The Victorian Legislative Council first met in 1851 in St Patrick's Hall in Melbourne, but did not exist in an official capacity until 1856, after the British Government allowed the Port Philip District to separate from New South Wales. Back then, the Council represented only the aristocracy, mirroring the British House of Lords, with one third of the Members nominated by the British Government and the other two thirds elected by colonists. The right to vote and stand as a candidate was confined only to property-owning men.

However, some early democratic reforms made the Victorian Parliament one of the most democratic in the world. Property qualifications for Members of the Legislative Assembly were abolished and the suffrage was extended to all adult males in 1857, but the property qualification continued to apply for the Legislative Council until 1950. At this stage, women were barred from voting or standing for either chamber of Parliament.

The Victorian Legislative Council became the first in the world to introduce the concept of the secret ballot in 1856. Henry Samuel Chapman, Legislative Council Member for Sandhurst (Bendigo) is credited with the idea for electors to mark a printed ballot paper in the privacy of a polling booth, then place it, unseen by anyone else, into a locked ballot box. Voters could cast a completely confidential vote, free from intimidation or any other pressures.

In 1870 Victoria also became the first Australian colony to introduce payment for parliamentary service for Members of the Legislative Assembly, in order to enable a wider range of people from all classes to participate in the parliamentary process. Payment for Legislative Council members, however, was not introduced until 1922.

On 1 January 1901, Victoria ceased being an independent colony and became a State in the newly federated Australia. This altered the nature of the powers assumed by the Parliament of Victoria. It no longer controlled defence, postal services and communications, and other responsibilities of a national nature and focused more closely on matters such as transportation, education and land management.

Victorian women were finally accorded the right to vote in State elections in 1908. Victoria was the last Australian state to grant women the vote, although Victorian women had been voting in Federal elections since 1902. Meanwhile, the property qualification to vote or nominate for the Legislative Council was finally removed in 1950.