It was ordered by the Court of Disputed Returns after the 1985 Victorian state election had resulted in a dead heat between the top two candidates, and the Chief Electoral Officer drew a name at random.

The Nunawading Province consisted of the Victorian Legislative Assembly seats of Box Hill, Mitcham, Ringwood and Warrandyte.

[1] In the 1985 general election held on 2 March 1985, the vote ended with a dead heat after distribution of preferences from the Australian Democrats candidate.

Electing Ives to the Legislative Council would give the ALP control of the house,[2] however the Court of Disputed Returns voided the result before he could take his seat.

[7] On the day of the by-election, the Nuclear Disarmament Party how-to-vote cards only showed a 1 in the box for their candidate, and encouraged voters to allocate their own preferences.