Federal Election Dates and Outcomes

This is a table showing federal election dates and outcomes since 1901.

The table shows:

all federal election dates since 1901
whether incumbent governments were re-elected or defeated
winning leader and party
losing leader and party

Periods of Labor and Coalition government are shaded.

Dates and Outcomes of House of Representatives Elections Since 1901
No.	Date	Incumbent Government	Winning Leader Party	Losing Leader Party
1.	29 March 1901	Govt. Elected	Edmund Barton Protectionist	George Reid Free Trade
2.	16 December 1903	Govt. Re-elected	Alfred Deakin Protectionist	George Reid Free Trade
3.	12 December 1906	Govt. Re-elected	Alfred Deakin Protectionist	George Reid Free Trade
4.	13 April 1910	Govt. Defeated	Andrew Fisher ALP	Alfred Deakin Fusion Party
5.	31 May 1913	Govt. Defeated	Joseph Cook Liberal	Andrew Fisher ALP
6.	5 September 1914	Govt. Defeated	Andrew Fisher ALP	Joseph Cook Liberal
7.	5 May 1917	Govt. Re-elected	W.M. Hughes Nationalist	Frank Tudor ALP
8.	13 December 1919	Govt. Re-elected	W.M. Hughes Nationalist	Frank Tudor ALP
9.	16 December 1922	Govt. Re-elected	Stanley Bruce replaced W.M. Hughes Nationalist	Matthew Charlton ALP
10.	14 November 1925	Govt. Re-elected	Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country	Matthew Charlton ALP
11.	17 November 1928	Govt. Re-elected	Stanley Bruce Nationalist/Country	James Scullin ALP
12.	12 October 1929	Govt. Defeated	James Scullin ALP	Stanley Bruce Nationalist
13.	19 December 1931	Govt. Defeated	Joseph Lyons United Australia/Country	James Scullin ALP
14.	15 September 1934	Govt. Re-elected	Joseph Lyons United Australia/Country	James Scullin ALP
15.	23 October 1937	Govt. Re-elected	Joseph Lyons United Australia/Country	John Curtin ALP
16.	21 September 1940	Govt. Re-elected (Minority)	Robert Menzies United Australia Party	John Curtin ALP
17.	21 August 1943	Govt. Re-elected	John Curtin ALP	Arthur Fadden Country Party
18.	28 September 1946	Govt. Re-elected	Ben Chifley ALP	Robert Menzies Liberal
19.	10 December 1949	Govt. Defeated	Robert Menzies Liberal/Country	Ben Chifley ALP
20.	28 April 1951	Govt. Re-elected	Robert Menzies Liberal/Country	Ben Chifley ALP
21.	29 May 1954	Govt. Re-elected	Robert Menzies Liberal/Country	Dr. H.V. Evatt ALP
22.	10 December 1955	Govt. Re-elected	Robert Menzies Liberal/Country	Dr. H.V. Evatt ALP
23.	22 November 1958	Govt. Re-elected	Robert Menzies Liberal/Country	Dr. H.V. Evatt ALP
24.	9 December 1961	Govt. Re-elected	Robert Menzies Liberal/Country	Arthur Calwell ALP
25.	30 November 1963	Govt. Re-elected	Robert Menzies Liberal/Country	Arthur Calwell ALP
26.	26 November 1966	Govt. Re-elected	Harold Holt Liberal/Country	Arthur Calwell ALP
27.	25 October 1969	Govt. Re-elected	John Gorton Liberal/Country	Gough Whitlam ALP
28.	2 December 1972	Govt. Defeated	Gough Whitlam ALP	William McMahon Liberal/Country
29.	18 May 1974	Govt. Re-elected	Gough Whitlam ALP	Bill Snedden Liberal/Country
30.	13 December 1975	Govt. Dismissed 11/11 Caretaker Govt. Elected	Malcolm Fraser Liberal/National	Gough Whitlam ALP
31.	10 December 1977	Govt. Re-elected	Malcolm Fraser Liberal/National	Gough Whitlam ALP
32.	18 October 1980	Govt. Re-elected	Malcolm Fraser Liberal/National	Bill Hayden ALP
33.	5 March 1983	Govt. Defeated	Bob Hawke ALP	Malcolm Fraser Liberal/National
34.	1 December 1984	Govt. Re-elected	Bob Hawke ALP	Andrew Peacock Liberal/National
35.	11 July 1987	Govt. Re-elected	Bob Hawke ALP	John Howard Liberal/National
36.	24 March 1990	Govt. Re-elected	Bob Hawke ALP	Andrew Peacock Liberal/National
37.	13 March 1993	Govt. Re-elected	Paul Keating ALP	John Hewson Liberal/National
38.	2 March 1996	Govt. Defeated	John Howard Liberal/National	Paul Keating ALP
39.	3 October 1998	Govt. Re-elected	John Howard Liberal/National	Kim Beazley ALP
40.	10 November 2001	Govt. Re-elected	John Howard Liberal/Nationals	Kim Beazley ALP
41.	9 October 2004	Govt. Re-elected	John Howard Liberal/Nationals	Mark Latham ALP
42.	24 November 2007	Govt. Defeated	Kevin Rudd ALP	John Howard Liberal/Nationals
43.	21 August 2010	Govt. Re-elected (Minority)	Julia Gillard ALP	Tony Abbott Liberal/Nationals
44.	7 September 2013	Govt. Defeated	Tony Abbott Liberal/Nationals	Kevin Rudd ALP
45.	2 July 2016	Govt. Re-elected	Malcolm Turnbull Liberal/Nationals	Bill Shorten ALP
46.	18 May 2019	Govt. Re-elected	Scott Morrison Liberal/Nationals	Bill Shorten ALP
47.	21 May 2022	Govt Defeated	Anthony Albanese ALP	Scott Morrison Liberal/Nationals

Some interesting facts:

There have been 31 Prime Ministers and 47 elections up to 2022.
The 31 Prime Ministers have served 37 separate terms of office.
Twelve Prime Ministers have been defeated at a general election: Deakin, Fisher, Cook, Bruce, Scullin, Chifley, McMahon, Fraser, Keating, Howard, Rudd, Morrison. Whilst he ceased to be prime minister following his dismissal by the Governor-General, Whitlam could be added as the 13th member of this list.
There have been 24 changes of Prime Minister without an election. Reasons:
- party-room coups (8): Hughes, Menzies, Gorton, Hawke, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull
- defeat in Parliament (6): Deakin (2), Watson, Reid, Fisher, Fadden
- voluntary departure (3): Barton, Fisher, Menzies
- death (3): Lyons, Curtin, Holt
- stop-gap leaders following death of predecessor (3): Page, Forde, McEwen
- vice-regal intervention (1): Whitlam
There have been seven Prime Ministers who never won an election: Watson, Reid, Page, Fadden, Forde, McEwen, McMahon.
There have been eleven Opposition Leaders who contested elections but never became Prime Minister: Tudor, Charlton, Evatt, Calwell, Snedden, Hayden, Peacock, Hewson, Beazley, Latham, Shorten.

Some interesting facts:

See Also: