Votes Being Counted In Australia Federal Election
BBC News
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Australian PM Anthony Albanese wins re-election but it is unclear yet if he has a majority, local networks say based on early vote counts
Early results suggest Albanese and his Australian Labor Party benefited from swings across the country away from Peter Dutton's Liberal-National Coalition
Cost of living, crumbling public healthcare and unaffordable housing were key issues, as was an unpredictable Trump presidency
A range of independents and candidates from the left-wing Greens, could determine the final make-up of the government in case of a hung parliament
Stay with us as we bring you everything you need to know about the latest results, voter sentiment, wins and losses, and the role of the beloved democracy sausage
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'Boring' and 'weird': Australians sum up their election in one word
Edited by Yvette Tan, Jay Savage and Ayeshea Perera with contributions from Katy Watson, Simon Atkinson, Tiffanie Turnbull and Kellie Highet in Sydney; Kelly Ng and Tione Zylstra in Brisbane and Finbar O'Mallon in Melbourne.
One of Greens leader Adam Bandt's main messages has been to keep Dutton from power – and the Greens watch party cheered earlier when preliminary results showed a swing away from Dutton in his home seat of Dickson.
Bandt told ABC in a television interview, in front of an upbeat crowd, that "the feeling so far is good".
That mood has since turned more sombre, according to local media, as preliminary figures show that the Greens may lose their seats in Griffith, Ryan and Brisbane.
Kelly Ng
Reporting from Brisbane
At the Liberal Party HQ there's a flurry of activity, with camera crews rushing to the entrance of the room.
With the ABC calling the election over, we're wondering if Dutton is about to make an appearance.
Nope. At the door, trying to enter the watch party, is none other than former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott.
He sees the media mob and immediately turns around though.
Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney
At this point of the evening, it's hard to imagine a more emphatic rejection of Peter Dutton's Liberal-National coalition than has played out.
He has lost the election, with massive swings away from his party right around the country.
And he has lost his own seat.
That is something that hasn't happened to a party leader since 2007, when John Howard – coincidentally Dutton's mentor – was voted out of his Sydney electorate.
Yes, Dickson was the most marginal seat in Queensland and was always going to be a battle to retain, but this result is going to prompt a lot of hand-wringing – and chaos – within the Coalition.
Kelly Ng
Reporting from Brisbane
Brisbane residents Tahar and Munira Ali are trying to stay hopeful.
"It's not looking good. But hopefully things will turn around in the next hour and it'll be a different story for the Liberal party in some of the other marginal seats," says Mr Ali.
"These numbers are disappointing. But we still have a fair number of seats that are pending," says his wife Munira.
Katy Watson & Simon Atkinson
Reporting from Sydney
The cheering is getting louder – it's basically a victory party at the Albanese watch party. There are huge roars every time the television screen flashes up the message that Labor have won this election tears as well as cheers. The increasingly dismal prospect of Peter Dutton becoming PM makes the room erupt once more.
Those Albo beers we talk about earlier on now being drunk with great gusto.
As one supporter told me, 'The beer tastes better now.”
Few people thought this could be called so early – just five weeks ago when candidates started campaigning, Labor and the Liberal-National coalition were neck and neck.
Albanese's campaign was smoother – but he can thank US President Donald Trump too for helping him along in this race for another term.
Albanese is seen by voters here as a safe, steady option when global politics is anything but.
Moments ago we reported that the ABC declared that opposition leader Dutton has lost his seat of Dickson. Liberal-National Senator James McGrath though is urging caution, saying we should wait until more votes come in before counting Dickson a loss.
"The seat of Dickson has always been a tough seat," he said, on the ABC.
The night has gone from bad to worse for Peter Dutton.
Moments ago the ABC declared his Liberal-National coalition had lost the election, and now they say he has lost his seat of Dickson, in Brisbane, to Labor's Ali France.
Kelly Ng
Reporting from Brisbane
Some swearing could be heard as the networks called Labor's win. Large groups of people are staring at the screens now. There's still a lot of chatter going on though I can see some dejected faces around the room.
The election call by the ABC's Antony Green has been the gold standard here for over three decades. Here's what he had to say when declaring Labor had won just moments ago.
This could be a big win for Labor.
Antony Green, ABC election analyst
On the Coalition, he said they're going to need some miracles to hold on to many seats.
"They would need to have loaves and fishes, I think. It is a big swing and I cannot see how it turns around… it is bad news everywhere for them."
