Redistributions
Updated: 6 January 2017
A redistribution is a redrawing of electoral boundaries to ensure, as near as practicable:
- each state and territory gains representation in the House of Representatives in proportion to their population, and
- there are a similar number of electors in each electoral division for a given state or territory.
A redistribution is required when:
- the number of members in the House of Representatives to which a state or territory is entitled has changed (population change)
- the number of electors in more than one third of the electoral divisions in a state (or one of the electoral divisions in the ACT or the Northern Territory) deviates from the average divisional enrolment by over ten per cent for a period of more than two months, or
- a period of seven years has elapsed since the last redistribution.