Parliament of Australia
bicameral national legislature of Australia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Parliament of Australia is the federal governing system in Australia. It was formed on May 9, 1901. The parliament is bicameral, which means it has two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. It was copied mainly from the way the United Kingdom's Parliament was run, the Westminster system, but it also has some ideas from the United States Congress. The laws which control the way the parliament is set up and its powers are part of the Australian Constitution. The Parliament meets in a special building, Parliament House, in Canberra.
Parliament of Australia | |
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47th Parliament of Australia | |
Type | |
Type | |
Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
History | |
Founded | 9 May 1901; 123 years ago (1901-05-09) |
Leadership | |
Charles III since 9 September 2022 | |
David Hurley since 1 July 2019 | |
Structure | |
Seats | 227 (151 MPs, 76 Senators) |
House of Representatives political groups | Government (78) Labor (78) |
Senate political groups | Government (26) Labor (26) |
Length of term | House: 3 years (maximum) Senate: 6 years (fixed except under double dissolution) |
Elections | |
Instant-runoff voting | |
Single transferable vote | |
House of Representatives last election | 21 May 2022 |
Senate last election | 21 May 2022 (half) |
House of Representatives next election | by 2025 |
Senate next election | 2025 (half) |
Redistricting | Redistributions are carried out on a state-by-state basis by the Australian Electoral Commission. |
Meeting place | |
Parliament House Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia | |
Website | |
aph |
The parliament has four main functions:[1]
- It makes, changes and improves the laws (legislation)
- Represents the people of Australia
- It watches what the government is doing
- It is where the government is formed
The Australian Parliament first met in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne in 1901. It then took over the Victorian Parliament in Melbourne until it moved to Canberra in 1927. A new building for the Parliament was finished in 1988 to celebrate 200 years of European settlement in Australia.