Division of Whitlam

Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.^[2]

When the division was created in 2016, it covered areas similar to the previous Division of Throsby. These areas included the eastern half of Wingecarribee Shire, such as Mittagong, Bowral, Moss Vale and Berrima, and areas surrounding Lake Illawarra in Wollongong City and Shellharbour City.^[3] Unlike Throsby, Whitlam covered the entire area of Shellharbour City. At the 2024 redistribution, Whitlam gained the balance of Wingecarribee Shire from Hume and lost areas north and east of Lake Illawarra to Cunningham.^[4][5]

Since 2025, Whitlam includes the entirety of Shellharbour City and Wingecarribee Shire, and the south-western part of Wollongong City, including Dapto.^[6] Most of the division's boundaries are co-extensive with the northern, western and southern boundaries of Wingecarribee Shire and the southern boundary of Shellharbour City.

Whitlam has a strong working-class character due to the presence of industries such as steelmaking, coal mining and stevedoring in the Illawarra.

The division, previously named Throsby, was renamed in honour of Gough Whitlam, the Prime Minister of Australia from 1972–75, in a February 2016 electoral distribution.^[7] It came into effect from 2 July 2016, the date of the 2016 Australian federal election.

ABC election analyst Antony Green estimated that boundary changes to Throsby would reduce the Australian Labor Party's notional two-party-preferred margin from 7.8 to 6.9 percentage points.^[8] Despite this, the last member for Throsby, Stephen Jones, easily retained the seat with a healthy swing of over six points.