Members of the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of the Australian State of Victoria, are elected from eight multi-member electorates called regions. The Legislative Council has 40 members, five from each of the eight regions.
The boundaries of the electoral regions were last drawn in 2021.
Reform of 2003 A major reform of the Parliament was made by the Labor government, led by Steve Bracks, by the Constitution (Parliamentary Reform) Act 2003. Under the new system, members of the Legislative Council serve terms linked to elections for the Legislative Assembly, which are fixed four-year terms, unless dissolved sooner.
Each electoral region consists of 11 contiguous Legislative Assembly electoral districts with about 420,000 electors each. Each region elects five members to the Legislative Council by a single transferable vote. There are currently 40 members of the Legislative Council, four fewer than previously. The changes also introduced proportional representation, making it easier for minor parties to gain seats in the Legislative Council. With each region electing 5 members, the quota for a seat in each region, after distribution of preferences, is 16.7% (one-sixth). At the same time, the Council's ability to block supply was removed.
The Electoral Boundaries Commission drew the boundaries of the new regions in 2005. The new system came into effect for the 2006 Victorian election.
Current regions Victoria is divided into eight electoral regions, 3 rural and 5 metropolitan:
Eastern Victoria Region North-Eastern Metropolitan Region Northern Metropolitan Region Northern Victoria Region South-Eastern Metropolitan Region Southern Metropolitan Region Western Metropolitan Region Western Victoria Region
The boundaries of the electoral regions were last drawn in 2021 in unison with the redistricting of electorates. Prior to the 2022 state election, the Eastern Metropolitan Region was renamed the North-Eastern Metropolitan region.
Provinces 1856 to 2006 The Legislative Council was formerly elected from 22 single-member electorates called "provinces". The members of the council sat for two assembly terms so two members sat for each province. This is a list of the provinces as of 2005:
Ballarat Province (1937) Central Highlands Province (1976) Chelsea Province (1976) Doutta Galla Province (1937) East Yarra Province (1904) Eumemmerring Province (1985) Geelong Province (1976) Gippsland Province (1882) Higinbotham Province (1937) Jika Jika Province (1985) Koonung Province (1992) Melbourne Province (1882) Melbourne North Province (1904) Melbourne West Province (1904) Monash Province (1937) North Eastern Province (1882) North Western Province# (1856) Silvan Province (1992) South Eastern Province (1882) Templestowe Province (1967) Waverley Province (1976) Western Province# (1856) Western Port Province (2002)
The following provinces also existed but were abolished prior to 2002:
Bendigo Province (1904–1985) Boronia Province (1967–1992) Central Province# (1856–1882) Eastern Province# (1856–1882) Melbourne East Province (1904–1937) Melbourne South Province (1904–1937) Nelson Province (1882–1937) North Central Province (1882–1904) North Yarra Province (1882–1904) Northern Province (1882–1976) Nunawading Province (1976–1992) Public and Railway Officers Province (1904–1907) South Western Province# (1856–1976) South Yarra Province (1882–1904) Southern Province# (1856–1967) Thomastown Province (1976–1985) Wellington Province (1882–1937)
# = Original Province of inaugural (upper-house chamber) Legislative Council 1856
The old system tended to favour the Liberal Party and the National Party (often in coalition) over the Labor Party and other parties . This caused many instances where a Labor-controlled Assembly faced an opposition-controlled Council — a rare occurrence elsewhere in Australia.
Electoral districts 1851 to 1856 The Victorian Legislative Council was initially a single chamber (unicameral) when first created and consisted of members some of whom were nominated and some elected. The electoral districts were:
Avoca Ballaarat Belfast and Warrnambool Castlemaine Geelong Gipps' Land Grant Kilmore, Kyneton and Seymour Loddon City of Melbourne Murray Normanby, Dundas and Follett North Bourke Ovens Portland Ripon, Hampden, Grenville and Polwarth Sandhurst South Bourke, Evelyn and Mornington Talbot, Dalhousie and Anglesey Villiers and Heytesbury Wimmera
MLCs by regions Northern Metropolitan Region Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Labor(Theo Theophanous)Liberal(Matthew Guy)Labor(Jenny Mikakos)Greens(Greg Barber)Labor(Nazih Elasmar)2010Labor(Jenny Mikakos)Liberal(Matthew Guy)Greens(Greg Barber)Labor(Nazih Elasmar)Liberal(Craig Ondarchie)2014Labor(Jenny Mikakos)Liberal(Craig Ondarchie)Greens(Greg Barber)Labor(Nazih Elasmar) Sex Party(Fiona Patten)2018Labor(Jenny Mikakos)Labor(Nazih Elasmar)Greens(Samantha Ratnam)Liberal(Craig Ondarchie)Reason(Fiona Patten)2022Labor(Sheena Watt)Liberal(Evan Mulholland)Greens(Samantha Ratnam)Labor(Enver Erdogan)Democratic Labour(Adem Somyurek)
