The new federal Parliament will not sit until the end of next month, on August 30. And, thanks to constraints caused by the most recent election being a double dissolution, Australia could be back at the polls in just two years.

Because the July 2 election was a full-Senate election, half the 76 Senators who were elected will serve three-year terms while the other half will serve the full six-year terms.

The three-year terms are effective from July 1 this year and will expire on June 30, 2019.

There will have to be another half-Senate election and, by extension, a federal election, by mid-May 2019 at the latest.

That means there will have to be another half-Senate election and, by extension, a federal election, by mid-May 2019 at the latest, so the Senate votes can be counted and the newly elected Senators be ready to take their seats on July 1, 2019.

However, because of conflicts with state elections in NSW and Victoria, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may be tempted to go even earlier.