Australia

House of Representatives

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Parliament
Chamber name
House of Representatives
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
3

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1913 to 1929
from 1956
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Asia-Pacific Group
Twelve Plus Group

Notes: Geopolitical group affiliation in case of elections: Asia-Pacific Group

Speaker

Official title
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Speaker
Milton Dick (Male)
Date of birth: 21 Jul 1972
Term
26 Jul 2022
Additional information

Elected on 26 July 2022.

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title
Clerk
Secretary General
Claressa Surtees (Female)
Term
12 Aug 2019
Notes

Sworn in on 12 Aug. 2019.

Members

Statutory number of members
151
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
151
Current number of members
150
Men
93
Women
57
Percentage of women
38.0%
Statutory number of members per country 
227
Population (in thousands)
26,451
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
116,524

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
51.7
(2022-07)
Youngest member
Stephen Bates (Male)
Youngest member (years)
29
Oldest member
Bob Katter (Male)
Oldest member (years)
77
Number of members, by age (2022-07)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 3 12 9 17 38 9 3 0 0 91
Female 0 0 6 7 13 24 7 0 0 0 57
Totals per age interval 0 3 18 16 30 62 16 3 0 0 148
Total <= 45: 37 Total >= 46: 111
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
2.0% 2.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
14.2% 10% 4.1%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
25.0% 16% 8.8%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: Voluntary political party quotas.

Sources: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas-database/country?country=14

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No