Redistribution (Australia)

In Australia, a redistribution is the process of redrawing the boundaries of electoral divisions of the House of Representatives, a process that in the United States is called redistricting. The Australian Electoral Commission, an independent statutory authority, completely independent of political considerations, oversees the redistribution process, taking into account many factors, including the one vote, one value principle. Members of Parliament and political parties may make submissions to the Commission on proposed new boundaries, but any interference with the Commission's deliberations would be a serious offence.

Section 24 of the Constitution of Australia specifies that the number of members of the House of Representatives in each State is to be calculated by reference to their population, with a minimum of five members guaranteed for each original State. Each Territory is granted a minimum of two members. After the number of members for each State and Territory is determined, in a process called apportionment or determination, the State and Territory is divided into that number of electoral divisions.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 requires that all electoral divisions within a state or territory have approximately an equal numbers of enrolled voters. The Commonwealth Electoral Act (No. 2) 1973, passed at the joint sitting of Parliament, reduced the allowable quota variation of the number of electors in each division from 20% to 10%. Demographic changes both between States and within States requires a regular review of division boundaries to ensure that the number of electors in each division within a State or Territory does not deviate by more than 10% (plus or minus) from the state or territory average. A redistribution (sometimes called redrawing or "revision") of the geographic boundaries of divisions takes place at least once every seven years. When the Commission determines that population shifts within a state have caused some seats to have too many or too few voters, a redistribution is called and new boundaries are drawn up. Redistributions are also held when the Commission determines (following a formula laid down in the Electoral Act) that the distribution of seats among the states and territories must be changed because some states are growing faster than others.

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