Electoral systems of the Australian
states and territories
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For elections to the Australian
Parliament, see the Australian electoral
system.
The legislatures of the Australian states
and territories all follow the Westminster
model described in the Australian electoral
system. When the Australian colonies were
granted responsible government in the nine-
teenth century, their constitutions provided
for legislative assemblies (lower houses) elec-
ted by the people from single-member con-
stituencies, with all adult males able to vote.
This was considerably more democratic than
the system which existed in the United King-
dom at that time. To balance this democratic
element, however, the legislative councils
which had existed before responsible govern-
ment were retained as upper houses, whose
members were either nominated by the
Governor or elected on a restricted franchise.
This ensured that the upper houses were
dominated by representatives of the wealthy.
In the twentieth century, the Legislative
Council of Queensland was abolished, while
dire