In winning the election, Anthony Albanese will become the first Prime Minister to win back-to-back elections since John Howard in 2004.
We continue to bring you preliminary results. With 4.9% of votes counted, here is how the composition of the House of Representatives is taking shape.Tiffanie Turnbull
BBC News, Sydney
It's still early days in terms of counting in many seats across the country – but already Labor has been declared the winner of this election.
It's quite a remarkable turnaround from the start of the year, when polling put PM Anthony Albanese's popularity at record lows after three years of global economic pain, tense national debate, and growing government dissatisfaction.
"Dutton entered the campaign [year] in front. It was his to lose," one political expert told me earlier today.
Labor has won the election and will form government, either in minority or majority, Australia's national broadcaster the ABC has declared. 
Katy Watson
Reporting from Sydney
It’s still early in the count – less than 5% of votes have been counted – but confidence is building at the Labor watch HQ. All signs are pointing to a good night for Labor.
There have been several early swings to Labor on the east coast and the state of Tasmania too. This is far better than many had dared to expect at the start of the campaign and it’s given people here a boost early on.
Not such a good night for opposition leader Peter Dutton though – it’s looking like he could struggle to hang on to his seat of Dickson.
Dutton’s campaign wasn’t smooth, the general feeling was he didn’t offer enough substance in his policies to convince people of a change – especially at a time when the world is being shaken up, voters perhaps playing it safe with the politician they know.
But the count is still very much underway, with more projections to come.
While we're on the topic of Dickson, here's how things are looking in that seat so far.
As we reported a couple posts ago, these results are causing some angst among Liberal supporters in Brisbane, but our reporters at Labor HQ in Sydney and the election night party of 'teal' Independent Monique Ryan say they're prompting cheers there.
Of course, worth stressing again that there are still plenty of ballots to be counted here.
As we’ve been explaining, young voters are playing an important role in this election, with those under 45 making up nearly half of the 18 million people enrolled to vote.
Who they cast their ballot for is especially important in key marginal seats, as Professor Philippa Collins from the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University explains.
She tells the BBC News Channel that, for example, in Queensland's Dickson electorate – where the opposition leader Peter Dutton is the incumbent – there is a relatively small margin and a significant youth vote.
“Whether Dutton retains his seat will likely depend upon how young people think he has performed during the election campaign,” says Collins.
“Young voters tend to punish incumbents when they’re really unhappy with the state of the economy.”
Polls have closed in Western Australia, which means most of those across the country have closed.
The last polling booths – in the far-flung Australian territory of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands – will close in about half an hour – at 12:30 GMT.
Kelly Ng
Reporting from Brisbane
Rick is a resident in opposition leader Peter Diutton's seat of Dickson and says he is disappointed with the way early counts are going:
"It doesn't seem to be going well… If Peter Dutton loses his seat, that will be really sad."
The overall results could be a "real rout", says the retiree, who recently joined the Liberal National Party (LNP).
He says he thought more younger people would have voted for the Coalition, with cost of living among their most pressing concerns.
"Maybe they didn't like his nuclear policy," he says. "I think people couldn't understand Dutton's policies."
Here's a quick look at the preliminary results in Queensland:
Kelly Ng
Reporting from Brisbane
Liberal-National coalition supporters are trickling into a Brisbane ballroom to watch the results come in. Some are wearing blue T-shirts with the name of the party's candidates printed on them.
Many, however, seem on their guard around journalists, declining to comment.
One lady handling registration told me quite curtly "you may not have much of a chance to mingle with volunteers tonight".
Katy Watson and Simon Atkinson
reporting from the Labor watch party in Sydney
The first noticeable cheers have come from the Labor watch party – as the ABC is showing an early swing towards Labor in Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson in Queensland.
The Labor party has gathered in a social club in Sydney's Inner West.
It'll be here, in a few hours, that Anthony Albanese will either claim victory – or admit defeat – but people here seem confident about a win.
The large conference room is decked out in red and offering free cans of ‘Albo Pale Ale’. It's filling up with journalists and Labor party supporters alike.
Thomas Brown, 24, has come with his mum and younger brother Arlo. Their grandfather John Brown was a minister of tourism and sport in the 1980s.
“I'm very confident for a majority and for a smaller Liberal party in the lower house as well,” he says, adding that his confidence has definitely grown over the course of the campaign.
People have become more engaged in politics these past few weeks, he says. “Peter Dutton hasn't helped himself either,” he says. "He's had a pretty poor campaign.”.
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