Editing Single transferable vote (section)

=== Australia ===
[[File:Victorian-senate-paper-folded-01.png|upright=2.25|thumb|right|Australian Senate ballot paper used in Victoria for 2016]]

[[Tasmania]] first used STV for election of members of the [[Tasmanian House of Assembly]] from 1896 to 1902. In 1909, it began to be used on a permanent basis for House of Assembly elections and to elect all House of Assembly members. (Instant-runoff voting was used for elections to the [[Tasmania Legislative Council]] (its upper house), with some of the members elected through [[Hare-Clark electoral system|STV]] prior to 1946.)

In 1948, single transferable vote [[proportional representation]] on a state-by-state basis became the method for electing Senators to the [[Australian Senate]]. This change has led to the rise of a number of minor parties such as the [[Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955)|Democratic Labor Party]], [[Australian Democrats]] and [[Australian Greens]] who have taken advantage of this system to achieve parliamentary representation and the balance of power. From the 1984 election, [[group voting ticket|group ticket voting]] was introduced to reduce a high rate of informal voting but in 2016, group tickets were abolished to avoid undue influence of preference deals amongst parties that were seen as distorting election results<ref name="ABC">{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=Stephanie |date=25 April 2016 |title=Senate Voting Changes Explained in Australian Electoral Commission Advertisements |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-26/aec-advertising-campaign-on-way-senators-are-elected/7356308 |work=ABC News |access-date=30 August 2017}}</ref> and a form of [[optional preferential voting]] was introduced.

Beginning in the 1970s, Australian states began to reform their upper houses to introduce proportional representation in line with the Federal Senate. The first was the [[South Australian Legislative Council]] in 1973, which initially used a [[Party-list proportional representation|party list]] system (replaced with STV in 1982),<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunstan |first=Don |year=1981 |title=Felicia: The political memoirs of Don Dunstan |publisher=Griffin Press Limited |pages=214–215 |isbn=0333338154}}</ref> followed by the single transferable vote being introduced for the [[New South Wales Legislative Council]] in 1978,<ref name="LA">{{cite web |title=Role and History of the Legislative Assembly |publisher=Parliament of New South Wales |url=http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/LARole |access-date=9 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423094710/https://parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/LARole |archive-date=23 April 2011 }}</ref> the [[Western Australian Legislative Council]] in 1987<ref>Electoral Reform expected to alter balance of power, ''The Australian'', 11 June 1987, p.5</ref> and the [[Victorian Legislative Council]] in 2003.<ref>Constitution (Parliamentary Reform) Act 2003</ref> The single transferable vote was also introduced for the elections to the [[Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly]] after a [[1992 Australian Capital Territory electoral system referendum|1992 referendum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.elections.act.gov.au/elections_and_voting/act_legislative_assembly_referendums/1992_referendum |title=1992 Referendum |date=6 January 2015 |website=www.elections.act.gov.au |access-date=5 June 2019 |archive-date=5 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605042958/https://www.elections.act.gov.au/elections_and_voting/act_legislative_assembly_referendums/1992_referendum |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The term ''STV'' in Australia refers to the Senate electoral system, a variant of ''Hare-Clark'' characterized by the "above the line" [[group voting ticket]], a party list option. It is used in the Australian upper house, the [[Australian Senate|Senate]], most state upper houses, the [[Tasmania]]n lower house and the Capital Territory assembly. There is a compulsory number of preferences for a vote for candidates (below-the-line) to be valid: for the Senate a minimum of 90% of candidates must be scored, in 2013 in [[New South Wales]] that meant writing 99 preferences on the ballot.<ref name="prsaHC">{{cite web |title=The Hare-Clark System of Proportional Representation |url=http://www.prsa.org.au/hareclar.htm |access-date=21 November 2014 |publisher=[[Proportional Representation Society of Australia]]}}</ref> Therefore, 95% and more of voters use the above-the-line option, making the system, in all but name, a party list system.<ref name="uwaAbove">{{cite web |title=Above the line voting |url=http://elections.uwa.edu.au/glossaryc.lasso?CondensedGlossary=abovethelinevoting |access-date=21 November 2014 |publisher=University of Western Australia |archive-date=20 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020142242/http://elections.uwa.edu.au/glossaryc.lasso?CondensedGlossary=abovethelinevoting |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="abcGlossaryGVT">{{cite web |title=Glossary of Election Terms |url=http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2010/guide/glossary.htm#group_voting_ticket |access-date=21 November 2014 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hill |first1=I.D. |date=November 2000 |title=How to ruin STV |url=http://www.votingmatters.org.uk/ISSUE12/P7.htm |journal=Voting Matters |issue=12 |access-date=10 August 2013}}</ref> Parties determine the order in which candidates are elected and also control transfers to other lists and this has led to anomalies: preference deals between parties, and "micro parties" which rely entirely on these deals. Additionally, independent candidates are unelectable unless they form, or join, a group above-the-line.<ref name="anthonyGreen04">{{cite web |last=Green |first=Anthony |date=20 April 2005 |title=Above or below the line? Managing preference votes |url=http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=3359&page=0 |access-date=21 November 2014 |publisher=On Line Opinion}}</ref><ref name="ersDog">{{cite web |last=Terry |first=Chris |date=5 April 2012 |title=Serving up a dog's breakfast |url=http://devers2.speedster-it.com/blog/serving-up-a-dogs-breakfast |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007220903/http://devers2.speedster-it.com/blog/serving-up-a-dogs-breakfast |archive-date=7 October 2017 |access-date=21 November 2014 |publisher=[[Electoral Reform Society]]}}</ref> Concerning the development of STV in Australia researchers have observed: "... we see real evidence of the extent to which Australian politicians, particularly at national levels, are prone to fiddle with the electoral system".<ref name="AusOVC">{{cite book |first=David M. |last=Farrell |title=The Australian Electoral System: Origins, Variations, and Consequences |author2=Ian McAllister |date=2006 |publisher=[[UNSW Press]] |isbn=978-0868408583 |location=Sydney}}</ref>{{rp|86}}

As a result of a parliamentary commission investigating the 2013 election, from 2016 the system has been considerably reformed, with group voting tickets (GVTs) abolished and voters no longer required to fill all boxes.

In 2023, the single transferable vote was also chosen as the electoral method in South Australia for the state's First Nation's [[Voice to Parliament]] as part of Schedule 1 of the Act.<ref>{{cite Legislation AU|SA|act|fnva2023222|First Nations Voice Act 2023}}</ref>