Victorian Legislative Council

Legislative Council
60th Parliament
Type
Type	Upper house of the Parliament of Victoria
History
Founded	1851; 173 years ago (1851)
Leadership
President	Shaun Leane, Labor since 20 December 2022
Deputy President	Wendy Lovell, Liberal since 19 December 2018
Leader of the Government	Jaclyn Symes, Labor since 23 March 2020
Deputy Leader of the Government	Lizzie Blandthorn, Labor since 5 December 2022
Leader of the Opposition	Georgie Crozier, Liberal since 8 December 2022
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	Evan Mulholland, Liberal since 31 August 2023
Government Whip	Lee Tarlamis, Labor since August 2022
Structure
Seats	40
Political groups	Government (15)   Labor (15) Opposition (13)   Liberal (11)   National (2) Crossbench (12)   Greens (4)   Legalise Cannabis (2)   Animal Justice (1)   Libertarian (1)   One Nation (1)   Shooters, Fishers, Farmers (1)   Independent (1)   Independent Liberal (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Last general election	26 November 2022
Next general election	28 November 2026
Meeting place
Legislative Council Chamber, Parliament House, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Website
Vic Legislative Council

The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to its federal counterpart, the Australian Senate. Although it is possible for legislation to be first introduced in the Council, most bills receive their first hearing in the Legislative Assembly.

The presiding officer of the chamber is the President of the Legislative Council. The Council presently comprises 40 members serving four-year terms from eight electoral regions each with five members. With each region electing 5 members using the single transferable vote, the quota in each region for election, after distribution of preferences, is 16.7% (one-sixth). Ballot papers for elections for the Legislative Council have above and below the line voting. Voting above the line requires only a '1' being placed in one box, and group voting tickets voting has applied since 1988.^[1] Semi-optional voting is available if a voter votes below the line.

The Chamber of the Legislative Council is noticeably red - all carpet and furnishings in the chamber are red, which is a symbol of royalty and nobility. This aesthetic is in line with the United Kingdom's House of Lords.^[2]