Section 24 of the Australian Constitution

E60393

Section 24 of the Australian Constitution is the key provision that governs the composition and election of the House of Representatives, including the principle of proportional representation of the states based on population.


Statements (44)

Predicate Object
instanceOf constitutional provision
section of the Constitution of Australia
appliesTo House of Representatives
federal electoral apportionment
original states of the Commonwealth
category Australian constitutional law
electoral law of Australia
provisions about the Parliament of Australia
constrains Parliament’s power to alter the size of the House of Representatives
Parliament’s power to alter the size of the Senate without referendum
containsRule nexus between the size of the House of Representatives and the Senate
defines method for apportioning House of Representatives seats among the states
draftedBy framers of the Australian Constitution
establishesPrinciple proportional representation of the states by population in the House of Representatives
representation of the people in the House of Representatives
governs composition of the House of Representatives
election of the House of Representatives
hasLegalEffect determines distribution of House of Representatives seats among states
guarantees minimum representation for each original state
hasShortDescription provision on representation and size of the House of Representatives
influences redistribution of electoral boundaries
size of federal electorates
inForceSince 1 January 1901
interpretedBy High Court of Australia
jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia
languageIncludes phrase "directly chosen by the people"
requirement that the number of members chosen in the several states shall be in proportion to the respective numbers of their people
linkedTo Section 128 of the Australian Constitution
Section 29 of the Australian Constitution
Section 51 of the Australian Constitution
Section 7 of the Australian Constitution
locatedIn Chapter I of the Australian Constitution
Part III of Chapter I of the Australian Constitution
partOf Australian Constitution
protectsMinimumRepresentationFor original states in the House of Representatives
requires each original state to have at least five members in the House of Representatives
members of the House of Representatives to be directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth
members of the House of Representatives to be directly chosen by the people of the states
number of members of the House of Representatives to be, as nearly as practicable, twice the number of senators
quota method for determining state representation in the House of Representatives
use of latest Commonwealth statistics of population for apportionment
subjectMatter The House of Representatives NERFINISHED
underpins principle of representative democracy at the federal level in Australia
usedIn constitutional challenges concerning electoral representation

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

House of Representatives of Australia sectionOfConstitution Section 24 of the Australian Constitution