Whoever wins Australia’s election will need to work with the Senate. Here’s how it could look

The Senate crossbench will have some familar faces after the 2025 election, but a few seats are up for grabs. Left to right: Tammy Tyrrell, Fatima Payman, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Malcolm Roberts. Composite: AAP/The Guardian

The Senate elected in 2022 had a clear progressive majority. That is likely to continue in 2025, but there are a number of close races, with potential for minor parties to pick up more seats.

There were two unprecedented results in 2022. The left-leaning independent David Pocock defeated Liberal Zed Seselja for the second seat in the ACT after almost 50 years of the territory consistently electing one Labor and one Liberal senator. And Labor won three seats in Western Australia for the first time at a six-seat election, with one Greens senator also elected.