Time period between election date and first sitting date

It is up to the government to decide when parliamentary sittings will commence following an election, provided that the first sitting day is no later than 30 days from the date of the return of the writs. The election timetable is governed by the Constitution and the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. According to the timetable, the date of the return of the writs for the election is to be no longer than 100 days after it is issued, which is within 10 days after the election is announced.

 The 2013 Federal election was announced on Sunday 4 August 2013 and the writs were issued on Monday 5 August 2013. The latest date by which the writs must be returned is Wednesday 13 November 2013, and parliament must sit within 30 days of this date. The government announced that the first sitting day for the 44th Parliament will be on Tuesday 12 November 2013—in line with the custom of holding the opening of parliament on a Tuesday. The election timetable for the 2013 Federal election is available on the Australian Electoral Commission website. The library publication, Australian elections timetable, explains the rules governing various election scenarios.

Below is a sortable table of the time period between the election date and first sitting date since Federation. The shortest time period is 31 days in 1969 and the longest time period is 94 days after the 2001 election. There is no clear pattern between the election date and the first sitting date, with sittings, on average, commencing within 59 days of the election date. In the case of 2001, where there was a 94 day lapse, the election was held on the 10 November and the last writs were returned on 7 December 2001. As it was the Christmas period, parliament did not return until the customary first sittings of the year in February. It is important to note that factors such as common holiday periods do impact upon the date of the first sitting.

Election Date	First sitting	Total Days	Length
30/03/1901	9/05/1901	40	1 Month, 09 Days. 40 Days total.
16/12/1903	2/03/1904	77	2 Months, 15 Days. 77 Days total.
12/12/1906	20/02/1907	70	2 Months, 08 Days. 70 Days total.
13/04/1910	1/07/1910	79	2 Months, 18 Days. 79 Days total.
31/05/1913	9/07/1913	39	1 Month, 09 Days. 39 Days total.
5/09/1914	8/10/1914	33	1 Month, 03 Days. 33 Days total.
5/05/1917	14/06/1917	40	1 Month, 09 Days. 40 Days total.
13/12/1919	26/02/1920	75	2 Months, 13 Days. 75 Days total.
16/12/1922	28/02/1923	74	2 Months, 12 Days. 74 Days total.
14/11/1925	13/01/1926	60	1 Month, 30 Days. 60 Days total.
17/11/1928	6/02/1929	81	2 Months, 20 Days. 81 Days total.
12/10/1929	20/11/1929	39	1 Month, 08 Days. 39 Days total.
19/12/1931	17/02/1932	60	1 Month, 29 Days. 60 Days total.
15/09/1934	23/10/1934	38	1 Month, 08 Days. 38 Days total.
23/10/1937	30/11/1937	38	1 Month, 07 Days. 38 Days total.
21/09/1940	20/11/1940	60	1 Month, 30 Days. 60 Days total.
21/08/1943	23/09/1943	33	1 Month, 02 Days. 33 Days total.
28/09/1946	6/11/1946	39	1 Month, 09 Days. 39 Days total.
10/12/1949	22/02/1950	74	2 Months, 12 Days. 74 Days total.
28/04/1951	12/06/1951	45	1 Month, 15 Days. 45 Days total.
29/05/1954	4/08/1954	67	2 Months, 06 Days. 67 Days total.
10/12/1955	15/02/1956	67	2 Months, 05 Days. 67 Days total.
22/11/1958	17/02/1959	87	2 Months, 26 Days. 87 Days total.
9/12/1961	20/02/1962	73	2 Months, 11 Days. 73 Days total.
30/11/1963	25/02/1964	87	2 Months, 26 Days. 87 Days total.
26/11/1966	21/02/1967	87	2 Months, 26 Days. 87 Days total.
25/10/1969	25/11/1969	31	1 Month, 00 Days. 31 Days total.
2/12/1972	27/02/1973	87	2 Months, 25 Days. 87 Days total.
18/05/1974	9/07/1974	52	1 Month, 21 Days. 52 Days total.
13/12/1975	17/02/1976	66	2 Months, 04 Days. 66 Days total.
10/12/1977	21/02/1978	73	2 Months, 11 Days. 73 Days total.
18/10/1980	25/11/1980	38	1 Month, 07 Days. 38 Days total.
5/03/1983	21/04/1983	47	1 Month, 16 Days. 47 Days total.
1/12/1984	21/02/1985	82	2 Months, 20 Days. 82 Days total.
11/07/1987	14/09/1987	65	2 Months, 03 Days. 65 Days total.
24/03/1990	8/05/1990	45	1 Month, 14 Days. 45 Days total.
13/03/1993	4/05/1993	52	1 Month, 21 Days. 52 Days total.
2/03/1996	30/04/1996	59	1 Month, 28 Days. 59 Days total.
3/10/1998	10/11/1998	38	1 Month, 07 Days. 38 Days total.
10/11/2001	12/02/2002	94	3 Months, 02 Days. 94 Days total.
9/10/2004	16/11/2004	38	1 Month, 07 Days. 38 Days total.
24/11/2007	12/02/2008	80	2 Months, 19 Days. 80 Days total.
21/08/2010	28/09/2010	38	1 Month, 07 Days. 38 Days total.
7/09/2013	12/11/2013	66	2 Months, 05 Days. 66 Days total.