Ultimately, the Joint Standing Committee recommended "enacting a harmonic mean for allocating seats between states and territories, with appropriate public explanation to build understanding for the reform."[61] The Parliament passed the Electoral Amendment (Territory Representation) Act on 9 December 2020, amending the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to use the harmonic mean method for determining representative entitlements for territories relative to states.[69][70] Consequently, the Northern Territory will retain two seats in the House of Representatives at the next election,[69] an outcome achieved without legislating any mandatory minimum level of representation.[61]