Government Opposition 53 Coalition. Crossbench Vacant 2 [ d ]. Opposition 30 Coalition. The 47th Parliament of Australia is the current meeting of the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Australia , composed of the Australian Senate and the Australian House of Representatives. The May federal election gave the Australian Labor Party control of the House, with 77 seats, enough for a two-seat majority government. Labor gained an additional seat at the Aston by-election in April , thereby increasing its majority to three seats for the remainder of the term.
The Albanese government , despite its commitment to improving parliamentary conduct, has delayed the establishment of an Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission IPSC to address such issues until at least October , as stated by Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher. Despite these advancements, Parliament does not fully mirror the Australian population. Women, who hold a slight majority in the general population, are still underrepresented in Parliament. The average age of MPs is higher than the national median of Representation of culturally diverse backgrounds is also limited, with only 6.
Indigenous representation has increased, with eight Indigenous senators and three Indigenous MPs, totaling 4. Despite these advances, Australia's parliamentary representation continues to lag behind countries such as Canada and New Zealand in terms of gender and cultural diversity.
The Liberal Party's representation of women has declined, with only 9 seats compared to 13 in the previous parliament. In contrast, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's cabinet is the most diverse in Australian history, featuring 10 women out of 23 cabinet ministers, with several holding prominent positions such as Penny Wong in foreign affairs and Linda Burney as the first female Indigenous cabinet minister. The Senate included 32 men and 44 women, the most women to date.
There are 58 women in the House, the largest number in history, [ 61 ] with 19 of these being first-term Members of Parliament MPs.
