Tasmanian Legislative Council
The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two chambers of the Parliament, the other being the House of Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. Members of the Legislative Council are often referred to as MLCs.
Legislative Council | |
|---|---|
| 50th Parliament | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1825 |
| Leadership | |
Deputy President and Chair of Committees | |
Leader of the Government | |
Deputy Leader of the Government | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 15 |
Political groups | Government Liberal (4) Opposition Labor (4) Crossbench Independent (7) |
Length of term | 6 years |
| Elections | |
Last election | 6 May 2023 (periodic) |
| Meeting place | |
| Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament House, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | |
| Website | |
| Tas Legislative Council | |
The Legislative Council has 15 members elected using preferential voting in 15 single-member electorates. Each electorate has approximately the same number of electors. A review of Legislative Council division boundaries is required every 9 years; the most recent was completed in 2017. Election of members in the Legislative Council are staggered. Elections alternate between three divisions in one year and in two divisions the next year. Elections take place on the first Saturday in May. The term of each MLC is six years.
The Tasmanian Legislative Council is a unique parliamentary chamber in Australian politics in that historically it is the only chamber in any state parliament to be majority non-partisan, with most of its members being independents. However as of the 2022 elections, the chamber is now majority-partisan with 8 of its 15 members affiliated with either the Liberal or Labor parties.
Unlike other Australian state legislatures, the House of Assembly is elected from multimember districts while the Legislative Council is elected from single-member districts. The reverse is the case in most of the rest of Australia; that is, the lower house is elected from single-member districts while the upper house is elected from multi-member districts.