2023 Review of Western Australia’s Electoral Boundaries

7 December 2023

The Western Australian State electoral boundaries which will apply at the 2025 State general election, was gazetted on 1 December 2023.

Why was it reviewed?

The Electoral Act 1907 (the Act) requires that Western Australia’s State electoral boundaries be reviewed once in the life of each Parliament. The review process commenced in March 2023 and was undertaken by three independent Electoral Distribution Commissioners.

The review process provided interested parties with an opportunity to submit. 678 submissions were lodged, and they included suggestions, comments, and objections. Cartographers and software were used, in addition to Western Australian Electoral Commission enrolment data.

When is it effective?

The electoral boundaries will apply at the next State General Election, which is due to be held in March 2025.

Electoral Districts

The Act requires that Western Australia be divided into 59 electoral districts, with each district electing one member to serve in the Legislative Assembly.

The Constitutional and Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Equality) Act 2021 enables the entirety of Western Australia to be considered a single electorate to elect 37 members to service in the Legislative Council at the 2025 State General Election. These reforms also abolished the requirement to maintain a distinction between metropolitan regions and non-metropolitan regions when determining Legislative Assembly district boundaries.

Key Terms

Average District Enrolment (ADE) provides the number of electors per district. In Western Australia, it is calculated by dividing the number of electors by the total number of districts (59). The number of electors per district must be within 10 percent of the ADE.

The Large District Allowance (LDA) provides an exception to the calculation of the ADE, and applies when a district exceeds 100,000 square kilometres in a geographical area.

Boundary Considerations

The Act requires the Commissioners consider these factors when determining boundaries:

• Community of interest;
• Land use patterns;
• Means of communication, means of travel and distance from Perth;
• Physical features;
• Existing boundaries;
• Existing local government boundaries; and
• The trend of demographic changes.

The potential political impacts of the final electoral district boundaries are not taken into consideration.

Outcomes

There were 10 electoral districts with enrolment levels outside of the permitted variation:

• Armadale
• Baldivis
• Butler
• Jandakot
• Mandurah
• Midland
• Moore
• North West Central
• Perth
• West Swan

To ensure the number of electors per district is as close as practicable, there were an additional 17 districts that required a review by the Commissioners.

The boundary adjustments made have had a flow-on effect to the boundaries of surrounding districts. As a result, the 2023 Distribution has resulted in changes to the boundaries of 51 of 59 Legislative Assembly districts.

The most significant change implemented by the Commissioners about non-metropolitan districts is the abolition of the districts of North West Central and Moore, and the amalgamation of the majority of their geographic territory into a single district to be called Mid-West.

In the districts of Kalgoorlie, Kimberley, and Pilbara, the unique character of each district and the compounding effect the LDA would have if significant parts were ceded to neighboring districts meant they were not suitable options for combination or elimination.

The metropolitan districts, particularly those in the outer Perth metropolitan areas, have seen significant growth in the elector population. This is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Oakford is a new district that incorporates Anketell, Aubin Grove, Casuarina, Forrestdale, Haynes, Hilbert, Oakford, Piara Waters, Wandi, and part of Banjup. This will alleviate the immediate electoral numbers in the districts of Armadale, Baldivis, Darling Range and Jandakot.

District Names

Current District Name	New District Name
Burns Beach	Mindarie
Mirrabooka	Girrawheen
North West Central	Mid West
Moore
Warnbro	Secret Harbour
Willagee	Bibra Lake

Summary

The 2023 Electoral Boundary Review has resulted in extensive changes being made to the configuration of Western Australia’s electoral districts. The creation of two new districts in Oakford and Mid-West, the boundary adjustments required to address excessive variations from ADE in 26 electoral districts, and the cascading impact of these changes on surrounding districts will see 51 of the State’s 59 electoral districts with new boundaries at the next State General Election.

Download the Electoral Boundaries WA Final Report here.

Further information

For more information, please contact Hawker Britton’s Director in Western Australia, Juliana Plummer at [email protected].

Further Hawker Britton Occasional Papers are available here.