Parliament of Australia information

The Parliament of the Commonwealth
The Parliament of the Commonwealth
47th Parliament of Australia
	Commonwealth Coat of Arms
	Parliament House; Canberra, Australian Capital Territory; Australia
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate; House of Representatives
History
Founded	Established: 1 January 1901; 123 years ago; First session: 9 May 1901; 123 years ago;
Leadership
Monarch	Charles III ; since 8 September 2022
Governor-General	David Hurley ; since 1 July 2019
President of the Senate	Sue Lines, Labor ; since 26 July 2022
Speaker of the House of Representatives	Milton Dick, Labor ; since 26 July 2022
Prime Minister	Anthony Albanese, Labor ; since 23 May 2022
Leader of the Opposition	Peter Dutton, Liberal ; since 30 May 2022
Structure
Seats	227 (151 MPs, 76 Senators)
House of Representatives political groups	Government (78) ; Labor (78); ; ; Opposition (55); Coalition ; Liberal (40); ; National (15); ; ; Crossbench (18) ; Greens (4); ; Katter's Australian (1); ; Centre Alliance (1); ; Independent (12);
Senate political groups	Government (26) ; Labor (26); ; Opposition (31) ; Coalition ; Liberal (25); National (6); ; Crossbench (19) ; Greens (11); One Nation (2); Lambie Network (1); United Australia (1); Independent (4)
Length of term	House: 3 years (maximum) ; Senate: 6 years (fixed except under double dissolution)
Elections
House of Representatives voting system	Full preferential voting
Senate voting system	Proportional voting
Last House of Representatives election	21 May 2022
Last Senate election	21 May 2022 (half)
Next House of Representatives election	2025
Next Senate election	2026 (half)
Redistricting	Redistributions are carried out on a state-by-state basis by the Australian Electoral Commission.
Meeting place
	House of Representatives Chamber
	Senate Chamber
Website
	aph.gov.au

The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth^[3] and also known as Federal Parliament) is the legislative body of the federal level of government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-general), the Senate and the House of Representatives.^[3] It combines elements from the UK Parliament (the Westminster system in which the party with a majority in the lower house is entitled to form a government) and the US Congress (equal representation of each state in a powerful upper house).^[4]

The upper house, the Senate, consists of 76 members: twelve for each state, and two for each of the self-governing territories. Senators are elected using the proportional system and as a result, the chamber features a multitude of parties vying for power.^[5] The governing party or coalition has not held a majority in the Senate since 1981 (except between 2005 and 2007) and usually needs to negotiate with other parties and independents to get legislation passed.^[6]

The lower house, the House of Representatives, currently consists of 151 members, each elected using full preferential voting from single-member electorates (also known as electoral divisions or seats).^[7]^[8] This tends to lead to the chamber being dominated by two major political groups, the centre‑right Coalition (consisting of the Liberal and National parties) and the centre‑left Labor Party. The government of the day must achieve the confidence of this House in order to gain and remain in power.

The House of Representatives has a maximum term of three years, although it can be dissolved early. The Senate has fixed terms, with half of the state senators' terms expiring every three years (the terms of the four territory senators are linked to House elections). As a result, House and Senate elections almost always coincide. A deadlock-breaking mechanism known as a double dissolution can be used to dissolve the full Senate as well as the House if the Senate refuses to pass a piece of legislation passed by the House.^[9]

The two houses of Parliament meet in separate chambers of Parliament House (except in rare joint sittings) on Capital Hill in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.

^ "The First Commonwealth Parliament 1901". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Federal elections". Parliamentary Education Office. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
^ ^a ^b Australian Constitution s 1 Archived 17 January 2024 at the Wayback Machine – via Austlii.
^ Beck, Luke (2020). Australian Constitutional Law: Concepts and Cases. Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–25. ISBN 978-1-108-70103-7. OCLC 1086607149.
^ "Odgers' Australian Senate Practice Fourteenth Edition Chapter 4 – Elections for the Senate". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
^ Williams, George; Brennan, Sean; Lynch, Andrew (2014). Blackshield and Williams Australian constitutional law and theory : commentary and materials (6th ed.). Annandale, NSW: Federation Press. p. 415. ISBN 9781862879188.
^ "House of Representatives Practice, 6th Ed – Chapter 3 – Elections and the electoral system". Parliament of Australia. 2015. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
^ "A Short History of Federal Election Reform in Australia". Australian Electoral Commission. 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
^ "Odgers' Australian Senate Practice Fourteenth Edition Chapter 21 – Relations with the House of Representatives". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2017.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[1] "The First Commonwealth Parliament 1901". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.

