Australian Government. The Australian Government is also called the Federal Government or the Commonwealth Government. The Australian Parliament has two Houses: • the House of Representatives • the Senate. The members of both Houses are directly elected by the Australian people at federal elections. When you vote in a federal election, you usually elect representatives to each House.
The House Of Representatives.
The House of Representatives is sometimes called the Lower House or the People’s House. Australia is divided into federal electorates. Australians in each electorate vote for one person to represent them in the House of Representatives. This representative is called a Member of Parliament (MP). The number of MPs for each state and territory is based on the size of its population. The people of Australia elect a total of 150 members to the House of Representatives. The important work of the House of Representatives is to consider, debate and vote on proposals for new laws or changes to the laws. Members of the House of Representatives also discuss matters of national importance.
Senate
The Senate is sometimes called the Upper House, the House of Review or the States’ House. The states are equally represented in the Senate, regardless of their population size. There are 12 representatives elected from each state. Both mainland territories elect two representatives each. There are 76 representatives elected in total and they are called Senators. Senators also consider, debate and vote on new laws or changes to the laws. Senators also discuss matters of national importance.
Who is Australia’s Head of State?
Australia’s Head of State is the Queen of England, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In Australia, the Queen does not have a day-to-day role in government. The Queen appoints the Governor-General as her representative in Australia, on advice from the Australian Prime Minister. The Governor-General acts independently of all political parties. In each of the states there is a Governor who represents the Queen in a role that is similar to the Governor-General. Some countries aren't ruled by the queen and those countries are called Democracy Australia is one of the countries that is ruled by the queen so we are called monarchy
The role of the Governor-General
The Governor-General: • signs all Bills passed by the Australian Parliament into law (this is called Royal Assent) • signs regulations • performs ceremonial duties •approves the appointment of the Australian Government and its ministers, federal judges and other officials. The
Governor-General also has special powers known as ‘reserve powers’ that can only be used in specific circumstances.
This is the senate ballot paper. On this piece of paper you vote for a political party within the whole of Australia. The party who wins the senate represents you in the senate which represents the whole of your country. The senate is the level up from the house of representatives.
This is the house of representatives ballot paper. The house of representatives paper is your local parties/ parties in your territory. They will represent you in the house of representatives with all the other territory electives.