Australian Senate

Upper house of the Parliament of Australia

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The lower house is the House of Representatives. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years. But some senators have three year terms. The Senate has a lot of power from the Australian Constitution.

Senate
47th Parliament of Australia
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Sue Lines, Labor
since 26 July 2022
Penny Wong, Labor
since 1 June 2022
Katy Gallagher, Labor
since 1 June 2022
Simon Birmingham, Liberal
since 5 June 2022
Anne Ruston, Liberal
since 5 June 2022
Structure
Seats76
Political groups
Government (26)

  Labor (26)

Opposition (31)
Coalition
  Liberal (25)[a]
  National (6)[b]

Crossbench (19)
  Greens (11)
  One Nation (2)
  Lambie Network (2)
  United Australia (1)

  Independent (3)[c]
Length of term
6 years (state senators)
3 years (territory senators)
Elections
Single transferable vote
Last election
21 May 2022
(Half Senate election)
Next election
2024 or 2025
Meeting place
Senate Chamber
Parliament House
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,
Commonwealth of Australia
Website
Senate

There are currently 76 people in the Senate.

  1. Including three Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators who sit in the Liberals party room.
  2. Including two Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators and one Country Liberal Party senator who sit in the Nationals party room.
  3. David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and David Van