| Melbourne AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1901 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Sarah Witty | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Melbourne | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 113,403 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 39 km2 (15.1 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan | ||||||||||||||
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TheDivision of Melbourne is anAustralian electoral division in theState ofVictoria, represented since the2025 election bySarah Witty, a member of theLabor Party.
The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of theoriginal 65 divisions to be contested at thefirst federal election. The Division of Melbourne encompasses theCity of Melbourne and the suburbs ofAbbotsford,Burnley,Carlton,Collingwood,Cremorne,Docklands,East Melbourne,Fitzroy,North Melbourne,Parkville,Prahran,Richmond,South Yarra andWest Melbourne. The area has heavy and light engineering, extensive manufacturing, commercial and retail activities (including Melbourne markets and central business district), dockyards, clothing and footwear industries, warehousing and distributing of whitegoods, building and other general goods. This capital city electorate's northern boundary is formed by Maribyrnong Road, Ormond Road, Park Street, Sydney Road and Glenlyon Road between theYarra River,Maribyrnong River andMerri Creek. The division also contains the main Parkville Campus of theUniversity of Melbourne.
Melbourne has the highest proportion of Greens first party preferences relative to any other federal division. Melbourne also has a higher than average university education rate, with 44.8% of electors holding abachelor's degree or above.[1]
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.[2]
Melbourne contains large sections of the cities ofMelbourne andYarra, bounded by theYarra River andSt Kilda Road to the south andMoonee Ponds Creek, Park Street,Royal Parade, andAlexandra Parade to the north. It also containsSouth Yarra and a portion ofPrahran in theCity of Stonnington.[3]
Melbourne was held by theAustralian Labor Party for almost all of its history. Labor first won the seat at a1904 by-election, and held it for over a century, with formerOpposition LeaderArthur Calwell the highest profile member. For most of the time from 1907 to 2004, it was one of Labor's safest seats. During this time, Labor's hold on the seat was only remotely threatened once, when Calwell saw his majority trimmed to 57.2 percent amidst theCoalition's landslide victory in1966. This is still the closest that the conservative parties have come to winning the seat in over a century.
At the2007 election, Melbourne became a marginal seat for the first time in a century, even as Labor won a decisive victory nationally. Greens candidateAdam Bandt took second place on a two candidate preferred basis, leaving Labor with 54.71 percent of the vote. On a "traditional"two party preferred basis with the Liberals, Labor finished with 72.27, an increase of 1.13 percentage points.[4]
At the2010 election however, following the retirement of former member andMinister for Finance and DeregulationLindsay Tanner, Labor lost Melbourne to the Greens on a large swing, with Bandt far outpolling the Liberals and securing victory over Labor candidate Cath Bowtell.[5] Bandt retained his seat in2013,2016,2019, and2022, with an increase in his primary vote share on each occasion. In 2016 and 2019, he actually pushed Labor into third place.
A redistribution of the seat before the2025 election caused Melbourne to lose areas that had primarily voted for the Greens at the 2022 election, includingFitzroy North,Carlton North, andClifton Hill, and gain South Yarra and part of Prahran from the abolishedDivision of Higgins, areas that had voted for Labor in 2022.[6] While Bandt still won the first-preference vote in 2025, he lost on the two-candidate-preferred vote to Labor'sSarah Witty after 15 years in the seat.[7][8]
In 2017, the division had the highest percentage of "Yes" responses in theAustralian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 83.7% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "Yes" in favour ofsame-sex marriage. Additionally, in the2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, the division had the highest percentage of "Yes" responses of any Australian division, with 78.04% of votes cast responding "Yes" in favour of the proposal. The division also returned the highest "Yes" vote in the1999 referendum on Australia becoming a republic.
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Sir Malcolm McEacharn (1852–1910) | Protectionist | 29 March 1901 – 10 March 1904 | 1903 election results declared void. Lost seat insubsequent by-election | |
 | William Maloney (1854–1940) | Labor | 30 March 1904 – 27 August 1940 | Previously held theVictorian Legislative Assembly seat ofWest Melbourne. Retired | |
 | Arthur Calwell (1896–1973) | 21 September 1940 – 2 November 1972 | Served as minister underCurtin,Forde andChifley. Served asOpposition Leader from 1960 to 1967. Retired | ||
 | Ted Innes (1925–2010) | 2 December 1972 – 4 February 1983 | Lost preselection and retired | ||
 | Gerry Hand (1942–2023) | 5 March 1983 – 8 February 1993 | Served as minister underHawke andKeating. Retired | ||
.png) | Lindsay Tanner (1956–) | 13 March 1993 – 19 July 2010 | Served as minister underRudd andGillard. Retired | ||
 | Adam Bandt (1972–) | Greens | 21 August 2010 – 3 May 2025 | Served as leader of theGreens from2020 to2025. Lost seat | |
.JPG) | Sarah Witty (1972–) | Labor | 3 May 2025 – present | Incumbent | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greens | Adam Bandt | 38,457 | 39.46 | −5.27 | |
| Labor | Sarah Witty | 30,541 | 31.34 | +5.68 | |
| Liberal | Steph Hunt | 19,267 | 19.77 | +0.24 | |
| Independent | Anthony Koutoufides | 3,204 | 3.29 | +3.29 | |
| One Nation | Melanie Casey | 2,438 | 2.50 | +1.66 | |
| Fusion | Helen Huang | 1,926 | 1.98 | +1.98 | |
| Independent | Tim Smith | 1,615 | 1.66 | +1.66 | |
| Total formal votes | 97,448 | 97.57 | +0.59 | ||
| Informal votes | 2,427 | 2.43 | −0.59 | ||
| Turnout | 99,875 | 88.10 | +0.05 | ||
| Notionaltwo-party-preferred count | |||||
| Labor | Sarah Witty | 72,083 | 73.97 | +0.88 | |
| Liberal | Steph Hunt | 25,365 | 26.03 | −0.88 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Sarah Witty | 51,663 | 53.02 | +8.60 | |
| Greens | Adam Bandt | 45,785 | 46.98 | −8.60 | |
| Laborgain fromGreens | Swing | +8.60 | |||
37°48′00″S144°57′47″E / 37.800°S 144.963°E /-37.800; 144.963