Australian Senate

Senate
47th Parliament of Australia
File:Coat of arms of the Commonwealth of Australia.svg
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	Simon Birmingham, Liberal since 5 June 2022
Manager of Opposition Business	Anne Ruston, Liberal since 5 June 2022
Structure
Seats	76
255px
Political groups	Template:Composition of Australian Senate
Length of term	6 years (state senators) 3 years (territory senators)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	3 May 2025 (Half Senate election)
Next election	2028
Meeting place
Senate Chamber Parliament House Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Commonwealth of Australia
Website
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.

There are currently 76 people in the Senate.

Australian Senate Media

• Australian Senate 1923.jpg

  The Australian Senate in 1923

• Senate, Old Parliament House, Canberra.JPG

  The Senate chamber at Old Parliament House, Canberra, where the Parliament met between 1927 and 1988.

• Victorian-senate-paper-folded-01.png

  Senate ballot paper used in Victoria for 2016

• Senate panorama.jpg

  Senatepanorama

• A Senate committee room in Parliament House, Canberra

• Australian Parliament Parliamentary Committees.webm

  A short video on Australian Parliamentary Committees