state senators. This means any change to the number of senators impacts the number of members in the House of Representatives.