The race to the 2025 Australian federal election is under way, with major party counterparts going head to head in televised debates to spruik their visions for Australia.
The first leaders’ debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton was held early April, with a treasurers’ debate between Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor and an energy debate between Chris Bowen and Ted O’Brien that same week.
But there is more to come. Here is how you can watch the next three televised debates before Australians head to the final polls on 3 May.
Leaders’ debate on ABC – Wednesday 16 April at 8pm AEST
On Wednesday, the ABC will host a leaders’ debate from its new Parramatta site – the first to be held in an ABC studio since 1993.
The ABC will choose the topics and questions, with the event moderated by the Insiders host, David Speers.
Following a more traditional debate style, Albanese and Dutton will each present opening and closing remarks, and be granted equal time to respond to questions.
The debate will be broadcast free on ABC TV, iView, ABC Radio and the ABC Listen App.
Leaders’ debate on Nine – Tuesday 22 April at 7.30pm AEST
The third debate between Albanese and Dutton will broadcast on Channel Nine’s free-to-air channel the same day early voting opens.
Viewers can also watch it on 9Now and on Stan.
The hour-long discussion will be moderated by the host of A Current Affair, Ally Langdon.
Questions will also be asked by a panel of journalists: the Australian Financial Review’s political editor, Phil Coorey; 9News’s chief political editor, Charles Croucher; and 2GB and Nine radio’s Deb Knight.
Leaders’ debate on 7NEWS - Sunday 27 April at 8pm AEST
7NEWSwill host the “final” leaders debate on 27 April – six days before Australians head to the polls on 3 May.
The debate will kick off at 8pm and will broadcast on Seven’s free-to-air channel as well as on catch-up service 7plus. Viewers can also stream it on 7NEWS.com.au.
7NEWS’s political editor, Mark Riley, will moderate the debate, which will take place at Seven’s studios in Sydney.
What debates have there already been?
Albanese and Dutton debated energy, health, tax policies and more at the first leaders’ debate hosted by Sky News on Tuesday 8 April.
Albanese, who accused Dutton of “gaslighting” Australians on key Liberal policies, was voted the winner in a poll of 100 undecided voters, winning 44 votes to Dutton’s 35 – while 21 people remained undecided.
The next evening, on Wednesday, Chalmers and Taylor talked all things economics in a second televised debate hosted by Sky News, with discussion of the March budget, nuclear reactors, energy prices and more.
Chalmers took aim at the Coalition more broadly, saying the party was “full of these kind of Doge-y sycophants who have hitched their wagon to American-style slogans and policies”, while Taylor argued Chalmers was overseeing a “lost decade” and criticised Labor’s recent budget.
On Thursday, Bowen, the minister for climate change and energy, met shadow minister O’Brien at the National Press Club to debate power, nuclear and renewable energy policies.
Bowen began by saying Australia was at a “fork in the road when it comes to energy and climate” while a climate protester immediately derailed O’Brien’s opening remarks. He went on to agree with his Labor counterpart that the country was at a turning point, but claimed Labor was touting a policy that was “all eggs in one basket”.
During the 2022 federal election, there were three leaders’ debates.
