Preferential voting - your guide to making your vote count
For Australian federal elections, there are two different ways you get to vote - one for the House of Representatives and one for the Senate.
Knowing how preferences work is key to making your vote count.
Check out what you need to know…
For each Australian federal election, there are two different ways you get to vote.
Whether you vote early, by post or on polling day on May 3, each eligible voter will be given two ballot papers: one for the House of Representatives (the “lower house”) and one for the Senate (the “upper house”). Each of these two ballots uses a slightly different system, so it’s worth understanding how your numbered boxes translate into real results.
Knowing how preferences work is key to making your vote count, before you get to enjoy your hard-earned democracy sausage.
See how voters have shifted away from the major parties
Curious to see how Australia votes has shifted over recent decades?
Then check this out…
The way Australia votes has undergone a shift over recent decades. In 2022 the number of independent and minor party MPs elected was the highest we’d ever seen in the modern political era. Modelling suggests this decades-long trend is looking relatively stable, with seats gradually creeping into the grey area and potentially out of the major parties’ grip. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-24/election-data-rise-independents-major-party-drift/105144918
Election policy scorecard
Curious to know where the three major parties stand on climate and energy policy?
Then check this out…
Curious to know where the labor, liberals and greens stand on climate and energy policy?
Then check this out…
Policy tracker
How will Labor, the Coalition, the Greens and the independents make Australia better?
Your guide to the major policy issues of the 2025 election. How will Labor, the Coalition, the Greens and the independents make Australia better?
Preferential Voting Explained
Australian federal elections use a preferential voting system. See for yourself how it works…
Australian federal elections use a preferential voting system where voters are required to:
mark a preference for every candidate on the green ballot paper (House of Representatives)
mark a preference for a designated number of preferences on the white ballot paper (Senate)
Click to see how it works in the Senate
For more information check out the Australian Electoral Commission website
People Powered Politics
Across Australia a new movement of Community-backed Independents is growing. Hear from the Independents currently in Federal Parliament, and the communities looking for better representation at the next election…
Across Australia a new movement of Community-backed Independents is growing. Hear from the Independents currently in Federal Parliament, and the communities looking for better representation at the next election.
Featuring Helen Haines, Sophie Scamps, Monique Ryan, Zoe Daniel, David Pocock, Zali Steggall, Kate Chaney, Kylea Tink & Allegra Spender.
For more on Independent Politics visit https://www.communityindependentsproj...
Produced by The Undercurrent for the Community Independents Project annual Convention.
Shot, directed & edited by Dan Graetz