Search the news, stories & people Personalise the news and stay in the know Emergency Backstory Newsletters 中文新闻 BERITA BAHASA INDONESIA TOK PISIN By Dannielle Maguire Topic:Australian Federal Elections We're likely to know whether Peter Dutton or Anthony Albanese will be our next prime minister later on Saturday night.  Millions of Australians will cast their votes in the federal election today, bringing to an end a seemingly endless five-week campaign. But how long will it take until we know who will be our next prime minister and which party will be sworn into government? Here's a quick guide to election day so you know what to expect. We will likely know the result later on tonight. But that's just for which party will be able to form government — results for individual electorates and seats in the Senate could take much longer. And it's possible the final result might not be known by the end of the night. It depends on how close the result is, so it's impossible to say for sure. The ABC can generally give a projection of which party is likely to form government — or whether there'll be a hung parliament — on election night. Early numbers from counting will begin coming in shortly after east coast polls close at 6pm AEST. The ABC's chief election analyst Antony Green, who has been examining election results for years, says, "You'll probably know by 10 o'clock". But that doesn't mean it won't be called earlier. Antony Green is gearing up for a big night of analysing election results.  (ABC News: Daniel Boud) The ABC called the election result for Labor a little after 9pm at the 2022 federal election. And the result was called by 9:30pm at the 2019 federal election. Want even more? Here's where you can find all our 2025 federal election coverage Catch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on ABC iview and ABC Listen This election has seen a record number of early votes. But just because people voted early does not mean their votes will be counted early. So what does that mean for the final tally? "You have to wait longer on election night," Green says. Not until 6pm, local time. However, Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) staff will be allowed to prepare them to make counting a bit quicker. They'll be allowed to open the ballot boxes, unfold the votes and start sorting them at 4pm. But the actual counting of votes won't happen until 6pm. The election is run by the AEC, which is an independent body tasked solely with running federal elections and referendums. But the AEC doesn't declare winners for a week and a half. So the ABC uses a modelling system that is fed with AEC counting data to project a winner. "We call a result when it's clear that one candidate has enough votes that they won't be overtaken by some other candidate," Green says. The ABC will be doing a whole lot of coverage of the election throughout the weekend, which you can follow on TV, social media, online and over the radio. We'll be live blogging the whole thing on the ABC News website. There will be live coverage broadcast on the ABC's television channels, which will also be available for streaming online and via ABC iview. And you'll be able to listen in on ABC radio. Having trouble seeing this form? Try this link. Topic:Disinformation and Misinformation Analysis by Laura Tingle Topic:Elections Analysis by Brett Worthington Topic:Federal Government Topic:Royalty Topic:Educational Testing and Examinations Topic:Elections Australia Australian Federal Elections Topic:Disinformation and Misinformation Analysis by Laura Tingle Topic:Elections Analysis by Brett Worthington Topic:Federal Government Topic:Courts Topic:Crime Topic:Explainer Topic:Disinformation and Misinformation We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work. This service may i