View source for Western Australian Legislative Council

{{Short description|Upper house of the legislature of Western Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox legislature
|background_color = firebrick
|name          = Legislative Council
| legislature   = [[Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council, 2025–2029|42nd Parliament]]
|coa-pic       = Coat of Arms of the Western Australian Legislative Council.svg
|session_room  = 
|session_alt   = 
|foundation    = {{start date and age|7 February 1832}}
|house_type    = Upper house
|body          = Parliament of Western Australia
|leader1_type  = [[President of the Western Australian Legislative Council|President]]
|leader1       = [[Alanna Clohesy]]
|party1        = [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]]
|election1     = 25 May 2021
| leader2_type = Chair of Committees
| leader2 = [[Steve Martin (Western Australian politician)|Steve Martin]]
| party2 =[[Western Australian Liberal Party|Liberal]] 
| election2 = 22 May 2025
| leader3_type = Leader of the Government
| leader3 = [[Stephen Dawson (politician)|Stephen Dawson]]
| party3 = [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]]
| election3 = 17 March 2025
| leader4_type = Deputy Leader of the Government
| leader4 = [[Jackie Jarvis]]
| party4 = [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]]
| election4 = 17 March 2025
| party5 = [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]]
| election5 = 16 May 2018
| members      = 37
| political_groups1= '''[[Government of Western Australia|Government]] (16)'''<br>{{Color box|{{party color|Australian Labor Party}}|border=darkgray}} [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]] (16)<br>'''[[Opposition (Australia)|Opposition]] (12)'''{{efn|After the [[2025 Western Australian state election|2025 election]], the Nationals and Liberals formed an opposition alliance. However, it is not a formal coalition and both parties maintain their independence from each other.}}<br>{{Color box|{{party color|Liberal Party of Australia}}|border=darkgray}} [[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberal]] (10)<br>{{Color box|{{party color|National Party of Australia}}|border=darkgray}} [[National Party of Australia (WA)|National]] (2)<br>'''[[Crossbencher#Australia|Crossbench]] (9)'''<br>{{Color box|{{party color|Green independents}}|border=darkgray}} [[Greens Western Australia|Greens]] (4)<br>{{Color box|FF6900|border=darkgray}} [[Pauline Hanson's One Nation|One Nation]] (2)<br>{{Color box|5B2887|border=darkgray}} [[Animal Justice Party|Animal Justice]] ([[Amanda Dorn|1]])<br>{{Color box|FFDC00|border=darkgray}} [[Australian Christians (political party)|Christians]] ([[Maryka Groenewald|1]])<br>{{nowrap|{{Color box|#72c432|border=darkgray}} [[Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party|Legalise Cannabis]] ([[Brian Walker (politician)|1]])}}
| voting_system1 = [[Single transferable vote]]
| term_length = 4 years
|structure1         = 2025.05.22 Western Australian Legislative Council - Composition of Members.svg
|structure1_res     = 201px
|last_election1 = [[2025 Western Australian state election|8 March 2025]]
|next_election1 = [[2029 Western Australian state election|10 March 2029]]
|meeting_place = Legislative Council Chamber<br> [[Parliament House, Perth|Parliament House]], [[Perth]]<br> [[Western Australia]], [[Australia]]
|website       = [https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/memblist.nsf/WALegislativeCouncil WA Legislative Council]
}}

The '''Western Australian Legislative Council''' is the [[upper house]] of the [[Parliament of Western Australia]], a state of [[Australia]]. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]], the lower house. The two Houses of Parliament sit in [[Parliament House, Perth|Parliament House]] in the state capital, [[Perth]].

Until 2021, for the election of members of the Legislative Council, the state was divided into six [[Electoral regions of Western Australia|electoral regions]] by community of interest – three metropolitan and three rural – each electing six members to the Legislative Council using [[Single transferable vote|single transferable voting]] (STV).<ref>[http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/web/newwebparl.nsf/iframewebpages/Legislative+Council Election of the Legislative Council] on website of Parliament of Western Australia</ref><ref name="EARA 2005">{{cite Legislation AU|WA|num_act|eaara20051o2005296|Electoral Amendment and Repeal Act 2005|4}}.</ref> Each Council region overlapped with a varying number of Assembly seats and contained a variable number of voters, with the rural regions each containing significantly fewer voters than the metropolitan regions. The Legislative Council had traditionally been controlled by a coalition of the Liberal and National parties.<ref name="LCelection">Parliament of Western Australia, [http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/webcms/webcms.nsf/content/legislative-council-election-of-the-legislative-council Election of the Legislative Council]</ref>

