Election events

The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) is an independent statutory authority established under the Electoral Act 1992 that is required to:

• conduct state, local, and industrial elections and referendums in Queensland, and
• regulate electoral funding and disclosure requirements.

These responsibilities are established by the Electoral Act 1992, the Local Government Electoral Act 2011, the Referendums Act 1997, and the Industrial Relations Act 2016.

Current elections

Currently, there are no state or local government elections currently underway in Queensland.

Recent elections

Click on the link/s below to find out more about recent electoral events in Queensland.

• Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council Councillor by-election
• Isaac Regional Council Division 6 by-election
• Cassowary Coast Regional Council Councillor by-election
• Stretton by-election
• Richmond Shire Council Councillor by-election
• Carpentaria Shire Council Councillor by-election
• Rockhampton Regional Council Division 3 by-election
• Barcoo Shire Council Councillor by-election
• Winton Shire Council Councillor by-election
• Rockhampton Regional Council Mayoral by-election
• Townsville City Council Division 10 by-election

Click on the link below to find out more about election events that were held in Queensland in 2020.

• 2020 Election events

State government elections

Queensland has transitioned to four year fixed-terms following the 2016 referendum.

Queensland is divided into 93 electorates. For more information see electoral boundaries.

The 2020 State general election was held on 31 October 2020. You can view the results on the 2020 State general election results page.

Local government elections

Local government elections are held every four years on the last Saturday in March, unless changed by regulation.

There are 77 local government areas within Queensland. A divided council has internal boundaries known as divisions or wards and voters elect a councillor to represent their division. In an undivided council, voters elect all the councillors for their local government area.

The 2020 local government elections were held on 28 March 2020. See the results on the 2020 local government elections results page.

By-elections

By-elections may be held if a vacancy occurs during a term of office for a member of parliament, a mayor or a councillor.

Vacancies can occur for many reasons, including death, resignation, absence without leave, expulsion or disqualification.

Election results and statistics

For information about historical elections, see the Election results and statistics page.

Referendums

A referendum is held when Parliament wants to change the State Constitution and must provide electors with the opportunity to vote on the change. Voting in a referendum is compulsory.

In a state referendum, there is a choice of answering ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to one or more questions. There are no candidates to vote for.

Industrial elections

The ECQ conducts industrial elections under the Industrial Relations Act 2016 for employer and employee organisations registered in Queensland.

For an industrial election to be initiated, the organisation applies to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) and, if approved, the QIRC issues a Decision directing the ECQ to conduct the election for specified positions of office.

Each election is conducted by referring to the Decision received and the relevant Rules of the organisation, to determine the timetable and processes particular to the event.