About the Senate

Nigel is one of 76 senators representing the Australian people in the Federal Senate. Some people are surprised to discover that each state has 12 senators representing them, while the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have only two. Unlike other senators who have a term of six years, those representing the ACT and the NT must be re-elected every three years.

In Senate elections, people are elected when they receive the required proportion or quota of votes necessary. The quota is worked out by dividing the total number of formal votes in the election by one more than the number of places available. No one candidate needs to obtain a majority of votes, as is the case in House of Representative elections.