| Chisholm AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1949 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Carina Garland | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Caroline Chisholm | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 122,795 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 73 km2 (28.2 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
TheDivision of Chisholm (/ˈtʃɪzəm/CHIZ-əm) is anAustralian Electoral Division inVictoria located in the eastern suburbs ofMelbourne. The Division was created in 1949 and is named afterCaroline Chisholm, a social worker and promoter of women's immigration.[1] The Division is an Inner Metropolitan area.[1]
The Division's current MP isCarina Garland of theAustralian Labor Party. The constituency is considered a keymarginal constituency targeted by both Labor and theLiberal Party of Australia.[2]
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by theAustralian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[3]
Since 2022, the Division has encompassed the suburbs ofAshwood,Blackburn,Blackburn South,Box Hill,Box Hill South,Burwood,Burwood East,Glen Waverley,Laburnum,Mount Waverley,Notting Hill,Syndal andWheelers Hill. Additionally, the Division also includes parts ofChadstone,Clayton,Mulgrave andOakleigh.[1]
The Division of Chisholm consists of part of the local government areas ofMonash City Council andWhitehorse City Council.[1]
The Division of Chisholm has a diverse population, with around 54% of its residents beingborn overseas. Approximately 55% of the population speak a language other thanEnglish at home, withChinese Australians making around 30% of the population.[4] The seat has the largest Chinese community of any electorate in all of Australia.
On its original boundaries, it was a comfortably safeLiberal seat centred onCamberwell. However, successive redistributions from 1980 onward have moved the electorate south-east, taking in stronglyLabor-voting suburbs to balance out the relatively affluent Liberal-leaning suburbs in the north of the seat, and making the seat marginal. The first member for Chisholm,Sir Wilfrid Kent Hughes, was one of Australia's most distinguished soldiers and a former Olympian, who held the seat until his death on 31 July 1970.
Labor finally took the seat in the1983 landslide that broughtBob Hawke to power, only to lose it in1987.Anna Burke became the second Labor member ever to win it in1998 election and held it until her retirement in2016.Julia Banks won the seat for the Liberals at the 2016 election, becoming the only Liberal challenger to take a seat from Labor at that election. Taking this seat off Labor turned out to be crucial in ensuring the Coalition retaining its majority; it meant they had 76 seats, as opposed to the 75 they would have had if Labor had retained this seat.
On 27 November 2018, Banks resigned from the Liberal Party due to disaffection with the party resulting from theleadership spill which removedMalcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister and the treatment of women within the party. Banks announced she would sit on the crossbench as an independent, but guaranteeconfidence and supply to theMorrison government.[5]
Gladys Liu won Chisholm in the2019 election for the Liberal Party against Jennifer Yang by less than 0.6%, becoming the firstChinese Australian to enter the lower house.[6][7]
In 2022, Labor'sDr Carina Garland won the seat from Liberal incumbent Liu. The loss of the seat in 2022 to Labor has been attributed to the notably large swings against the Liberal Party amongChinese Australian voters which has cost the Liberal Party many key seats.[8]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Sir Wilfrid Kent Hughes (1895–1970) | Liberal | 10 December 1949 – 31 July 1970 | Previously held theVictorian Legislative Assembly seat ofKew. Served as minister underMenzies. Died in office | |
.jpg) | Tony Staley (1939–2023) | 19 September 1970 – 19 September 1980 | Served as minister underFraser. Retired | ||
 | Graham Harris (1937–) | 18 October 1980 – 5 March 1983 | Lost seat | ||
 | Helen Mayer (1932–2008) | Labor | 5 March 1983 – 11 July 1987 | Lost seat | |
| Michael Wooldridge (1956–) | Liberal | 11 July 1987 – 3 October 1998 | Served as minister underHoward. Transferred to the Division ofCasey | |
 | Anna Burke (1966–) | Labor | 3 October 1998 – 9 May 2016 | Served asSpeaker during theGillard andRudd Governments. Retired | |
 | Julia Banks (1962–) | Liberal | 2 July 2016 – 27 November 2018 | Did not contest in2019. Failed to win the Division ofFlinders | |
| Independent | 27 November 2018 – 18 May 2019 | ||||
.jpg) | Gladys Liu (1964–) | Liberal | 18 May 2019 – 21 May 2022 | Lost seat | |
_%25E2%2580%2594_May_2022.jpg) | Carina Garland (1982–) | Labor | 21 May 2022 – present | Incumbent | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Carina Garland | 43,655 | 38.74 | +3.98 | |
| Liberal | Katie Allen | 41,966 | 37.24 | −1.96 | |
| Greens | Tim Randall | 14,086 | 12.50 | −1.56 | |
| Independent | Kath Davies | 6,685 | 5.93 | +5.93 | |
| Family First | Gary Ong | 2,419 | 2.15 | +2.15 | |
| One Nation | Guy Livori | 2,156 | 1.91 | +0.95 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | Christine McShane | 1,729 | 1.53 | +1.01 | |
| Total formal votes | 112,696 | 97.62 | +1.61 | ||
| Informal votes | 2,747 | 2.38 | −1.61 | ||
| Turnout | 115,443 | 94.06 | +1.38 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Carina Garland | 62,773 | 55.70 | +2.37 | |
| Liberal | Katie Allen | 49,923 | 44.30 | −2.37 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +2.37 | |||
37°51′54″S145°07′23″E / 37.865°S 145.123°E /-37.865; 145.123