electionstracker

Australia 1990 federal election

What was the result of the 1990 federal election in Australia?

Australian Labor Party won 78 of 148 seats with 39.4% of the vote. 95.3% 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 78 of 148 seats with 39.4% of the vote; 95.3% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 1.5 points on 1987.

  • Australian Labor Party 78 −8 seats 39.4% −6.4 points
  • Liberal Party of Australia 55 +12 seats 34.8% +0.5 points
  • Australian Democrats 0 0 seats 11.3% +5.3 points
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 14 −5 seats 8.4% −3.1 points
  • Australian Greens 0 1.4%
  • Christian Democratic Party 0 1.0%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Australia 1987 federal election, party by party.

75 of 148 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 39.4%

    Share of the vote won by Australian Labor Party

    Australian Labor Party won 78 of 148 seats. A majority needs 75.

  2. +12 seats

    Seats gained by Liberal Party of Australia

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1987. Australian Labor Party lost 8 seats.

  3. 95.3%

    Voter turnout

    Up 1.5 points on 1987.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Australian Labor Party78−839.4−6.43,904,138
Liberal Party of Australia55+1234.8+0.53,440,902
Australian Democrats0011.3+5.31,114,216
National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia14−58.4−3.1833,557
Independents1+13.4+1.4337,915
Australian Greens01.4142,217
Christian Democratic Party01.096,497

± is the change against the Australia 1987 federal election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Australian Labor Party 3,904,138
  • Liberal Party of Australia 3,440,902
  • Australian Democrats 1,114,216
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 833,557
  • Independents 337,915
  • Australian Greens 142,217
  • Christian Democratic Party 96,497

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?

95.3% of the 10,728,435 registered voters cast a ballot (10,225,800 ballots), up 1.5 points on 1987. 9,899,674 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout since 1975 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Australian Labor Party39.4% of votes52.7% of seats
  • Liberal Party of Australia34.8% of votes37.2% of seats
  • National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia8.4% of votes9.5% of seats
  • Australian Democrats11.3% of votes0.0% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 12.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.4 by votes and 2.4 by seats; Australian Labor Party led Liberal Party of Australia by 4.6 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of