At the [[2021 Western Australian state election|2021 election]], Labor won majority control of the chamber, the first time any party gained the majority in the upper house since [[1983 Western Australian state election|1983]].<ref>ABC News, [https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/wa/2021/guide/lc-results Legislative Council results]</ref> Subsequently, legislation was passed later that year to abolish the six regions and increase the size of the council to 37 seats, all elected at-large and continuing to use STV to elect the members. The use of a state-wide district, as is also used in New South Wales and South Australia, lowers the threshold for entry to the chamber (the quota) to below 3% of the state-wide vote (as determined by first preferences alone or a combination of first preference votes and votes transferred in accordance to lower preferences), thus ensuring minor parties and independents receive their due share of seats. The changes took effect in the [[2025 Western Australian state election|2025 election]].<ref name="15Sep2021">{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-15/mcgowan-election-laws-regional-representation/100463700|title=Mark McGowan announces sweeping changes to WA's electoral system, abolishing regions|author=Rhiannon Shine and Jacob Kagi|date=15 September 2021|work=ABC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/bills.nsf/BillProgressPopup?openForm&ParentUNID=8244BB10DC5E17A0482587500041A383|title=Progress of Bills: Constitutional and Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Equality) Bill 2021|work=parliament.wa.gov.au}}</ref><ref name="abc.net.au">{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-17/wa-government-uses-majority-to-overhaul-wa-electoral-system/100625010|title=WA government uses majority to introduce sweeping changes to electoral system|date=17 November 2021|website=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]}}</ref><ref name="2025act">{{cite web|url=https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/prod/filestore.nsf/FileURL/mrdoc_44401.pdf/$FILE/Constitutional%20and%20Electoral%20Legislation%20Amendment%20(Electoral%20Equality)%20Act%202021%20-%20%5B00-00-00%5D.pdf?OpenElement|title=Constitutional and Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Equality) Act 2021|work=legislation.wa.gov.au}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/wa/2025/guide/lc-preview | title=Legislative Council Preview | website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] }}</ref>

The 2025 Legislative Council election has set two records - the largest number of members elected in a single contest in Australian history, and the smallest quota used in such an election.<ref>Antony Green, "Election Preview". {{Cite web |last1=Green |first1=Antony |last2=Analyst |first2=ABC Chief Election |title=Election Preview |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/wa/2025/guide/preview |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=abc.net.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> It is also one of the largest contests held anywhere using STV.<ref>Farrell and McAllister, The Australian Electoral System, p. 85</ref>

Since the [[2013 Western Australian state election|2013 state election]], both houses of Parliament have had fixed four-year terms, with elections being held every four years on the second Saturday in March.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-03/fixed-state-elections/3617230 |title=New laws fix state election dates |date=3 November 2011 |publisher=Abc.net.au |access-date=26 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Antony Green|author-link=Antony Green|url=http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2011/02/future-election-dates.html |title=Future election dates |publisher=Blogs.abc.net.au |date=8 February 2011 |access-date=26 January 2012}}</ref>

==Current distribution of seats==

The current composition of the Legislative Council is as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|- 
! Party
! Seats held
! colspan="16" | Legislative Council
|-
|| [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor]] || 16
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} | &nbsp;
|-
|| [[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberal]] || 10
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}} | &nbsp;
|-
|| [[Greens Western Australia|Greens]] || 4
| {{Australian party style|Greens}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Greens}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Greens}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Greens}} | &nbsp;
|-
|| [[National Party of Australia (WA)|Nationals]] || 2
| {{Australian party style|Nationals}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|Nationals}} | &nbsp;
|-
|| [[Pauline Hanson's One Nation|One Nation]] || 2
| {{Australian party style|One Nation}} | &nbsp;
| {{Australian party style|One Nation}} | &nbsp;
|-
|| [[Legalise Cannabis Western Australia Party|Legalise Cannabis]] || 1
| style="background:#72c432;" | &nbsp;
|-
|| [[Australian Christians (political party)|Christians]] || 1
| {{Australian party style|Australian Christians}} | &nbsp;
|-
|| [[Animal Justice Party|Animal Justice]] || 1
| {{Australian party style|Animal Justice}} | &nbsp;
|-
|| Total || 37
|}

* 19 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation.

==History==
Western Australia's first representative parliament was the Legislative Council, first created in 1832 as an appointive body. Initially it consisted only of official members; that is, public officials whose office guaranteed them a place on the Council. The initial appointees were the [[Governor of Western Australia|Governor]], [[James Stirling (Royal Navy officer)|James Stirling]], the Senior Military Officer next in command to the Governor, [[Frederick Irwin]], the [[Colonial Secretary of Western Australia|Colonial Secretary]], [[Peter Broun]], the [[Surveyor General of Western Australia|Surveyor-General]], [[John Septimus Roe]], and the [[Attorney-General of Western Australia|Advocate-General]], [[William Mackie]]. The Legislative Council first met on 7 February 1832.

