Essential information about the Tasmanian federal redistribution

Why is the Tasmania undergoing a redistribution?

Tasmania is undergoing a redistribution because more than seven years have elapsed since the last redistribution was determined.

Sub-section 59(2) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (the Electoral Act) specifies that a redistribution process should be undertaken when:

• the number of members of the House of Representatives to which a state or territory is entitled has changed, or
• the number of electors in more than one-third of the electoral divisions in a state (or one of the electoral divisions in the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory) deviates from the average divisional enrolment by over ten per cent for a period of more than two months, or
• a period of seven years has elapsed since the last redistribution process was determined.

The most recent redistribution of Tasmania was determined on 16 February 2009. The redistribution was due to commence in February/March 2016 but was deferred as it fell due within the last 12 months of the 44th Parliament. As a consequence, under the Electoral Act the redistribution was required to commence with 30 days of the first meeting of the new House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives in the 45th Parliament met for the first time on 30 August 2016.

The redistribution formally commenced on 1 September 2016.

How many federal electoral divisions will there be after the redistribution?

Tasmania remains entitled to five federal electoral divisions.

Will the boundaries of the electoral divisions change?

Electoral divisions are required to fall within two numerical ranges:

• the number of electors enrolled in each federal electoral division as at 1 September 2015 must be between minus 10 per cent and plus 10 per cent of the current enrolment quota of 75 014
  • The number of electors enrolled in each federal electoral division in Tasmania must be between 67 513 and 82 515.
• as far as practicable, the projected number of electors enrolled in each federal electoral division in Tasmania at the projection time would be between minus 3.5 per cent and plus 3.5 per cent of the projected enrolment quota of 76 983
  • As far as practicable, the number of electors projected to be enrolled in each federal electoral division in Tasmania at the projection time of 14 May 2021 would be between 74 289 and 79 677.

Do all Tasmania federal electoral divisions meet the requirement?

No. On the boundaries in place on 1 September 2015, two of Tasmania's federal electoral divisions do not meet this requirement.

What is the result of requirement not being met?

Because the requirement to be within the specified range for both enrolment as at 1 September 2015 and projected enrolment as at 14 May 2021 is not met by all five of Tasmania's federal electoral divisions, the boundaries will need to change.

Changes will be made to some or all of the boundaries of Tasmania's federal electoral divisions. Changes may be made to those federal electoral divisions which meet the requirement as a consequence of making changes to the boundaries of those federal electoral divisions which do not meet the requirement. This is to ensure that all of Tasmania's federal electoral divisions meet the requirement.

Will the names of the current electoral divisions change?

The names of the electoral divisions may or may not change.

Individuals and organisations are able to propose alternative names for electoral divisions at two stages of the redistribution process:

• the suggestions and comments on suggestions stage, and
• the objections and comments on objections stage.

The Redistribution Committee will consider any ideas it receives in suggestions and comments on suggestions advocating a change of name for a federal electoral division and in their proposed redistribution will indicate whether it has or has not proposed changing the name of a federal electoral division, together with reasons for the proposal.

Individuals and organisations can object to the Redistribution Committee's proposed names of federal electoral divisions. Any ideas received in objections and comments on objections advocating a change of name for a federal electoral division will be considered by the augmented Electoral Commission for Tasmania, who is ultimately responsible for determining the names of the federal electoral divisions in Tasmania.

Information about the names of current federal electoral divisions in Tasmania

How do current electoral division names meet the guidelines for naming electoral divisions?

The Guidelines for naming federal electoral divisions were developed by the AEC from recommendations made by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters in 1995 in its Report on the Effectiveness and Appropriateness of the Redistribution Provisions of Parts III and IV of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. These guidelines are non-binding but may be referred to by the Redistribution Committee for Tasmania or the augmented Electoral Commission for Tasmania to assist with their decision making process.

The extent to which the names of Tasmania's current federal electoral divisions meet these guidelines is displayed below.

Does Tasmania have Federation electoral divisions?

'Federation electoral divisions' have been interpreted in two ways.

One interpretation is that Federation electoral divisions are those which were in place for the first federal election held in 1901. However, for the first federal election in 1901, Tasmania was not divided into electoral divisions. At the 1901 elections, Tasmania voted as one electoral division and members of the House of Representatives were elected for Tasmania. On this interpretation, 'Tasmania' would be the Federation electoral division.

Tasmania was divided into five electoral divisions prior to the second federal election in 1903, including the Divisions of Bass, Denison and Franklin. The second interpretation is that because these electoral divisions were defined and named before the second federal election, they are original federation electoral divisions in Tasmania and it would be against the spirit of the guidelines to change these names without very strong reasons.

Is the Division of Lyons named for an Australian Prime Minister?

Yes, it is named to acknowledge the Rt Hon Joseph Lyons CH who was Prime Minister from 6 February 1932 to 7 April 1939. But the electoral division is also named to acknowledge Dame Enid Lyons who was the first woman member of the House of Representatives as the Member for Darwin in Tasmania and the first woman to hold Cabinet rank.

The joint naming of an electoral division is uncommon. At the commencement of this redistribution, only five of 150 electoral divisions were named to acknowledge more than one person.

When will the redistribution come into effect?

Changes to federal electoral divisions as a result of this redistribution will apply from the day on which a notice of determination is published in the Commonwealth Notices Government Gazette. This notice will be published on 14 November 2017.

Electoral events will not be contested on these new federal electoral divisions until a writ is issued for a general election following the expiry or dissolution of the House of Representatives.