Parliament

 an overview of the roles of the parliament and the courts and their
relationship in law-making

Key Key Skills:

Knowledge  explain the role of and relationship between parliament and the
courts
 9 Parliaments in Australia:
Parliaments in  One federal

Australia  Six state

 Two territory
  It is a bicameral parliament -> has two houses
Consists of:
 The King (the Crown), represented by the Governor General
 The Senate (upper house)
Commonwealth  The House of Representatives (lower house)
Parliament
 Two houses exists so that not only one group has power to make laws
 Role of the Commonwealth is to pass laws for the good government
of Australia -> includes areas such as migration, defence, currency and
taxes
  The lower house
 Each state and territory is divided into geographical areas known
as electoral divisions -> approx. same number of electors
House of  The voters in each division elect their representative

Representatives  These representatives take a seat in the House of Reps -> 151
divisions and so, 151 members

 Elected for up to three years

 Main roles:
 Form government -> political party with the majority of members
House of forms the government, second largest party forms the opposition
 Represent the people when making laws and debating
Representatives  Introduce and pass proposed laws which are called bills
 Review any bills passed by Senate
  The upper house
 Consists of 76 elected members known as senators
Senate  Each of the six states is represented by 12 senators and each of the
territories are represented by 2
 All senators are elected for 6 years (territory senators elected for 3)
 Main roles:
 Review bills introduced and passed in the House of Reps -> checks
bills (reviews and scrutinises) -> acts as a house of review
Senate  Ensure equal representations of the states in the Senate -> same
number of senators
 Introduce and pass bills
 Consists of:
Victorian  The King, represented by the Governor of Victoria

Parliament  Legislative Council (upper house)

 Legislative Assembly (lower house)
  The lower house
Legislative  Victoria is divided into 88 electoral districts -> each member
Assembly represents one -> 88 members
 Each member holds their seat for four years
 Main roles:
 Form government -> majority party forms government
Legislative  Represent people in debating matters and law making
Assembly  Introduce and pass bills
 Review any bill passed in the legislative council -> acts a house of
review in this case if introduced and passed in the legislative council
  Upper house
Legislative  Victoria divided into 8 regions -> each consisting of 11 districts

Council  Five members are elected from each region -> 40 members
 Hold their seat for four years
 Main roles:
Legislative  Review bills introduced and passed by the Legislative Assembly ->
Council Acts as a house of review -> checks these bills
 Introduce and pass bills -> less common
  Majority party in the lower house forms government
 Prime Minister and Premier choose senior members of their party
to be responsible for different areas of government known as
portfolios
 The senior group of members, known as the Cabinet
Government  The Cabinet decides governmental policy program and what bills
and opposition should be presented to parliament

 Next largest party forms the opposition -> role is to challenge and
question the government on policy matters
 Also appoints shadow ministers -> hold relevant ministers
accountable
  Government and Parliament are not the same thing
 Government is formed by the political party that has the majority
Government seats in the lower house
 Parliament consists of all elected members of both houses
and together with the King’s representative
Parliament  Main role of Parliament is to make the law
 Main roles of Government are to develop policy, decide what bills
should be introduced and put existing laws into action
  Law made by parliament is referred to as statute law or Acts of
Parliament or legislation
 Australia’s parliamentary system is based on the concept of
supremacy of parliament -> parliaments are able to override laws
made by other bodies -> they have final law making power
Statute law
 Government generally decides what laws need to be made,
however the whole of parliament is responsible for passing the law
 If decide a law is needed, draft a bill and present it to parliament
 It goes through various stages before it becomes law
  Individual members who are not members of the government may
introduce bills -> private member’s bill
Statute law  However, unlikely that non-government proposals will pass both
houses
  Although the supreme law making body, parliament doesn’t have
the ability to make all the laws necessary
 Therefore parliaments can delegate law making power to
Subordinate subordinate authorities
authorities  Can make minor laws in area of expertise
 Eg. Councils make laws about pet ownership and rubbish removal
and parking