Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The lower house is the House of Representatives. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years. But some senators have three year terms. The Senate has a lot of power from the Australian Constitution.

Senate
48th Parliament of Australia
Type
Type	Upper house of the Parliament of Australia
Leadership
President	Sue Lines, Labor since 26 July 2022
Leader of the Government	Penny Wong, Labor since 1 June 2022
Manager of Government Business	Katy Gallagher, Labor since 1 June 2022
Leader of the Opposition	Michaelia Cash, Liberal since 25 January 2025
Manager of Opposition Business	Jonathon Duniam, Liberal since 25 January 2025
Structure
Seats	76
Political groups	Government (26)   Labor (26) Opposition (31) Coalition   Liberal (25)[a]   National (6)[b] Crossbench (19)   Greens (11)   One Nation (2)   Lambie Network (2)   United Australia (1)   Independent (3)[c]
Length of term	6 years (state senators) 3 years (territory senators)
Elections
Voting system	Proportional representation (single transferable vote)
Last election	3 May 2025 (Half Senate election)
Next election	On or before 20 May 2028
Meeting place
Senate Chamber Parliament House Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Website
Senate

There are currently 76 people in the Senate.

Notes

1. Including three Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators who sit in the Liberals party room.
2. Including two Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) senators and one Country Liberal Party senator who sit in the Nationals party room.
3. David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and David Van