Three years later, an attempt was made to expand the council by including four unofficial members to be nominated by the governor. However, the public demand for elected rather than nominated members was so great that implementation of the change was delayed until 1838.

In 1850, the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] passed an act, the [[Australian Constitutions Act 1850]] ([[13 & 14 Vict.]] c. 59), that permitted the Australian colonies to establish legislative councils that were one-third nominated and two-thirds elected, but only under the condition that the colonies take responsibility for the costs of their own government. Because of this provision, Western Australia was slow to adopt the system. In 1867, the [[Governor of Western Australia|governor]] responded to public demand for [[representative democracy|representative government]] by holding unofficial elections and subsequently nominating each elected person to the council. Three years later, representative government was officially adopted and the Legislative council was changed to consist of 12 elected members and 6 members nominated by the governor. Suffrage was limited to landowners and those with a prescribed level of income.

When Western Australia gained [[responsible government]] in 1890, a bicameral system was adopted and the Legislative Council became a house of review for legislation passed by the popularly elected Legislative Assembly. This council consisted of 15 members, all nominated by the governor.  However, it was provided that once the population of the colony reached 60,000, the Legislative Council would become elective. The colony was expected to take many years to reach a population of 60,000 but the discovery of the eastern goldfields and the consequent gold rush caused that figure to be reached by 1893. The constitution was then amended to make the Legislative Council an elective house of 21 seats, with three members to be elected from each of seven provinces.  The first election to the council was held following the dissolution of parliament in June 1894.

This system was retained until 1962 when, over the next two years, the council was reformed, creating a series of two-member electorates. Members were elected for six years; one from each electorate was elected every three years. Universal suffrage was also granted in order to bring the council into line with the assembly.

This arrangement remained until 10 June 1987 when the [[Brian Burke (Australian politician)|Burke]] Labor government, with the conditional support of the National Party, introduced a system of multi-member electorates with proportional representation through STV. The legislation was made possible because the [[Australian Democrats]] in 1986 negotiated an election preference flow to Labor in return for an explicit undertaking on Legislative Council electoral reform, which resulted in the defeat of a number of Liberal councillors who were committed to opposing such reform.<ref>Australian Democrats media statement by [[Jean Jenkins (politician)|Jean Jenkins]], 10 June 1987.</ref><ref>Electoral Reform expected to alter balance of power, ''The Australian'', 11 June 1987, p.5</ref>

Following this reform, the state was divided into six electoral regions, three metropolitan and three rural, each electing between five and seven members to the Legislative Council.<ref name="EARA 2005" /> All seats would be up for re-election every four years. The new system maintained malapportionment across zones, such that the vote of a Perth voter counted for much less than that of a rural voter. While the [[Liberal Party of Australia (Western Australian Division)|Liberal Party]] and [[Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch)|Labor Party]] were both advantaged and disadvantaged by this system, it strongly benefited the [[National Party of Australia (WA)|National Party]]. During the 1990s, Liberal Premier [[Richard Court]] considered further changing the system along the lines of that in place in [[South Australia]], but backed down in the face of National Party opposition.

A 2005 reform established "one vote one value" in the Assembly, but not in the Council, where rural areas remained significantly overrepresented. The Perth metropolitan area accounted for 70% of the state's population, but only elected half of the Council. The smallest region, the Mining and Pastoral Region, had 16% of the average number of electors in the three metropolitan regions, which on paper gave Mining and Pastoral voters six times the voting power of those in the city of Perth. However, according to ABC election analyst [[Antony Green]], the actual bias was greater due to historically lower turnout in the Mining and Pastoral region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-06/the-growing-bias-against-perth-and-the-south-west-in-was-legisla/9388884|title=The Growing Bias Against Perth and the South West in WA's Legislative Council|last=Green|first=Antony|author-link=Antony Green|publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]|date=6 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="greenblog">{{cite web |last1=Green |first1=Antony |title=WA's Zonal Electoral System and the Legislative Council Reform Debate – Antony Green's Election Blog |url=https://antonygreen.com.au/was-zonal-electoral-system-and-the-legislative-council-reform-debate/ |website=Antony Green's Election Blog |date=4 May 2021 |access-date=22 May 2021 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! Electors <br> (2021) !! Electors per<br> Member
|-
| '''[[Electoral region of Agricultural|Agricultural]]''' || 103,378 || 17,230
|-
| '''[[Electoral region of East Metropolitan|East Metropolitan]]''' || 423,759 || 70,627
|-
| '''[[Electoral region of Mining and Pastoral|Mining and Pastoral]]''' || 69,651 || 11,609
|-
| '''[[Electoral region of North Metropolitan|North Metropolitan]]''' || 427,779 || 71,297
|-
| '''[[Electoral region of South Metropolitan|South Metropolitan]]''' || 449,182 || 74,864
|-
| '''[[Electoral region of South West|South West]]''' || 242,983 || 40,497
|-
| Total ||  1,716,732 || 47,687
|}
According to Green, the rural weighting was still significant enough that it was all but impossible for a Liberal premier in Western Australia to govern without National support, even if the Liberals won enough Legislative Assembly seats to theoretically allow them to govern alone.<ref>{{cite news |last=Green |first=Antony |author-link=Antony Green |date=7 February 2013 |title=2013 WA Election Preview |url=http://www.abc.net.au/elections/wa/2013/guide/preview.htm |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]}}</ref>

