The district is a compact coastal electorate lying just to the south of the Metropolitan Region Scheme and north of the Peel Inlet.

First contested at the 1983 state election, Mandurah was won by Labor candidate John Read.

Read lost the seat at the 1989 state election to Liberal candidate Roger Nicholls.

Before the one vote one value reforms that took effect at the 2008 state election, this meant that Mandurah had roughly half the enrolment of neighbouring districts to the north.

Whilst Mandurah now contains a similar number of enrolled voters to most other electorates, this tradition lives on as it falls inside the non-metropolitan South West Legislative Council region.