Editing Australian Senate (section)

=== Allocating terms after a double dissolution ===

After a double dissolution election, section 13 of the Constitution requires the Senate to divide the senators into two classes, with the first class having a three-year "short term", and the second class a six-year "long term". The Senate may adopt any approach it wants to determine how to allocate the long and short terms, however two methods are currently 'on the table':
* "elected-order" method, where the senators elected first attain a six-year term. This approach tends to favour minor party candidates as it gives greater weight to their first preference votes;<ref name="whichones">{{cite web
| url         = http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-05/election-2016-new-senate-terms-explained/7571406
| title       = Election 2016: How do we decide which senators are in for three years and which are in for six?
| author      = Uma Patel
| publisher   = Australian Broadcasting Corporation
| date        = 6 July 2016}}</ref> or
* re-count method, where the long terms are allocated to those senators who would have been elected first if the election had been a standard half-Senate election.<ref name="longnshort">{{cite web
| url         = http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2016/04/how-long-and-short-terms-are-allocated-after-a-double-dissolution.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160626235215/http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2016/04/how-long-and-short-terms-are-allocated-after-a-double-dissolution.html
| archive-date = 26 June 2016
| title       = How Long and Short Senate Terms are Allocated After a Double Dissolution
| author      = [[Antony Green]]
| publisher   = Australian Broadcasting Corporation
| date        = 25 April 2016}}</ref> This method is likely to be preferred by the major parties in the Senate where it would deliver more six-year terms to their members.<ref name=whichones />

The Senate applied the "elected-order" method following the [[1987 Australian federal election|1987 double dissolution election]].<ref name=longnshort /> Since that time the Senate has passed resolutions on several occasions indicating its intention to use the re-count method to allocate seats at any future double dissolution, which [[Antony Green|Green]] describes as a fairer approach but notes could be ignored if a majority of senators opted for the "elected-order" method instead.<ref name=longnshort /> In both double dissolution elections since 1987, the "elected order" method was used.