Where seats changed hands in Australia’s 2025 federal election

Most listed divisions were in three states

Queensland had seven divisions on the AEC list, Victoria had five and New South Wales had four. Tasmania had two, and South Australia and Western Australia had one each. These counts measure divisions on the list. A nationwide seat tally also includes all divisions where the AEC recorded the same affiliation. Source 1 Source 4

The winning affiliations vary across the list

Labor was the successful party in 17 of the 20 divisions, including Brisbane, Griffith and Melbourne, where the AEC lists the Greens as the previous party. Independent candidates won Bradfield and Calare, and the Liberal candidate won Goldstein. Source 1

The comparison is against the AEC’s published baseline

The AEC takes boundary redistribution into account when reporting prior seat status. A by-election can also change who holds a seat before a general election. Aston appears on the 2025 list with Liberal as the previous party, although Labor’s Mary Doyle had already won the 2023 by-election there. Source 1 Source 5 Source 2

Bradfield illustrates how close a change can be

The AEC records independent Nicolette Boele as the successful candidate in Bradfield, with a margin of 26 votes. The commission’s September 2025 statement records the intended withdrawal of the challenge to the result and gives the same margin. The seat summary also shows margins for other divisions. Source 1 Source 4 Source 3

Sources

• Australian Electoral Commission 2025 seats that changed hands
• Australian Electoral Commission 2023 Aston by-election results
• Australian Electoral Commission statement on the Bradfield challenge
• Australian Electoral Commission 2025 seat summary and margins
• Australian Electoral Commission seat status methodology