It was triggered by the resignation of Gordon Hill (the sitting Labor member) on 4 August 1994.
The election was won by the Liberal Party, with their candidate, Rhonda Parker, recording 52.1 percent of the two-party-preferred vote.
Gordon Hill had held Helena for the Labor Party since its creation at the 1983 state election, having entered parliament the previous year at the 1982 Swan by-election.
He had been appointed to the ministry after the 1986 election, and served under three premiers (Brian Burke, Peter Dowding and Carmen Lawrence).
[3] Parker's chief opponent at the by-election, Joe Bullock, was eventually elected to the Senate, where he served from 2014 to 2016.