The case for a fixed, four-year term for Australia’s federal government

Fixed, four-year federal terms could deliver up to $93 billion in economic benefits over 20 years, according to a new report from 4 Year Terms Australia. Mandala supported the economic case behind the report, The case for a fixed, four-year term for Australia's federal government.

Australia has one of the shortest election cycles in the world. The House of Representatives has a maximum term of three years, and the Prime Minister can call an election at any point within it. Australia is the only liberal democracy that combines a three-year term with no fixed election date. Every state and territory has already moved to four-year terms, and all except Tasmania have adopted a fixed election date.

The current system carries a cost. Australians go to the polls more often than voters in comparable democracies, spending more time and money on elections, while businesses and governments carry greater uncertainty as a result. The 2025 federal election cost taxpayers more than $674 million, over three times the real cost of the 2001 election.

The report estimates that moving to fixed, four-year terms would deliver between $81 and $93 billion in benefits over 20 years, driven by three effects. Reducing the number of elections and fixing the date would lower direct election costs by $5 billion. More stable policy settings and additional time to pursue long-term reform would add between $14 and $26 billion. Greater certainty for business, who tend to defer investment during election periods, adds a further $62 billion in benefit.

There is bipartisan appetite for change. Proponents of longer terms include current and former prime ministers Anthony Albanese, John Howard, Bob Hawke and Malcolm Turnbull. Public opinion points the same way: polling by JWS Research for the report found that only one in ten Australians support the current three-year, unfixed system.

The report also sets out a practical pathway, recommending that a fixed election date be legislated first, followed by public engagement and a referendum on a four-year term.

This report builds on Mandala's 2025 research note, The value of shifting to four-year parliamentary terms, which quantified the economic benefits of moving from a three-year to a four-year federal term.

Read the full report here.