In 2021, the Labor Party used its first majority in both the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly to remove the only malapportionment remaining in any state or territory legislative chamber in Australia. The six individual single transferable vote (STV) districts for the Legislative Council were dissolved. They were replaced by one state-wide district electing all 37 Legislative Councillors using STV.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Green |first1=Antony |last2=Analyst |first2=ABC Chief Election |title=Election Preview |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/wa/2025/guide/preview |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=abc.net.au |language=en-AU}}</ref> This took effect at the [[2025 Western Australian state election|2025 election]]. 

==Constituencies==
===1870–1890: Electoral districts===
[[File:Western Australian Legislative Council electoral districts, 1885.png|thumb|upright|Map of Legislative Council electoral districts in 1885]]
The ''Legislative Council Act 1870'', which took effect the same year, created ten electoral districts for the Legislative Council, electing twelve members in total.<ref>{{cite Legislation AU|WA|num_act|lc33vn13257|Legislative Council (33 Vict. No. 13)}}.</ref> Three later acts of parliament (in 1874, 1883, and 1887) established four more electoral districts, created from the territory of existing districts.
{{Col-start}}
{{Col-2}}
* [[Electoral district of Albany (Legislative Council)|Albany]]
* [[Electoral district of Fremantle (Legislative Council)|Fremantle]] (two members)
* [[Electoral district of Gascoyne (Legislative Council)|Gascoyne]] (1883)
* [[Electoral district of Geraldton (Legislative Council)|Geraldton]]
* [[Electoral district of Greenough (Legislative Council)|Greenough]]
* [[Electoral district of Kimberley (Legislative Council)|Kimberley]] (1887)
* [[Electoral district of Murray and Williams|Murray and Williams]] (1874)
{{Col-2}}
* [[Electoral district of the North|The North]] (1874; two members from 1883)
* [[Electoral district of Perth (Legislative Council)|Perth]] (two members)
* [[Electoral district of Swan (Legislative Council)|Swan]]
* [[Electoral district of Toodyay (Legislative Council)|Toodyay]]
* [[Electoral district of Vasse (Legislative Council)|Vasse]]
* [[Electoral district of Wellington (Legislative Council)|Wellington]]
* [[Electoral district of York (Legislative Council)|York]]
{{Col-end}}

===1894–1989: Electoral provinces===
In 1890, following the creation of the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]], the Legislative Council returned to being a completely appointed body, with 15 members. The ''Constitution Act Amendment Act 1893'' was subsequently passed, taking effect in 1894, to provide for seven electoral provinces, each electing three members. Additional provinces were created in 1897 and 1900, and a further reorganisation occurred in 1950 (following the passage of the ''Electoral Districts Act 1947'' establishing an independent electoral commission).
{{Col-start}}
{{Col-2}}
* [[Central Province (Western Australia)|Central Province]]
* [[East Province (Western Australia)|East Province]] (1894–1950)
* [[Metropolitan Province (Western Australia)|Metropolitan Province]]
* [[Metropolitan-Suburban Province]] (1900–1950)
* [[Midland Province]] (1950)
* [[North Province (Western Australia)|North Province]]
{{Col-2}}
* [[North-East Province (Western Australia)|North-East Province]] (1897)
* [[South-East Province]]
* [[South Province (Western Australia)|South Province]] (1900)
* [[South-West Province (Western Australia)|South-West Province]]
* [[Suburban Province]] (1950)
* [[West Province (Western Australia)|West Province]]
{{Col-end}}

