Commonwealth

How it all started

• Australia did not always exist as a united nation. From 1788 until the 1850s Australia's six colonies were ruled by British governors. These governors had far-reaching powers and were responsible only to the British government.

• Not everyone was happy that one man - the governor - should have all the power to govern and make laws for the colony. From the 1820s colonists such as William Wentworth began to speak out against the power of the governors and campaigned for the introduction of representative government.

• From the 1850s the British Parliament began to grant the Australian colonies independent government with separate colonial parliaments elected by the people.

• During the late 1800s, many of the colonies' leading political figures began to argue for federation. They wanted the colonial governments to be united by a national government to form a single nation. The idea of creating a single national parliament was spurred on by issues such as immigration, defence, and a growing sense of national identity.

• During the 1890s a number of conventions were held to work out the details of the new system of government. In 1901 the six separate colonies were finally federated to form the Commonwealth of Australia.

About Parliament

• Under the Australian Constitution, the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to make laws for all Australians. The Parliament consists of the Queen (represented by the Governor-General) and two Houses (the Senate and the House of Representatives).

• Parliament has four main functions. These are to allow for the formation of government; to make laws; to represent the people; and to review or scrutinise the actions of government.

• The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia has two Houses.
  The Upper House is called the Senate. The Lower House is the House of Representatives. Proposed laws - known as Bills - have to be passed by both Houses and assented to by the Governor-General before they can become laws, or Acts of Parliament.

• Currently the House of Representatives has 150 Members. Members are elected for a term of up to three years.

• The House of Representatives is sometimes known as 'the Peoples' House'. This is a reference to the House's role as a place where the views and wishes of the Australian people can be heard and put into action. Each of the House's 150 Members represent a single electoral division. Each division contains roughly the same number of voters. This means that all Australia's voters are represented equally in the House.

• DID YOU KNOW Because of Australia's uneven population distribution, electoral divisions for the House of Representatives differ greatly in area. The smallest electorate, at only 26 sqkm, is Wentworth in New South Wales, while the largest is Kalgoorlie in Western Australia which measures over 2.2 million sqkm. Electoral boundaries are reviewed regularly and are redistributed as populations change. The aim of redistribution is to make sure that all the electoral divisions in each State or Territory contain approximately the same number of electors.

• The House of Representatives is also known as the 'House of Government'. This is because the party or coalition that holds the most seats in this House forms the Government.

• The Senate has 76 Senators - 12 elected from each of 6 States and
  2 each from the ACT and the Northern Territory. State Senators are elected for a fixed 6 year term; Territory Senators for 3 year terms. Half the membership of the Senate is replaced on 1 July every three years.

• The Senate is sometimes known as 'the House of Review'. This stems from the fact that the Senate has an important role in reviewing Bills initiated in the Lower House. Both Houses of Parliament have to agree to all terms of a Bill before it can become law. The Senate has almost the same power to make laws as the House of Representatives, except that it can not initiate or amend Money Bills. However, it may make suggestions about these Bills. If passed, Money Bills become the laws which allow the government to collect taxes and spend money on policies and programs.

• DID YOU KNOW Sometimes the Senate and the House of Representatives cannot reach agreement on the terms of a Bill, which may result in a double dissolution of parliament. This means that the Prime Minister calls upon the Governor-General to disband - or dissolve - both houses of parliament at the same time. A double dissolution is most likely to happen when the Government party or coalition does not command a majority of votes in the Senate. The Senate may reject a Bill or make amendments which the House of Representatives will not accept. In this situation, the House of Representatives must wait three months, then pass the Bill again and send it to the Senate once more. If the Senate fails to pass the Bill or makes unacceptable amendments a second time, the Prime Minister may advise the Governor-General to dissolve both Houses of Parliament.

• Historically, the Senate has been regarded as the States' House.
  Unlike the House of Representatives, the Senate allows the States equal representation regardless of their population. For this reason, State matters continue to be important to Senators.

• Federal elections are held at least every 3 years. The voting systems used to elect the House of Representatives and the Senate are both preferential systems, but there are important differences between the two. 'Preferential' means that the voter must rank a selection of candidates from most to least preferred.

• The system of voting used in elections for the House of Representatives is a simple preferential system. This method is designed to produce the election of a single candidate who is most representative of the wishes of the electorate. However, voters may not vote for just one candidate; they must rank all the available candidates in order of preference. To be successful, a candidate must be supported by the majority - that is, more than half - of the voters.