Southern Metropolitan Region Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Liberal(David Davis)Labor(John Lenders)Liberal(Andrea Coote)Greens(Sue Pennicuik)Labor(Evan Thornley)2010Liberal(David Davis)Labor(John Lenders)Liberal(Andrea Coote)Liberal(Georgie Crozier)Greens(Sue Pennicuik)2014Liberal(David Davis)Labor(Philip Dalidakis)Liberal(Georgie Crozier)Greens(Sue Pennicuik)Liberal(Margaret Fitzherbert)2018Liberal(David Davis)Labor(Philip Dalidakis)Liberal(Georgie Crozier)Labor(Nina Taylor)Sustainable(Clifford Hayes)2022Liberal(David Davis)Labor(John Berger)Liberal(Georgie Crozier)Greens(Katherine Copsey)Labor(Ryan Batchelor)
North-Eastern Metropolitan Region
Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Liberal(Richard Dalla-Riva)Labor(Shaun Leane)Liberal(Bruce Atkinson)Labor(Brian Tee)Liberal(Jan Kronberg)2010Liberal(Richard Dalla-Riva)Labor(Shaun Leane)Liberal(Bruce Atkinson)Liberal(Jan Kronberg)Labor(Brian Tee)2014Liberal(Mary Wooldridge)Labor(Shaun Leane)Liberal(Bruce Atkinson)Liberal(Richard Dalla-Riva)Greens(Samantha Dunn)2018Labor(Shaun Leane)Liberal(Mary Wooldridge)Labor(Sonja Terpstra)Liberal(Bruce Atkinson)Transport Matters(Rod Barton)2022Labor(Shaun Leane)Liberal(Matthew Bach)Labor(Sonja Terpstra)Liberal(Nick McGowan)Greens(Aiv Puglielli)
South-Eastern Metropolitan Region Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Labor(Gavin Jennings)Liberal(Gordon Rich-Phillips)Labor(Adem Somyurek)Liberal(Inga Peulich)Labor(Bob Smith)2010Labor(Gavin Jennings)Liberal(Gordon Rich-Phillips)Labor(Adem Somyurek)Liberal(Inga Peulich)Labor(Lee Tarlamis)2014Labor(Gavin Jennings)Liberal(Gordon Rich-Phillips)Labor(Adem Somyurek)Liberal(Inga Peulich)Greens(Nina Springle)2018Labor(Gavin Jennings)Labor(Adem Somyurek)Liberal(Gordon Rich-Phillips)Labor(Tien Kieu)Liberal Democrats(David Limbrick)2022Labor(Lee Tarlamis)Liberal(Ann-Marie Hermans)Labor(Michael Galea)Legalise Cannabis(Rachel Payne)Liberal Democrats(David Limbrick)
Western Metropolitan Region Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Labor(Justin Madden)Liberal(Bernie Finn)Labor(Khalil Eideh)Labor(Martin Pakula)Greens(Colleen Hartland)2010Labor(Martin Pakula)Liberal(Bernie Finn)Labor(Khalil Eideh)Liberal(Andrew Elsbury)Greens(Colleen Hartland)2014Labor(Cesar Melhem)Liberal(Bernie Finn)Labor(Khalil Eideh)Greens(Colleen Hartland)Democratic Labour(Rachel Carling-Jenkins)2018Labor(Cesar Melhem)Labor(Ingrid Stitt)Liberal(Bernie Finn)Labor(Kaushaliya Vaghela)Justice(Catherine Cumming)2022Labor(Lizzie Blandthorn)Liberal(Moira Deeming)Labor(Ingrid Stitt)Legalise Cannabis(David Ettershank)Liberal(Trung Luu)
Northern Victoria Region
Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Labor(Candy Broad)Liberal(Wendy Lovell)Nationals(Damian Drum)Liberal(Donna Petrovich)Labor(Kaye Darveniza)2010Liberal(Wendy Lovell)Labor(Candy Broad)Nationals(Damian Drum)Labor(Kaye Darveniza)Liberal(Donna Petrovich)2014Liberal(Wendy Lovell)Labor(Steve Herbert)Nationals(Damian Drum)SFF(Daniel Young)Labor(Jaclyn Symes)2018Labor(Mark Gepp)Liberal(Wendy Lovell)Liberal Democrats(Tim Quilty)Justice(Tania Maxwell)Labor(Jaclyn Symes)2022Liberal(Wendy Lovell)Labor(Jaclyn Symes)Nationals(Gaelle Broad)Animal Justice(Georgie Purcell)One Nation(Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell)
Eastern Victoria Region Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Liberal(Philip Davis)Labor(Matt Viney)Liberal(Edward O'Donohue)Labor(Johan Scheffer)Nationals(Peter Hall)2010Liberal(Philip Davis)Labor(Matt Viney)Nationals(Peter Hall)Liberal(Edward O'Donohue)Labor(Johan Scheffer)2014Liberal(Edward O'Donohue)Labor(Harriet Shing)Nationals(Danny O'Brien)SFF(Jeff Bourman)Labor(Daniel Mulino)2018Liberal(Edward O'Donohue)Labor(Jane Garrett)Nationals(Melina Bath)Labor(Harriet Shing)SFF(Jeff Bourman)2022Liberal(Renee Heath)Labor(Tom McIntosh)Nationals(Melina Bath)Labor(Harriet Shing)SFF(Jeff Bourman)
Western Victoria Region Election1st MLC2nd MLC3rd MLC4th MLC5th MLC2006Labor(Jaala Pulford)Liberal(John Vogels)Labor(Gayle Tierney)Liberal(David Koch)Democratic Labour(Peter Kavanagh)2010Liberal(David Koch)Labor(Jaala Pulford)Liberal(Simon Ramsay)Labor(Gayle Tierney)Nationals(David O'Brien)2014Liberal(Simon Ramsay)Labor(Jaala Pulford)Liberal(Josh Morris)Labor(Gayle Tierney)Local Jobs(James Purcell)2018Labor(Jaala Pulford)Liberal(Bev McArthur)Labor(Gayle Tierney)Justice(Stuart Grimley)Animal Justice(Andy Meddick)2022Labor(Jacinta Ermacora)Liberal(Bev McArthur)Labor(Gayle Tierney)Greens(Sarah Mansfield)Liberal(Joe McCracken)
References