Australian electoral milestones
The following table shows key milestones in the development of democracy in Australia.
| Feature | Year |
|---|---|
| Governor rules alone | 1788 - NSW (incorporates NZ & all of eastern Australia) 1825 - TAS 1832 - WA |
| Legislative Council appointed by Governor | 1824 - NSW 1825 - TAS 1843 - SA |
| Separation from NSW | 1825 - Van Diemen's Land (renamed TAS in 1856) 1840 - NZ 1850 - Port Phillip, to become VIC 1850 - TAS, VIC and SA established separate Legislative Councils on NSW lines. 1859 - Moreton Bay, to become QLD 1863 - Area now known as NT moved to control of SA |
| First elections | 1840 - Adelaide - first city council in Australia 1842 - Sydney city council both elected by wealthy landowners |
| Legislature two-thirds elected | 1843 - NSW - 24 elected,
incl. 6 from Port Phillip (later VIC), 1 from Moreton Bay (later QLD).
Voters men, with a freehold valued at £200, or paying rent of £20 p.a.
Other 12 members remained nominated by Governor, representing
social/economic 'interests' rather than population. 1850 - VIC (20 elected, 10 nominated) 1850 - SA (16 elected, 8 nominated) 1850 - TAS (17 elected, 7 nominated) 1870 - WA (indirectly from 1867)(12 elected, 6 nominated) |
| Franchise widened | 1851 - NSW property qualification widened, freehold valued at £100, or paying rent of £10 p.a. 1856 - NSW widened again, to £100 freehold, £10 p.a. householders, or £10 p.a 3-year lease, or depasturing licenceholders. |
| Secret ballot | 1856 - VIC (first in world) 1856 - SA 1858 - NSW, TAS 1859 - QLD 1893 - WA |
| Bicameral responsible government | 1856 - VIC 1856 - NSW 1856 - SA 1856 - TAS 1859 - QLD 1890 - WA [not granted in the 1850s, because then still a convict colony] |
| Manhood suffrage - male British subjects over 21 granted vote for lower house |
1856 - SA 1857 - VIC 1858 - NSW, with 6 months residence (naturalised citizens - 5-year wait, with 2-year residence) 1859 - on separation from NSW, QLD introduced a property qualification for lower house voting 1872 - QLD reverted to manhood suffrage for lower house voting 1893 - WA 1893 - NSW abolished residence requirement 1896 - TAS 1902 - Commonwealth |
| Female suffrage - female British subjects over 21 granted vote for lower house |
1894 - SA 1899 - WA 1902 - Commonwealth 1902 - NSW 1903 - TAS 1905 - QLD 1908 - VIC |
| Plural voting abolished | N/A - SA 1893 - NSW 1905 - QLD |
| Compulsory enrolment for lower house | 1911 - Commonwealth 1914 - QLD |
| Compulsory voting for lower house | 1915 - QLD 1924 - Commonwealth 1929 - NSW 1939 - WA 1942 - SA |
| Other upper house changes | 1922 - QLD abolished its upper house 1934 - NSW abolished direct election to the upper house and substituted election by the members of both houses. |
| Compulsory voting for upper house | 1985 - QLD, SA, WA |
| Property qualifications for upper house voting removed | 1950 - VIC 1964 - WA 1973 - SA |
| Preferential voting for House of Representatives | 1918 - Commonwealth |
| Territory representation | 1863 - NT represented in SA parliament 1901 - NT lost representation at Federation 1922 - NT joined House of Representatives 1948 - ACT joined House of Representatives 1948 - NT gains partly elected Legislative Council 1974 - NT gains fully elected Legislative Assembly 1974 - Both join Senate 1989 - ACT gains fully elected Legislative Assembly |
| Proportional representation for Senate | 1949 - Commonwealth |
| Territory responsible government | 1978 - NT 1989 - ACT |
| Aborigines | 1856 - SA - not excluded from manhood suffrage 1894 - SA - not excluded from female suffrage Same applied in NSW, VIC & TAS but only in SA did aborigines enroll and vote. 1902 - Commonwealth - excluded unless eligible to vote in a State, but in practice discouragement applied and numbers enrolled dwindled 1949 - Commonwealth - given right to enrol and vote at federal elections provided entitled to enrol for State elections (NSW, SA, VIC, TAS) or had served in the Defence Forces. 1962 - Commonwealth, WA, NT - voluntary enrolment and voting extended to all aborigines 1965 - QLD - voluntary enrolment and voting extended to all aborigines 1971 - QLD - compulsory enrolment and voting 1984 - Commonwealth - compulsory enrolment and voting |
| Voting age lowered to 18 | 1970 - NSW 1972 - SA, WA 1973 - Commonwealth, VIC 1974 - Other states |
| Franchise based on citizenship | 1984 - Non-citizen British subjects already on roll in 1984 retained voting rights |
NB: NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, WA, TAS, NT and ACT are respectively abbreviations for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory.