What are 'safe seats'?

Graphic of a blue rectangle being dropped into a larger blue box. This is repeated multiple times.

Ballot box graphic

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

Ballot box graphic

Graphic of a blue rectangle being dropped into a larger blue box. This is repeated multiple times.

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

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This graphic is a representation of a ballots being placed into a ballot boxes.

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Thanks for your question. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) classifies electorates as safe, fairly safe or marginal. In a safe seat, the winning party receives more than 60 per cent of the vote; it would require a very large swing – change in votes – for the winning candidate to lose this seat at the next federal election. It is considered a fairly safe seat when the winning party receives between 56-60 per cent of the vote. A seat is classified as marginal when the winning party receives less than 56 per cent of the vote. At the next election, it would take a smaller number of people to switch their votes to another candidate, for that candidate to win.