Factions are sub groupings within a party.
Factions have been a part of Labor's structure for the biggest part of our existence - over 100 years. Generally, Labor's faction sub groupings coalesce into three large national factions - the Right, Left and Centre. Labor's affiliated unions are at the core of our faction system and provide the voting weight that makes our factions important determiners of issues. This often acts to ensure that union support is given to even the smallest faction groupings. In this way, factions actually dilute a major voting block throughout the Party.