Legislative elections were held in Australia on 2 March 1996. All 148 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The conservative coalition of the Liberal Party, led by Opposition Leader John Howard, and the National Party of Australia, led by Tim Fischer, defeated the incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Paul Keating, ending 13 years of Labor government.

National summary of votes and seats

House of Representatives

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Party                         Votes       %    Change   Seats
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Liberal Party                  4,248,991  39.0 (+02.2)   76 (+27)
National Party of Australia      893,170  08.2 (+01.0)   18 (+02)     
Australian Labor Party         4,217,765  38.7 (-06.2)   49 (-31)    
Australian Democrats             735,848  06.8 (+03.1)    -
Others                           788,078  07.2            5 (+04)
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Total                         10,883,852                148
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Senate

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Party                         Votes       %    Change   Seats Holdovers Total
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Liberal / National Party       4,479,913  41.1 (+01.1)  20       19      39
Australian Labor Party         3,940,150  36.1 (-07.4)  14       17      31
Australian Democrats           1,179,357  10.8 (+05.8)   5        2       7
Others                         1,299,617  11.9           1        2       3
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Total                         10,899,037                40       40      80
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In Senate elections the Liberal and National parties run joint tickets 
in some states.

Source: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive