# 1982 Victorian state election

The 1982 Victoria state election was held on Saturday, 3 April 1982, was for the 49th Parliament of Victoria to elect 81 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44-member Legislative Council.
Lindsay Thompson succeeded Rupert Hamer as Liberal Party leader and Premier on 5 June 1981, and John Cain Jr. replaced Frank Wilkes as Labor Party leader in September 1981. The incumbent Liberal government led by Lindsay Thompson was defeated by the Labor Party led by John Cain with a swing of 17 seats. The ALP returned to government in Victoria for the first time in 27 years.

## Results
### Legislative Assembly

Victorian state election, 3 April 1982 Legislative Assembly
<< 1979–1985 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 2,453,642 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 2,305,773 | | Turnout | 93.97 | −0.67 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 60,272 | | Informal | 2.61 | −0.40 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Labor | 1,122,887 | 50.01 | +4.77 | 49 | +17 |
| | Liberal | 860,669 | 38.33 | −3.11 | 24 | −17 |
| | Democrats | 119,083 | 5.30 | +0.10 | 0 | ±0 |
| | National | 111,579 | 4.97 | −0.64 | 8 | ±0 |
| | Democratic Labour | 7,635 | 0.34 | −0.17 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independent | 23,648 | 1.05 | -0.37 | 0 | ±0 |
| Total | Total | 2,245,501 | | | 81 | |
| Two-party-preferred |||||||
| | Labor | 1,207,197 | 53.8 | +4.5 | | |
| | Liberal | 1,037,506 | 46.2 | –4.5 | | |

### Legislative Council

Victorian state election, 3 April 1982 Legislative Council
<< 1979–1985 >> :
| Enrolled voters | Enrolled voters | 2,453,642 | | | | |
| Votes cast | Votes cast | 2,302,973 | | Turnout | 93.86 | +0.64 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | 72,167 | | Informal | 3.13 | –0.40 |
| Summary of votes by party |||||||
| Party | Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats won | Seats held |
| | Labor | 1,105,650 | 49.56 | +4.23 | 11 | 19 |
| | Liberal | 874,736 | 39.21 | –4.53 | 9 | 21 |
| | National | 122,637 | 5.50 | +0.37 | 2 | 4 |
| | Democrats | 112,098 | 5.03 | +2.17 | 0 | 0 |
| | Democratic Labour | 11,780 | 0.53 | +0.38 | 0 | 0 |
| | Independent | 3,904 | 0.18 | –1.87 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 2,230,805 | | | 22 | 44 |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1982 | Pre-1982 | Pre-1982 | Pre-1982 | Swing | Post-1982 | Post-1982 | Post-1982 | Post-1982 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Ballarat South | | Liberal | Joan Chambers | 0.4 | -2.3 | 1.9 | Frank Sheehan | Labor | |
| Bendigo | | Liberal | Daryl McClure | 1.2 | -6.1 | 4.9 | David Kennedy | Labor | |
| Bennettswood | | Liberal | Keith McCance | 6.1 | -6.5 | 0.4 | Doug Newton | Labor | |
| Box Hill | | Liberal | Donald Mackinnon | 3.6 | -7.1 | 3.5 | Margaret Ray | Labor | |
| Dromana | | Liberal | Ron Wells | 6.7 | -7.7 | 1.0 | David Hassett | Labor | |
| Evelyn | | Liberal | Jim Plowman | 3.8 | -8.1 | 4.3 | Max McDonald | Labor | |
| Frankston | | Liberal | Graeme Weideman | 7.2 | -7.3 | 0.1 | Jane Hill | Labor | |
| Geelong West | | Liberal | Hayden Birrell | 0.8 | -3.7 | 2.9 | Hayden Shell | Labor | |
| Ivanhoe | | Liberal | Bruce Skeggs | 3.4 | -3.9 | 0.5 | Tony Sheehan | Labor | |
| Mitcham | | Liberal | George Cox | 0.7 | -4.6 | 3.9 | John Harrowfield | Labor | |
| Monbulk | | Liberal | Bill Borthwick | 2.2 | -5.2 | 3.0 | Neil Pope | Labor | |
| Noble Park | | Liberal | Peter Collins | 1.0 | -7.1 | 6.1 | Terry Norris | Labor | |
| Ringwood | | Liberal | Peter McArthur | 4.1 | -6.2 | 2.1 | Kay Setches | Labor | |
| St Kilda | | Liberal | Brian Dixon | 0.2 | -4.3 | 4.1 | Andrew McCutcheon | Labor | |
| Sandringham | | Liberal | Max Crellin | 1.8 | -3.3 | 1.5 | Graham Ihlein | Labor | |
| Syndal | | Liberal | Geoff Coleman | 0.7 | -4.5 | 3.8 | David Gray | Labor | |
| Warrandyte | | Liberal | Norman Lacy | 6.1 | -8.1 | 2.0 | Lou Hill | Labor | |
* Members listed in italics did not recontest their seats.