John Howard, 68, is seeking a fifth term after 11 years in office. Born to a middle-class working family, he joined the Young Liberal Movement as a student at the University of Sydney.

He was admitted to the New South Wales Supreme Court in 1962 and was a partner in a Sydney law firm before entering the realm of politics in 1974, running for the federal seat of Bennelong- a seat he still holds.

Married with three children, Howard was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party in 1982. The party’s election loss to Labor in 1983 meant Howard had to toil to regain his support-base.

He was elected leader of Liberal party in 1985, lost the post to Andrew Peacock in 1989 and regained it in 1995 after the resignation of Alexander Downer.

Howard then led the party in coalition with the National party to gain a huge win over Labor in 1996 and again in 1998, 2001 and 2004.

Howard has served as Australia's 25th prime minister since 1996, and is the second-longest serving Australian prime minister after Sir Robert Menzies.

Kevin Rudd joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of 15 after experiencing hardship in his younger years.

He became Chief of Staff to the Labor premier in Queensland in 1989 and entered Parliament a decade later after winning the Queensland seat of Griffith.

Nicknamed 'Dr Death' for his humourless stance on dealing with issues, Rudd became Labor leader in 2006, after an impressive performance as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Rudd's tough disposition came under fire in August 2007 over reports of after a drunken visit to a New York strip club four years ago.

However, his fiscal cautiousness and years as a diplomat continued to lend him strong national security credentials. 

Born in 1956, Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile begun his working life as a jackeroo at Jemalong Station near Forbes before moving home to Taree on the Mid-North Coast of NSW to settle down.

Married with three children, he has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Lyne, New South Wales.

He worked as a farm machinery salesman and a real estate agent before entering politics. Vaile was Assistant National Party Whip from1994-96 and National Party Whip from 1996-97.

In 1997 he was appointed Minister for Transport and Regional Development, and in 1998 he became Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

In July 1999, following the resignation of Tim Fischer and the election of John Anderson as National Party leader, he was elected the party's Deputy Leader and became Minister for Trade. When John Anderson resigned in 2005, Vaile was elected unopposed as Leader of the National Party.

In 2005, Vaile was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister but switched portfolios in 2006 with his deputy Nationals’ leader Warren Truss to become Minister for Transport and Regional Services to pay attention on regional Australia, the Nationals party’s main constituency.

The Greens

Born in 1944, Bob Brown who represents the Greens is the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia.

He was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasmanian Greens ticket joining with sitting WA Greens Senator Dee Margetts to firm the first Australian Greens senators following the 1996 federal election.

Bob Brown became a recognised politician during the minority Senate between 2002 and 2004 when minor parties held the balance of power.

He has been known for vocal protest campaigns, including an outburst in 2003 that led him to be suspended from Parliament for interjecting an address by the visiting President of the United States George W.Bush.

Lynette Fay "Lyn" Allison, who is the face of the Australian Democrats, has been a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Victoria since July 1996.

Allison won the pre-selection on the Democrats ticket to the Australian Senate in 1996 and went on to become Deputy Leader of the Australian Democrats in 2002.

In 2004, following the resignation of Andrew Bartlett after the October 2004 election, she was elected unopposed as party Leader.

Taking over the leadership at a point when the Democrats were at their lowest ever public opinion rating since the party was founded in 1977, Allison has had to rebuild the party’s support ahead of the 2007 polls.

A vocal campaigner on women’s issues, Allison is also the Australian Democrats spokesperson on Health and Ageing, Education and Resources, Energy and Infrastructure.

Steven Fielding is a Victorian Senator and the Federal parliamentary leader of the Family First Party in Australia.

He worked as an engineer and a senior superannuation executive before entering politics. In the 2004 federal election, he was elected to represent Victoria in the Senate and is the first representative of Family First to be elected to the Federal Parliament.

Fielding is married with three children.

A brief overview of Australia's upcoming Federal Election

An introduction into the Australian Parliament

Significant parties and their political agendas