Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull might be winning the election campaign on Instagram, but analysis provided by the popular image sharing application shows Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is gaining speed.
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Three weeks into the marathon campaign, Mr Turnbull sits at the top of the Instagram leaderboard with more than 59,000 followers and the highest volume of interactions.
Measuring data since the campaign kicked off on May 7, Instagram found Mr Turnbull's Mothers' Day tribute is the most popular Instagram post shared by a federal politician so far.
Mr Shorten has had the highest relative increase since the campaign began, with his number of followers rising more than 19 per cent.
The second biggest increase has been recorded by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, whose following has grown 3 per cent.
Before flying to Canberra to announce the election date, Mr Turnbull posted a photo of his wife Lucy and daughter Daisy to mark Mother's Day, attracting more than 1600 likes and a range of positive and negative comments.
"Thank heavens for all the mothers," Mr Turnbull wrote. "Celebrate them, respect them and love them, today and every day."
Later the same day, Mr Turnbull posted a photo of his conversation with Governor-General Peter Cosgrove as he sought a dissolution of both houses of Parliament ahead of the July 2 election. The post has attracted more than 1380 likes and more than 50 comments.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has been active on Instagram during the campaign, coming in second in volume of interactions and ahead of Ms Bishop, Mr Shorten and Greens Western Australia senator Scott Ludlam.
Mr Shorten's follower count has grown to more than 6120 but is still well behind Mr Abbott who has more than 17,000 followers.
The data shows Alex Hawke, the Liberal MP for the Sydney seat of Mitchell, is winning on engagement so far in the campaign, measured by user interactions relative to the size of the follower base.
Mr Hawke's image of his family in a local park on Mothers' Day attracted more than 30 likes, from a follower base of 620.
Instagram says it has 400 million monthly active users, who average 21 minutes per day on the platform.
In Australia, research has found it is popular with 18-24 year olds, and posts by politicians that are highly personal or visual and issues-based have resonated the strongest.
Treasurer Scott Morrison is close behind on engagement with images of a visit to western Sydney MP Fiona Scott's electorate and watching Cronulla at Shark Park, followed by deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek campaigning in Queensland and a photo of Greens Senator Janet Rice with her partner on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.
Of images with the #ausvotes hashtag, ABC News' Election Troll on Malcolm Turnbull's campaign media bus has the most interactions, followed by a photo of Mr Shorten on the campaign trail.