• The system of voting used in elections for the Senate is called proportional representation. This is also a preferential method, but it is designed to elect a number of candidates in a single electorate. In the case of the Senate, the whole State or Territory acts as a single multi-member electorate. In order to be elected, a candidate has to obtain a number of votes equal to or greater than a required quota. The quota represents a proportion of the total number of votes. It is obtained by dividing the total number of formal votes by one more than the number of candidates to be elected, and adding one to the result. For example, if a State needs to elect 6 Senators, and the total number of formal votes is 700,000, then the quota is 100,001. This means that a candidate will need to win at least 100,001 votes to be elected.

• DID YOU KNOW The number of representatives that each State and Territory is allowed in the House of Representatives is determined by their population. This entitlement is worked out by dividing the number of people in each State and Territory by a specific quota. Using this method, New South Wales elects 50 Members to the House of Representatives, Victoria elects 37, Queensland 27, Western Australia 13, South Australia 12, Tasmania 5, the ACT 3 and the Northern Territory 1. States may gain or lose Members as a consequence of population movements. Based on its population, the Tasmanian entitlement should be four representatives, but it has five. This is because the Australian Constitution guarantees each of the six original States at least 5 members in the House of Representatives. This came from Tasmania's struggle at the time of federation to guarantee its rights as a State in spite of its small population.

Who votes?

• All Australian citizens who are aged 18 years or older are eligible to enrol as voters, which means that their name is then listed on the electoral roll. There are only a few groups of citizens who are not eligible, such as persons of 'an unsound mind' or people serving prison sentences for serious crimes.

• According to the law, all people who are eligible to enrol must do so and voting is compulsory for all people listed on the electoral roll. People who are enrolled but do not vote may be fined.

Who's in charge?

• The Australian Head of State is the Queen who appoints the Governor-General as her representative. The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen on advice from the Prime Minister.

• The functions of the Governor-General fall mainly into three categories constitutional and statutory duties, formal ceremonial duties, and non-ceremonial social duties. One of the Governor-General's constitutional and statutory tasks is to give the Royal Assent to Bills which have been passed by both Houses of Parliament. This must be done before a Bill can become law.

• The leader of the Australian government is the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Governor-General. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the party or coalition that has won the most seats in the House of Representatives.

• The Prime Minister is assisted by a group of senior Government Ministers. Ministers, who usually belong to the same party as the Prime Minister, are responsible for administering one or more government departments, called a portfolio.

• Together with the Prime Minister, the senior Ministers make up the Cabinet. Although not mentioned in the Constitution, the Cabinet is the key decision-making body of the government.

Commonwealth symbols

Australia has no official bird or animal emblem. However, because of their association with the Coat of Arms, the emu and the kangaroo are traditionally seen as national symbols. The kangaroo and emu are especially symbolic of an 'advancing' Australia, as it is said that neither animal is able to take a backward step.

Used with permission of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.	The Commonwealth Coat of Arms was granted in 1912 by King George V of England. It shows a kangaroo and an emu holding a shield which contains the badges of the six Australian States. The shield has an ermine border, which represents federation bringing the States together. The crest of the Coat of Arms is a blue and gold wreath topped by a seven-pointed star called the Commonwealth Star. This star represents the federation of Australia's colonies in 1901 and has one point for each of the six original States and one for all of the territories. The Coat of Arms is usually shown with a decoration of wattle branches and a scroll bearing the word "Australia", although these are not an official part of the Arms.
	The Australian flag consists of the British union flag and six stars on a blue background. The five stars to the right of the union flag represent the Southern Cross, which is a constellation visible in the southern hemisphere. The Commonwealth Star appears on the left, beneath the union flag. The flag differs slightly from the original design which was the result of a nation-wide competition held in 1901. In 1903 the design was changed so that all but the smallest star in the Southern Cross had seven points and in 1908 the number of points on the Commonwealth Star was increased to seven following Australia's acquisition of the Territory of Papua in 1906. The number of points on the Commonwealth remained at seven when the Northern Territory and the ACT were made Federal Territories in 1911. Throughout this period there were two versions of the flag - the blue version was reserved for official government use and there was a red one for use by the general public. The blue flag now in use did not become the official national flag until the Flags Act was passed by Parliament in 1953, This Act was given the personal assent of Queen Elizabeth II on 15 April 1954.
	The wattle became the national Flower Emblem in August 1988.
	Australia adopted green and gold as its national colours in 1984. Before that time, Australia had no official colours althrough green and gold had been worn by Australian Olympic teams since 1912.
© AUSPIC	The Federal Parliament House Canberra was opened in 1989. Sited on Capital Hill at Canberra's centre, it is a striking symbol of Australian democracy. Its materials are drawn from all over Australia and its design, from the Aboriginal mosaic in the forecourt to the eucalypt colours inside, represents the Australian landscape and culture.

Fact file

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Commonwealth of Australia (formed 1901)