How to write to an Australian senator

Who are my senators?

Senators don't have electorates. Each one represents a whole state or territory, so all the senators for your state are your senators. Every state elects 12 and the ACT and Northern Territory elect 2 each. There are currently 76 senators in the Senate.

Jump to the current list for your state or territory:

• New South Wales: 12 senators
• Victoria: 12 senators
• Queensland: 12 senators
• Western Australia: 12 senators
• South Australia: 12 senators
• Tasmania: 12 senators
• Australian Capital Territory: 2 senators
• Northern Territory: 2 senators

You can also search every senator by name or party, or find your local member by postcode to see your senators alongside your federal and state MPs.

Why write to a senator?

Every federal bill has to pass the Senate as well as the House of Representatives. The Senate can amend bills, send them to committees for inquiry, or vote them down, and much of that detailed work happens in Senate committees and Senate Estimates hearings.

Right now no single party holds a majority in the Senate (39 of 76 seats). That means the government needs votes from outside its own party to pass legislation, and every one of those votes is worth persuading. At the moment, 19 senators sit outside Labor and the Coalition: Australian Greens (10), Pauline Hanson's One Nation (4), Independent (2), United Australia Party (1), Australia's Voice (1), Jacqui Lambie Network (1).

Senators also hold senior jobs. In the current Senate, 10 senators hold a ministerial or assistant ministerial role and 19 hold a shadow role, so a senator may be the right person to write to about a whole portfolio.

Senators vs your local MP

Your local MP represents one electorate in the House of Representatives and runs an office set up to help constituents with federal agencies. For a personal problem, such as a stuck Centrelink payment or a visa delay, your local MP is usually the best first contact.

Senators are more useful when you care about how a bill is voted on, or when your issue affects your whole state. Senators can also be a good second option if your local MP belongs to a party that has already made up its mind.

Should you write to all of your state's senators, or just one?

It depends on your goal. If you want a bill changed, write to the senators whose votes are in play: usually crossbench senators and any government or opposition senators who have spoken on the issue. If your issue is local to your state, writing to several senators from different parties raises the odds that one of them takes it up.

Personalise each letter slightly if you can. Mentioning something the senator has said or a committee they sit on shows you've written to them, not to a mailing list. If you're organising a group of people to write, a letter writing campaign brings the price down to $3.45 a letter for 4 or more.

How to address a senator

• Envelope: "Senator [First name] [Surname]". For senators who are, or have been, ministers or presiding officers: "Senator the Hon [First name] [Surname]".
• Greeting: "Dear Senator [Surname]". For a minister writing on their portfolio, "Dear Minister" is also correct.
• Post-nominals: senators don't use "MP" after their name. Only add honours they use themselves.

Each senator's page on Better Letters shows the exact form their parliament uses. Our guide on addressing a senator and other members covers the rules in detail.

Where to send it: electorate office vs Parliament House

Most senators run an office in their home state, often in the capital city. That's the address listed for each senator in the tables below, and it's usually the best place to write, because it's staffed all year and handles constituent mail.

You can also write to any senator at Parliament House in Canberra. This suits letters about a bill before the Senate, a committee inquiry or a minister's portfolio. Use this address, with the senator's name on the first line:

Write to Sean Bell at Parliament House, or pick any senator from the list below and choose "Write" on their page.

Letter to a senator: template

Keep it to one page and one issue. Say which state you live in, name the bill or issue, explain briefly how it affects you, and make one clear request. End with a question so the office has something to reply to.

A printed, signed letter is harder to ignore than an email or an online petition. Better Letters prints and posts it via Australia Post for $3.95, with no account needed, or you can download the PDF free and post it yourself.

List of Australian senators by state

This is the current list of all 76 senators, grouped by the state or territory they represent. Each name links to the senator's page, with the office address and a button to write to them.

Names, roles and addresses on this page come from each parliament's official member lists. Data checked 20 October 2026.

Write to your senators

Pick a senator from the list, write your letter online and sign it on screen. We print it, put it in an envelope and post it. Letters are encrypted and deleted 24 hours after posting.