Divisions of The Australian House of Representatives - Apportionment

Apportionment

Divisions are apportioned among the states and territories of Australia in accordance with section 24 of the Constitution of Australia and the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. Generally, apportionment among the states and territories is based on population, with the following provisos:

• Each original state must have at least 5 Members of Parliament (a provision that gives Tasmania more representation than its population would suggest)
• The Northern Territory is allocated slightly more representation under recent legislative amendments
• The Constitution mandates that the House of Representatives should be approximately twice as large as the Senate

Within each state and territory, boundaries must be redrawn in a process known as redistribution at least once every 7 years, or when the state's entitlement to the number of MPs change. Boundaries are drawn by Redistribution Committee, and apportionment within a state is on the basis of the number of enrolled voters rather than total residents.

Within a state or territory, the number of enrolled voters in each Division can not vary by more than 10% from the average across the state, nor can the number of voters vary by more than 3.5% from the average projected enrolment three-and-a-half years into the future.

Divisions are divided into four classes according to population and demographic: inner metropolitan (well-established portions of a state capital city), outer metropolitan (more recently developed portions of a state capital), provincial (divisions made up predominantly of regional cities) and rural.