See also: 1969 Australian federal election.
| Country: | Australia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Election Date: | 21 November 1970 |
| Previous Election: | 1967 Australian Senate election |
| Previous Year: | 1967 |
| Next Election: | 1974 Australian federal election |
| Next Year: | 1974 |
| Seats For Election: | 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate |
| Majority Seats: | 16 |
| Image1: | Lionel Murphy 1970.jpg |
| Leader1: | Lionel Murphy |
| Party1: | Australian Labor Party |
| Seats1: | 14 |
| Seats After1: | 26 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Popular Vote1: | 2,376,215 |
| Percentage1: | 42.22% |
| Swing1: | 2.81pp |
| Leader2: | Ken Anderson |
| Party2: | Coalition |
| Seats2: | 13 |
| Seats After2: | 26 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,149,023 |
| Percentage2: | 38.18% |
| Swing2: | 4.59pp |
| Image3: | Queensland State Archives 4750 Hon VC Gair Premier of Queensland c 1953.png |
| Leader3: | Vince Gair |
| Party3: | Democratic Labor Party (Australia, 1955) |
| Seats3: | 3 |
| Seats After3: | 5 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 625,142 |
| Percentage3: | 11.11% |
| Swing3: | 1.34pp |
An election was held on 21 November 1970 to elect 32 of the 60 seats in the Australian Senate. This is the most recent occasion on which a Senate election has been held with no accompanying election to the House of Representatives; the two election cycles had been out of synchronisation since 1963.
| Date | Event | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 October 1970 | Writs were issued by the respective State Governors to proceed with an election. | |
| 29 October 1970 | Close of nominations, at 12pm. | |
| 21 November 1970 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. | |
| 17 December 1970 | Declaration of the poll for South Australia. | |
| 7 January 1971 | Return of the writs. |
The governing Coalition and the opposition Australian Labor Party won 13 and 14 seats respectively, resulting in a total of 26 seats each, while the Democratic Labor Party and three independents (two newly elected) held the remaining seats.
| Votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held | Change | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 2,376,215 | 42.22 | –2.81 | 14 | 26 | –1 | |||
| Liberal–Country coalition (total) | 2,149,023 | 38.18 | –4.59 | 13 | 26 | –2 | |||
| Liberal–Country joint ticket | 1,098,134 | 19.51 | 4 | ||||||
| Liberal | 991,473 | 17.61 | +9.47 | 8 | 21 | 0 | |||
| Country | 59,416 | 1.06 | +0.24 | 1 | 5 | –2 | |||
| Democratic Labor | 625,142 | 11.11 | +1.34 | 3 | 5 | +1 | |||
| Australia | 163,343 | 2.90 | +2.90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Better Education Committee | 59,813 | 1.06 | +1.06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Democratic | 52,799 | 0.94 | +0.94 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Pensioner Power | 28,983 | 0.51 | +0.51 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Defence of Government Schools | 27,796 | 0.49 | +0.49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| National Socialist | 24,017 | 0.43 | +0.43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Conservative Immigration Movement | 4,864 | 0.08 | +0.08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Independent | 116,838 | 2.07 | +0.37 | 2 | 3 | +2 | |||
| Total | 5,628,833 | 32 | 60 | ||||||