[Parliamentary_Education_Office-2023-9] "Federal elections". Parliamentary Education Office. 10 November 2023. Archived from the original on 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.

[Constitution_of_Australia-2-10] Australian Constitution s 1 Archived 17 January 2024 at the Wayback Machine – via Austlii.

[11] Beck, Luke (2020). Australian Constitutional Law: Concepts and Cases. Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–25. ISBN 978-1-108-70103-7. OCLC 1086607149.

[Parliament_of_Australia-2017-2-12] "Odgers' Australian Senate Practice Fourteenth Edition Chapter 4 – Elections for the Senate". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2017.

[Williams-2014-13] Williams, George; Brennan, Sean; Lynch, Andrew (2014). Blackshield and Williams Australian constitutional law and theory : commentary and materials (6th ed.). Annandale, NSW: Federation Press. p. 415. ISBN 9781862879188.

[Parliament_of_Australia-2015-14] "House of Representatives Practice, 6th Ed – Chapter 3 – Elections and the electoral system". Parliament of Australia. 2015. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2017.

[Australian_Electoral_Commission-2007-15] "A Short History of Federal Election Reform in Australia". Australian Electoral Commission. 8 June 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2007.

[Parliament_of_Australia-2017-16] "Odgers' Australian Senate Practice Fourteenth Edition Chapter 21 – Relations with the House of Representatives". Parliament of Australia. 2017. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2017.

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Parliament

The Parliament of the Commonwealth
47th Parliament of Australia
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Parliament House Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia
Type
Type	Bicameral
Houses	Senate House of Representatives
History
Founded	Established: 1 January 1901; 123 years ago (1901-01-01) First session: 9 May 1901; 123 years ago (1901-05-09)^[1]
Leadership
Monarch	Charles III since 8 September 2022
Governor-General	David Hurley since 1 July 2019
President of the Senate	Sue Lines, Labor since 26 July 2022
Speaker of the House of Representatives	Milton Dick, Labor since 26 July 2022
Prime Minister	Anthony Albanese, Labor since 23 May 2022
Leader of the Opposition	Peter Dutton, Liberal^[a] since 30 May 2022
Structure
Seats	227 (151 MPs, 76 Senators)

House of Representatives political groups	Government (78) Labor (78) Opposition (55) Coalition Liberal (40)^[b] National (15)^[c] Crossbench (18) Greens (4) Katter's Australian (1) Centre Alliance (1) Independent (12)^[d]

Senate political groups	Government (26) Labor (26) Opposition (31) Coalition Liberal (25)^[e] National (6)^[f] Crossbench (19) Greens (11) One Nation (2) Lambie Network (1) United Australia (1) Independent (4)^[g]
Length of term	House: 3 years (maximum) Senate: 6 years (fixed except under double dissolution)
Elections
House of Representatives voting system	Full preferential voting^[2]
Senate voting system	Proportional voting^[2]
Last House of Representatives election	21 May 2022
Last Senate election	21 May 2022 (half)
Next House of Representatives election	2025
Next Senate election	2026 (half)
Redistricting	Redistributions are carried out on a state-by-state basis by the Australian Electoral Commission.
Meeting place

House of Representatives Chamber

Senate Chamber
Website
aph.gov.au

Politics of Australia
This article is part of a series on the

Constitution
The Crown Monarch Charles III Governor-General David Hurley
Executive Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (ALP) Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles (ALP) Federal Executive Council Ministry Albanese ministry Cabinet
Legislature Australian Parliament Senate President Sue Lines (ALP) Leader Penny Wong (ALP) House of Representatives Speaker Milton Dick (ALP) Leader Tony Burke (ALP) Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (LP) Shadow Ministry
Judiciary High Court of Australia Chief Justice Stephen Gageler Keane Gordon Edelman Steward Gleeson Beech-Jones Federal Court of Australia Chief Justice Debra Mortimer List of Judges Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Chief Justice Will Alstergren List of Judges State and territory courts Law of Australia
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