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20 Members of Parliament in the House of Representatives

A person who is elected to the House of Representatives is called a Member of Parliament - MP for short. Members are not referred to by name in the House but by the name of their electorate; for example, the Member for Newcastle.

Members are elected for three years. The longest serving member in the House of Representatives was The Right Honourable W. M. Hughes who was an MP from 1901 to 1951.

Each member represents an electorate that has, on average, about 125,000 people and approximately 92,000 voters. There are 150 electorates and 150 members.

Members spend most of their time helping people in their electorate. People seek assistance from their federal Member of Parliament when they are having difficulties with such issues as taxes, immigration, health and pensions. Members may also represent many community groups such as unions, pensioner associations and sporting bodies.

Members are paid about $100,000 a year. They also receive additional payments to help them run their electorate offices. Members in very large electorates such as Kalgoorlie in Western Australia and Grey in South Australia receive additional allowances to cover such things as chartering aircraft for travel throughout their vast electorates.

In the House, members often refer to each other as the Honourable Member. Members may use the formal title Honourable (abbreviated to Hon) if they are or have been a minister.

How to address a Member of the House of Representatives:

Mr John Smith MP
The Hon Jane Macathur MP
The Hon Richard Thorpe MP, Member for Greenhills

Download: Fact Sheet 20 - Members of Parliament [183KB]

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