How are state and territory ALP conferences structured?

The question of party reform is likely to dominate the upcoming ALP National Conference in July. While reform is undoubtedly needed, much of the commentary will be based on inaccurate information, in part because knowledge about party structures is not widespread.

It is important to understand that each state branch of the ALP has its own distinct structure. It can vary wildly from state to state. In some states, unions aren’t actually 50% of conference floor and in others committee members and the parliamentary party get many delegate spots. Furthermore, unions are not guaranteed 50% of the delegates at National Conference, “union delegates” are only elected indirectly through state and territory conferences.

This table from an ALP National Secretariat document provides a good overview of how each state and territory branch structures their conference:

State/Terr Conference/Convention	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT
Annual frequency	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1
Specified timing	Oct	May, Oct	Jun	None	None	Aug	Jun/Jul	Jun
Union delegates	445	300	211	150	100	100	92	33
— as percentage of total	50.0%	49.5%	50.0%	50.0%	50.0%	46.7%	46.5%	43.4%
FEA/FEC delegates	144	300	194	0	0	100	0	0
— allocation of delegates	Fixed: 3/FE	Proportional Ratios: 9,7,5/FE		n/a	n/a	Fixed & Prop.	n/a	n/a
— elected how	FE Councils	Direct	Direct	n/a	n/a	Direct	n/a	n/a
— elected when	Apr, annual Jul/Aug, odd yrs		Every 3 yrs	n/a	n/a	May, annual	n/a	n/a
State/terr electorate delegates	186	0	0	0	92	0	0	0
— allocation of delegates	Fixed: 2/FE	n/a	n/a	n/a	Prop. Max 4/SE	n/a	n/a	n/a
— elected from	SE Councils	n/a	n/a	n/a	Direct	n/a	n/a	n/a
	Apr, annual	n/a	n/a	n/a	Aug, odd yrs	n/a	n/a	n/a
Local branch delegates	0	0	0	148	0	0	92	33
— allocation of delegates	n/a	n/a	n/a	Proportional	n/a	n/a	0.1/member	0.1/member
— elected when	n/a	n/a	n/a	Aug/Sep, annual	n/a	n/a	May, annual	< Sep, annual
Delegates elected postal or in person	Person	Person	Person	Person	Person	Postal	Person	Person
Total geographic member delegates	330	300	194	148	92	100	92	33
— as percentage of total	37.1%	49.5%	46.0%	49.3%	46.0%	46.7%	46.5%	43.4%
FPLP Caucus — elected	16	2	1	1	0	1	3	2
FPLP Caucus — ex officio	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	0
SPLP (or TPLP) Caucus — elected	16	0	0	1	0	1	0	0
SPLP (or TPLP) Caucus — ex officio	0	2	2	0	1	2	8	2
Entire caucus are delegates	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Fed only
Municipal delegates	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
— method	n/a	n/a	1 Ex off, 2 elect	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Total parliamentary delegates	32	6	6	2	2	5	11	4
— as percentage of total	3.6%	1.0%	1.4%	0.7%	1.0%	2.3%	5.6%	5.3%
Admin/officials	34	0	5	0	2	1	0	0
— method	All Admin	n/a	Ex officio	n/a	State Sec, Pres	State Sec	n/a	n/a
Policy	27	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
— method	Ex officio	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Women’s	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	3
— method	Ex officio	n/a	Direct	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Elect conf
Young Labor	16	0	3	0	4	2	3	3
— method	Elected YL conf	n/a	Elected YL conf	n/a	Direct2	Direct postal	Elect YL AGM	Elect conf
Indigenous	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0
— method	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Elect, fixed/FE	n/a	n/a
Platform Committee	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
— method	Ex officio	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Total policy/party delegates	83	0	11	0	6	9	3	6
— as percentage of total	9.3%	0.0%	2.6%	0.0%	3.0%	4.2%	1.5%	7.9%
Total delegates	890	606	422	300	200	214	198	76
Nat Conf delegates	108	86	72	42	34	22	6	6
— per State/Terr conf delegate	8	7	6	7	6	10	33	13
Nat Conf delegates elected how	56/44% SC/FEs	100% Conf	100% Conf	100% State Exec	100% Conv	50/50% SC/DE	100% Conf	100% Conf

1 ‘Person’ includes ballots with a postal provision for regional areas.
2 SA YL treated as a state electorate, 4 is assuming maximum allocation.
3 In some branches, union votes are weighted so the number of delegates present at conference will be less.

One thing that is clear from the table is that NSW has the least rank-and-file input into its conference and those delegates are a) not directly elected and b) the allocation is fixed, not proportional. It is a gerrymander that is out of line with all other states. A change to that structure will have flow on effects nationally.

With a clearer understanding of how the structure of the ALP actually works, it will be easier to identify the real barriers to a democratic party and push a more effective reform agenda.

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