Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the
Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned. When the division was created in 2018, its geography mirrored almost entirely the
Division of Batman, which it replaced in this redistribution. Unlike Batman, Cooper included parts of
Coburg North, which had previously belonged in the neighbouring division of
Wills within the Moreland local government area (now
Merri-bek). However, it no longer featured parts of
Thomastown or
Bundoora which were in the
Whittlesea local government area. Like Batman, the southern portion of the division also crossed the
Merri Creek into the
City of Yarra, and included the part of
Clifton Hill bounded by the creek,
Hoddle Street and the
Eastern Freeway. This area was lost in 2021 to the
Division of Melbourne, and the division no longer crossed the creek or the City of Yarra. This was reversed in the subsequent redistribution in 2024 with a larger gain, this time gaining the entire suburb of Clifton Hill. It is bordered by the Merri Creek to the west and
Darebin Creek to the east, and shares majority of its boundaries with the City of Darebin. The division includes the suburbs of
Alphington,
Bundoora,
Clifton Hill,
Coburg,
Coburg North,
Fairfield,
Kingsbury,
Macleod,
Northcote,
Preston,
Reservoir, and
Thornbury. Cooper includes a small part of the state
electoral district of Pascoe Vale, and all of the districts of
Northcote and
Preston. Cooper is classified by the AEC as an Inner Metropolitan seat. ==Members==