Here's what you need to know about the Australia Election today.
Australia Election 2022 Photo: RNZ / Nik Dirga
Polls close at 8pm NZT. Up to half of all votes have been cast before today, according to the Australian Electoral Commission, so we may see results sooner than previous years.
The Australian Parliament has two houses, unlike New Zealand - a House of Representatives and a Senate.
But the House of Representatives is what counts tonight - a party needs to hold a majority of seats there.
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There are 151 elected members, so the big number is 76. The leader of the party with the most seats in the House becomes the prime minister.
Australians will be voting on who they want to represent their local electorate in the House, and who they want to represent their state (or territory) in the Senate.
There is no party vote in Australia, so who people vote for in their local electorate is what counts.
Australia has a preferential voting system, which means voters are asked to rank candidates for House seats. If a candidate gets an absolute majority of first preference votes they win the seat; if not, the candidate with the least votes is knocked out of the race and votes are redistributed according to second preferences.
The Coalition government currently led by Scott Morrison has governed for nine years, although 'ScoMo' as he's known has only been prime minister for three years. Thanks to party leadership fights resulting in several leaders being booted by rivals, he's actually the first PM to finish a full term since John Howard, who left office in 2007.
Polls have narrowly shown Labor, led by Anthony Albanese, in the lead, but they have tightened in recent days.
In Australia, voting is also compulsory if you're over 18. So no skipping the ballot queues.
