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State Government

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Structure of the government

Victoria's state government is modelled on the British Westminster system. It is based in Melbourne which is the capital city of the state.

The Parliament of Victoria is a two house structure comprising of:

  • The Legislative Assembly (lower house) with 88 elected members (see current members)
  • The Legislative Council (upper house) with 40 elected members (see current members)

The parliament has the power to define laws for the state, except in areas which are under the jurisdiction of the federal government of Australia.

Elections

State elections are held every fourth year on the last Saturday in November. The last state election was held on Saturday 25th November 2006 and next state election is expected to be held on Saturday 27th November 2010.

Voting is compulsory and generally all Australian citizens 18 years or over must enrol to vote.

The party or coalition who wins the most seats in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) is invited to form government, with their leader becoming the Premier of Victoria.

Leadership of Victoria

Victoria gained independence from New South Wales in 1851. Until government was formed four years later, the Governor-General of New South Wales appointed Lieutenant-Governors to Victoria to head the state. Captain Charles La Trobe become the first appointed to this role, succeeded by Sir Charles Hotham in 1854.

Parliamentary government was formed in 1855 and William Haines became the first premier of Victoria on the 30th of November 1855.

Victoria's 5 longest serving premiers are listed below.

Name Political party Term(s) as premier Time in office
Henry Bolte Liberal and Country 7 June 1955 - 23 August 1972 17 years, 78 days
Albert Dunstan National 2 April 1935 - 14 September 1943
18 September 1943 - 2 October 1945		 10 years, 181 days
James McCulloch   27 June 1863 - 6 May 1868
11 July 1868 - 20 September 1869
9 April 1870 - 19 June 1871
20 October 1875 - 21 May 1877		 8 years, 307 days
Rupert Hamer Liberal 23 August 1972 - 5 June 1981 8 years, 287 days
John Cain Labor 8 April 1982 - 10 August 1990 8 years, 125 days

See also the full list of Victorian Premiers from 1855 to the present day. Note that some premiers have served multiple non-sequential terms.

Current premier of Victoria

Victoria's 45th and current premier is John Brumby.

John Brumby was elected by the Australian Labor Party as its leader after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He was sworn into office on the 30th July 2007.

John Brumby

Political parties in Victoria

Prior to the late 1890s, there was no formal political party system in Victoria, with government ministries formed on the basis of personal or factional loyalties.

Political parties with representation in the current Victorian government (as per the 25th November 2006 state election) are:

  • Australian Greens (GRN)
  • Australian Labor Party (ALP)
  • Democratic Labor Party (DLP)
  • Liberal Party (LP)
  • National Party (NAT)

Further information

Looking for information regarding any aspect of the State Government of Victoria? Telephone the state government call centre on:

1300 366 356

The experienced telephone staff will either answer your query directly or connect you to the right person.

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