Introduction
Australia’s Federal Election, held on 3rd May 2025, was one of the most significant in recent years. Taking place every three years, this election drew widespread attention due to notable shifts in party strength, record-high voter turnout, and growing public focus on diversity in politics.
This interactive storyboard presents a data-driven analysis, built using open electoral data from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Through three focused narratives, users can explore:
How party power shifted compared to the previous election
The relationship between gender diversity in nominations and electoral success
Where voter participation surged — and how it influenced the rise of new representatives
How different parties concentrated their efforts across states using nomination intensity
The New Political Landscape – Shifting Power & Party Gains
Context:
This slide compares party seat counts between the 2025 Federal
Election and the previous election(2022), highlighting gains and
losses.
With 90.67% national turnout, public engagement
remained strong.
Only parties that held seats in either election are shown, to focus on relevant shifts in representation.
Insights:
- Labor gained a clear majority, increasing its seat count significantly.
- The Liberal and Liberal National parties lost seats — suggesting a shift in voter sentiment.
- Minor parties and independents remained mostly stable, retaining niche influence.
Gender Diversity vs. Election Success
Context:
This slide explores whether nominating more female candidates
translated into greater electoral success in the 2025 Federal
Election.
It visualizes party-level gender diversity in nominations alongside the
number of seats won.
Only parties with at least 10 nominees and ≥15% female representation are included.
Insights:
- No consistent pattern emerges between female nomination rates and seat wins — some parties with higher diversity failed to secure seats.
- Minor parties often show stronger gender representation but limited electoral traction.
- Major parties like Liberal, and Nationals exhibit noticeable gender imbalances, yet continued to dominate in seat count.
Turnout Surges & New Faces – Where Voter Participation Shifted
Context:
This slide explores how voter turnout (%) and
turnout swing from the last election varied across
divisions in 2025.
It also highlights whether the result brought in new MPs or
returned incumbents, across different party wins.
Only divisions with complete turnout and MP data are shown.
Insights:
- Turnout was high across most divisions, with swing typically modest.
- New MPs (triangles) appeared more in divisions with positive turnout swing.
- Labor made gains even in divisions with significant turnout shifts — signaling strong momentum.
Where Parties Focused Their Effort — A Heatmap of Nominations
Context:
This heatmap visualizes how political parties distributed their
nominations across Australia in the 2025 Federal Election.
Each tile represents the number of candidates a party fielded in a
specific state or territory.
Insights:
- The Australian Labor Party contested extensively in every state and territory, showing broad national engagement.
- The Liberal Party and The Nationals were active mainly in NSW and VIC, with limited presence elsewhere.
- Some parties like Liberal National Party of Queensland and Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) were highly localized, focusing almost exclusively on QLD.
Key Insights & Takeaways
This election storyboard revealed several key trends shaping Australia’s 2025 Federal Election:
- Labor strengthened its position, winning the most seats and capitalizing on shifts from traditional strongholds of opposition parties.
- Gender diversity in nominations varied widely across parties, but did not consistently correlate with electoral success.
- Turnout was high nationally, but only select divisions showed significant swing — where new MPs were more likely to emerge.
- Minor parties maintained presence but struggled to convert diverse or inclusive efforts into parliamentary gains.
- The data underscores a complex and evolving voter landscape, influenced by local dynamics, national sentiment, and party strategies.
- Nomination strategies varied by region — with some parties contesting nationwide, while others focused efforts locally (e.g: LNP in QLD).
Conclusion
The 2025 Federal Election highlighted a dynamic political environment shaped by shifts in party strength, public participation, and ongoing questions around representation.
By analyzing electoral outcomes, nomination patterns, and voter turnout data, this storyboard provides an interactive lens into:
Where momentum shifted
How inclusive candidate strategies unfolded
And where political change took root
We also examined how different parties prioritized states through nomination density, offering insight into their targeted electoral strategies.
As Australia moves forward, these insights offer a valuable reflection on how democratic engagement and political strategy continue to intersect — in both expected and surprising ways.
Reference
- Australian Electoral Commission. (2025). House of Representatives downloads - AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDownloadsMenu-31496-Csv.htm