electionstracker

Australia 1946 federal election

What was the result of the 1946 federal election in Australia?

Australian Labor Party won 43 of 75 seats with 49.7% of the vote. 93.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Australia
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Australian Labor Party won 43 of 75 seats with 49.7% of the vote; 93.9% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Australian Labor Party 43 49.7%
  • Liberal Party of Australia 15 28.6%
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 12 10.7%
  • Liberal and Country League 2 4.4%
  • Lang Labor 1 1.6%
  • Communist Party of Australia 0 1.5%
  • Services Party of Australia 0 1.2%
  • Seats won
  • Share of the vote
38 of 75 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 49.7%

    Share of the vote won by Australian Labor Party

    Australian Labor Party won 43 of 75 seats. A majority needs 38.

  2. 93.9%

    Voter turnout

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats%Votes
Australian Labor Party4349.72,160,630
Liberal Party of Australia1528.61,241,650
National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia1210.7464,737
Liberal and Country League24.4190,169
Independents22.3101,708
Lang Labor11.669,138
Communist Party of Australia01.564,811
Services Party of Australia01.254,000
Votes by party
  • Australian Labor Party 2,160,630
  • Liberal Party of Australia 1,241,650
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 464,737
  • Liberal and Country League 190,169
  • Independents 101,708
  • Lang Labor 69,138
  • Communist Party of Australia 64,811
  • Services Party of Australia 54,000

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

93.9% of the 4,744,017 registered voters cast a ballot (4,456,994 ballots). 4,347,767 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Australian Labor Party49.7% of votes57.3% of seats
  • Liberal Party of Australia28.6% of votes20.0% of seats
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia10.7% of votes16.0% of seats
  • Liberal and Country League4.4% of votes2.7% of seats
  • Lang Labor1.6% of votes1.3% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 9.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 2.9 by votes and 2.5 by seats; Australian Labor Party led Liberal Party of Australia by 21.1 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of