Simple, Helpful Resources For The Upcoming Federal Election
In less than a month, the polls will be open to vote in the Australian election.
Like every election, this one is important and will determine which party will lead the country for the next term (usually three years until the next election). To quickly recap, the federal parliament consists of two houses - the House of Representatives and the Senate, and are the decision-making bodies of the federal government. People elected into the House of Representatives represent separate electorates (you can find your electorate here) and the people elected into the Senate represent an entire state or territory. In 2025, 150 seats of the House of Representatives are up for election, with 76 seats needed to form a majority government. There are also 76 seats up for election in the Senate, with 39 seats needed for a majority. Currently, there is no majority in the Senate.
By now, hopefully, you should have some idea of the party you want to vote for. It’s easy to get disgruntled with all of the marketing campaigns, especially the ones that aren’t even highlighting policies but just shitting on the other parties, but it is important to do your own reading up of policies that are relevant to you and your beliefs. Here is a list of some really helpful resources to help out with that.
If you are still unsure about who to vote for or you simply want to better understand how your views align with parties and candidates, Vote Compass is a great resource to tap into. Vote Compass is a free tool developed by political scientists that asks your stance on a range of topics, then shows you which party best aligns with your answers. It takes about ten minutes to complete and is a great first base to build your political understanding from.
They Vote For You is a helpful resource to see how your local representative actually votes on policies. It is important to look beyond the politicians' clickbait campaigning and lame attempts to be relatable and look closely at how those people use their power. For lawmakers, this generally comes down to how they vote on individual issues, the issues that we elect them to vote for on our behalf. This is where you can really start to see how particular parties may or may not be aligned with your views, especially if you consider certain issues more influential in your decision to vote for someone.
SEARCH UP FEDERAL ELECTION SCORECARDS ON ISSUES THAT MATTER TO YOU
Cutting through the political language bullshit is one of the most frustrating aspects of an election. The amount of jargon you have to filter through to get a clear, concise stance is fucking ridiculous, especially from the individual parties. I find the single easiest way to see how each party proposes to tackle issues through policy is to search the Federal Election Scorecard for each concern. A Federal Election Scorecard will rate each major party's policies, as well as highlight the independent and minor parties standing for office, by an independent organisation specialised in advocating for that concern. For example, if I were to search up Federal Election Scorecard 2025 First Nations, ANTAR, the national advocacy organisation working for justice, rights and respect for Australia's First Nations Peoples comes up. These organisations are the experts on advocating for these issues and have done all the shit sifting for you.
ON THAT NOTE, CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE FEDERAL ELECTION
You’re not alone in thinking climate change has taken a backseat this election compared to last given the multiple crises we are fighting at once. The immediate cost of living, housing, wages crisis (with a side of global war) is taking precedence and hitting the hardest, so it’s easy to become disengaged with issues from just a pure overwhelm standpoint. Thinking about anything else when your brain is in overdrive from trying to just simply afford to live is near impossible but if you have a few minutes to check out the Climate Council’s resources, we couldn’t recommend it more. This page in particular, is really good for a broad overview of the climate policies of the main parties and independents.
GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA ELECTION 2025 TRACKING POLL
As one of Australia’s most reputable, independent news outlets, the Guardian Australia Election 2025 Tracking Poll is committed to giving you an unbiased reading of all of the current available polls in one statistical tracking model. The Guardian Australia Election 2025 Tracking Poll uses an aggregation method of the two party preferred and primary vote ranges polls used by market research companies like Roy Morgan and YouGov. The model has been developed by political scientists at the University of Sydney to show how each party is faring in different demographics around the country. It is regularly updated and useful in seeing where your opinion sits against others.
The Australian Electoral Commission is another useful resource to get the basics of voting down pat. Here you can find all resources that explain how our preferential voting system works, where you can vote and how to make your vote count. You can even practise voting as this election you will be required to vote on two pieces of paper, one for the House of Reps and the other for the Senate. We live in one of the best countries in the world and voting is one of the most important aspects of our democracy. Learn about it!
READ UP
Finally, reading far and wide is the best way to make an informed decision. An informed decision also means not just reading stuff you agree with! Ignorance to other people’s opinions is how we find ourselves shocked that our country does the reverse of what our own echo chamber says is going to happen (the referendum is a good example of that). Read an article and ask yourself, do I agree or disagree with what this person is saying? What would be the opposite view of that? It is not just about who is right or wrong but also about understanding where other people are coming from. We need to celebrate curiosity and questions. If you have privilege, educate yourself and take meaningful action for those who don’t.