House of Representatives By-Elections Since 1901

The first table below shows the causes of all 160 by-elections for the House of Representatives since 1901. The second table provides details for each by-election.

A by-election is held when a member of the House of Representatives resigns for any reason, or dies in office. A sitting member may also be disqualified and an election may be voided by the Court of Disputed Returns. Expulsion of a member can no longer occur.

Death and Resignation

A total of 160 by-elections have been held since 1901. All but seven of these have been caused by death or resignation.

A total of 85 by-elections – 53.13% – have been caused by the resignation of the sitting member. However, whereas 22 resignations (27.5% of 80 by-elections) occurred in the first 60 years of Federation, since 1960 there have been 63 by-elections caused by resignation (79.74% of 80 by-elections).

A total of 68 by-elections – 43.03% – have been caused by the death of the sitting member. However, whereas 53 of 80 by-elections up to 1960 were caused by death – 66.25% – since then only 15 of 80 by-elections – 18.75% – have been caused by death.

Since 1990, resignations have caused an even higher proportion of by-elections. There have been 38 by-elections, 33 (86.84%) of which were caused by resignations. As the average age of MPs has fallen, resignation has become the most common cause of departure from parliament. No doubt, medical improvements have also contributed to this turnaround.

By-Elections Ordered by The Court of Disputed Returns

Six by-elections have been ordered by the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns.

Four by-elections were caused by the Court of Disputed Returns voiding a result. Two of these were in 1904, one in 1907 and one in 1920.

Two by-elections have resulted from the disqualification of an elected member under the terms of Section 44 of the Constitution. The first of these was in 1996 (Lindsay – Jackie Kelly) and the second was in 2017 (New England – Barnaby Joyce). Kelly was re-elected in the by-election and Joyce was returned on December 2, 2017.

Six other by-elections have been caused by dual citizenship issues but the members concerned chose to resign before they were disqualified by the High Court. In 2017, John Alexander (Bennelong) resigned and successfully recontested. In 2018, David Feeney (Batman) resigned but did not recontest. On May 10, 2018, Justine Keay (Braddon), Susan Lamb (Longman) and Joshua Wilson (Fremantle) resigned due to dual citizenship issues. Each successfully re-contested their seats at by-elections on July 28, 2018. Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo) resigned her seat on May 11, 2018, due to dual citizenship issues, and was also re-elected on July 28.

Some vacancies in the House have occurred but the proximity of general elections meant that by-elections were not held. The most recent example of this was the 1992 disqualification of Phil Cleary (Wills). Cleary was re-elected at the 1993 election.

Expulsion

One by-election, in 1920, was caused by the expulsion of a member of the House (Kalgoorlie – Hugh Mahon). This power of expulsion was removed by Section 8 of the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987.

By-Elections in the 46 Parliaments

The table below lists all by-elections since 1901 and indicates during which Parliament they occurred.

There were no by-elections in four parliaments – the 11th (1928-1929), the 18th (1946-1949), the 19th (1949-1951) and the 43rd (2010-2013). The five-year period from 1946 until 1951 is the longest period in which no by-elections took place.

The record for the most number of by-elections is held by the 20th Parliament (1951-1954). It recorded ten by-elections, nine of which were caused by death, including those of two former prime ministers.

The most number of by-elections in a single year was recorded in 2018, with seven in total, including a record five on the same day.