Australia 1998 federal election
What was the result of the 1998 federal election in Australia?
Australian Labor Party won 67 of 148 seats with 40.1% of the vote. 95.0% 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 67 of 148 seats with 40.1% of the vote; 95.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 0.8 points on 1996.
- Australian Labor Party 67 +18 seats 40.1% +1.3 points
- Liberal Party of Australia 64 −11 seats 33.9% −4.8 points
- One Nation 0 8.4%
- National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 16 −2 seats 5.3% −2.9 points
- Australian Democrats 0 0 seats 5.1% −1.7 points
- Australian Greens 0 0 seats 2.6% −0.3 points
- 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 1996 federal election, party by party.
- Australian Labor Party67
- Liberal Party of Australia64
- National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia16
- Independents1
Key numbers
40.1%
Share of the vote won by Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party won 67 of 148 seats. A majority needs 75.
+18 seats
Seats gained by Australian Labor Party
The largest gain in seats compared with 1996. Liberal Party of Australia lost 11 seats.
95.0%
Voter turnout
Down 0.8 points on 1996.
Seats and votes by party
| Party | Seats | ± seats | % | ± points | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Labor Party | 67 | +18 | 40.1 | +1.3 | 4,454,306 |
| Liberal Party of Australia | 64 | −11 | 33.9 | −4.8 | 3,764,707 |
| One Nation | 0 | 8.4 | 936,612 | ||
| National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia | 16 | −2 | 5.3 | −2.9 | 588,088 |
| Australian Democrats | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | −1.7 | 569,935 |
| Independents | 1 | −4 | 4.2 | −0.1 | 468,692 |
| Australian Greens | 0 | 0 | 2.6 | −0.3 | 290,709 |
± is the change against the Australia 1996 federal election, party by party.
Votes by party
- Australian Labor Party 4,454,306
- Liberal Party of Australia 3,764,707
- One Nation 936,612
- National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia 588,088
- Australian Democrats 569,935
- Independents 468,692
- Australian Greens 290,709
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?
95.0% of the 12,154,050 registered voters cast a ballot (11,545,201 ballots), down 0.8 points on 1996. 11,109,063 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1987 in our data.
How do the votes compare with the seats?
- Australian Labor Party40.1% of votes45.3% of seats
- Liberal Party of Australia33.9% of votes43.2% of seats
- National (Country) Party / National Party of Australia5.3% of votes10.8% of seats
- One Nation8.4% of votes0.0% of seats
- Australian Democrats5.1% of votes0.0% of seats
- Australian Greens2.6% of votes0.0% of seats
The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 11.4 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.4 by votes and 2.5 by seats; Australian Labor Party led Liberal Party of Australia by 6.2 points of the vote.
Time and source Data as of