The ''Constitution Acts Amendment Act (No.2) 1963'', effective from the [[1965 Western Australian state election|1965 state election]], abolished the ten existing three-member provinces, replacing them with 15 two-member provinces. One new province was added at the [[1977 Western Australian state election|1977 state election]]. Some of the new provinces bore the same names as the previous provinces.
{{Col-start}}
{{Col-2}}
* [[Central Province (Western Australia)|Central Province]]
* [[East Metropolitan Province]] (1977)
* [[Lower Central Province]]
* [[Lower North Province]]
* [[Lower West Province]]
* [[Metropolitan Province (Western Australia)|Metropolitan Province]]
* [[North-East Metropolitan Province]]
* [[North-Central Metropolitan Province]]
* [[North Metropolitan Province]]
{{Col-2}}
* [[North Province (Western Australia)|North Province]]
* [[South-East Province]]
* [[South-East Metropolitan Province]]
* [[South Metropolitan Province]]
* [[South Province (Western Australia)|South Province]]
* [[South-West Province (Western Australia)|South-West Province]]
* [[Upper West Province]]
* [[West Province (Western Australia)|West Province]]
{{Col-end}}

===1989–2025: Electoral regions===
{{Main|Electoral regions of Western Australia}}
The ''Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987'', which took effect at the [[1989 Western Australian state election|1989 state election]], created six electoral regions to replace the previous electoral provinces. Initially, the South West and North Metropolitan regions each returned seven members, while the other regions each returned five.<ref>{{cite Legislation AU|WA|num_act|aara198740o1987337|Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987}}</ref> This arrangement was changed to have each region return six members for the [[2008 Western Australian state election|2008 state election]].

{{Col-start}}
{{Col-2}}
* [[Agricultural Region|Agricultural]]
* [[East Metropolitan Region|East Metropolitan]]
* [[Mining and Pastoral Region|Mining and Pastoral]]
{{Col-2}}
* [[North Metropolitan Region (Western Australia)|North Metropolitan]]
* [[South Metropolitan Region|South Metropolitan]]
* [[South West Region (Western Australia)|South West]]
{{Col-end}}
[[File:Regions of the Western Australian Legislative Council.svg|center|thumb|400x400px|The historical six regions of the Western Australian Legislative Council]]

===From 2025: State-wide electorate===
After the [[2021 Western Australian state election|2021 state election]], in which the Labor Party won a majority in both houses of parliament, the state government formed a commission to explore reform to the Legislative Council electoral system.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-30/wa-electoral-reform-on-table-as-mccusker-panel-appointed/100106818|title=Electoral reform in WA on the cards as group voting tickets, proportional voting under review|date=30 April 2021|website=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]]}}</ref> The committee recommended the abolition of the six electoral regions in favour of a single state-wide electorate and the abolition of [[group voting ticket]]s, among other changes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-09/Final%20Report%20MEC%20on%20Electoral%20Reform_2021_web.pdf|title=Ministerial Expert Committee on Electoral Reform - Final Report|date=28 June 2021|publisher=[[Government of Western Australia]]}}</ref> The ''Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Equality) Bill 2021'' was passed in November 2021 and established a "one vote, one value" system in the Legislative Council for the first time. The electoral regions were abolished and replaced by a single state-wide electorate of 37 members, while GVTs were replaced by optional preferential voting. The changes took effect in the [[2025 Western Australian state election|2025 state election]].<ref name="abc.net.au"/> Voters were required to vote for one or more preferred parties above the dividing line on the ballot paper, or at least 20 candidates below the dividing line.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/bills.nsf/8244BB10DC5E17A0482587500041A383/$File/EM%2B47-1.pdf|title=EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM: CONSTITUTIONAL AND ELECTORAL LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (ELECTORAL EQUALITY) BILL 2021|work=parliament.wa.gov.au|quote=Refer to pp. 3}}</ref><ref name=2025act/>

==See also==
*[[2021 Western Australian state election]]
*[[Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council]]
*[[Parliaments of the Australian states and territories]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book| last1 = Griffith| first1 = Gareth| last2 = Srinivasan| first2 = Sharath| title = State Upper Houses in Australia | publisher =  New South Wales Parliamentary Library Service| year = 2001| url =https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/state-upper-houses-in-australia/bg01-01.pdf}}

==External links==
* [https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/australias-upper-houses/11038996 Australia's Upper Houses - ABC Rear Vision] A podcast about the development of Australia's upper houses into STV proportional representation elected chambers.

{{Parliaments of Australia}}
{{Members of the Parliament of Western Australia}}
{{Government of Western Australia}}
{{Electoral regions of Western Australia}}

[[Category:Western Australian Legislative Council| ]]
[[Category:Parliament of Western Australia]]