ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the electoral systems used to elect parliaments in Australia. Electoral systems are dynamic and can be changed through parliamentary means to reflect population changes or changing priorities given to representation of the people. An Electoral Amendment Bill in 2001 failed to gain a majority of parliamentarians' support in both houses of the Western Australian parliament. The Australian Electoral Commission is an independent statutory authority established under the provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. Debates that happen at a State level often involve the prioritising of either a majoritarian- or consensus-based model for the electoral system, or even for one of the houses of parliament in particular. Electoral behaviour research, in Australia and in other English-speaking countries, is driven by a major preoccupation: explaining the level of vote received by each political party at a particular election.
