Australia's short election cycles are holding us back. Fixed four-year terms can fix this.
Only three democracies out of 87 have a parliamentary term of three years or less. Australia is the only one that also lets the Prime Minister choose the date at short notice.
Sources: V-Dem Institute data, Mandala Partners' modelling and JWS Research polling, all in our report.
Australia has one of the world's shortest parliamentary terms
The Constitution sets a maximum House term of three years, and the Prime Minister can call an election at any time before it runs out.
Since Federation that has produced an election campaign every two years and eight months. Three budgets fit inside a term. The first pays for election promises, the third spends to win the next election. One is left for reform.
Every state and territory has already moved to four-year terms, and all except Tasmania hold them on a fixed date. The Commonwealth is the outlier.
Sources: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (average term); Mandala Partners, 2025 (reform). More in the report.
Fixed, four-year terms are worth $81 to $93 billion
That is more than $4 billion a year, foregone because of an election calendar designed in 1901.
Mandala Partners modelled the shift for the campaign. The largest share is private-sector confidence, because business investment falls in election years when the date is unknown. The rest comes from better policy decisions and from simply running fewer elections.
The 2025 federal election cost taxpayers over $674 million, three times the real cost of 2001.
A fixed date first, then four years
A fixed election date can be legislated without a referendum. Putting it in place first de-risks the vote that follows, because Australians would be asked to keep something that already works.
Give six months notice
Establish a convention that the Prime Minister announces the election date well in advance.
Draft the legislation
A constitutional committee develops legislation for a fixed election date and a four-year term.
Fix the date
Parliament legislates a fixed election date, so voters see how it works in practice.
Hold the referendum
Put four-year terms to the people, on its own, alongside a federal election.
Fixing Australia's Elections
The full evidence base for the campaign. International comparison, the economic modelling, what the polling says, and a staged pathway to get there. Appendices cover referendum strategy, the Senate, and early elections.
Read the reportIt’s ludicrous you’ve got four-year terms in all the states but the national parliament doesn’t. It’s just crazy.
If the price of four-year, fixed terms in the House of Representatives is giving senators eight-year terms, I think it’s worth paying. But what would be even better would be to have all the senators coming up at once… and the whole parliament gets reelected every four years.
I do not believe it is proper for the prime minister of the day, to simply on the basis of personal whim, to decide what an election date is… It is just wrong. It is entirely appropriate to have fixed four-year terms.
I support fixed four-year terms, always have.
As seen in
Get involved
Sign up to receive updates and get involved in the campaign.