Australian governments
Encyclopedia
Australia employs a federal system of government. The national government is the Australian federal government
, headed by the Queen, who is represented in Australia by the Governor-General of Australia
, though ordinarily actual political power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Australia
under the Westminster system
.
Australia
is further divided into states and territories
. These states and territories are mostly self-governed, and largely employ a similar Westminster system
of government. Under the Constitution of Australia
, the states retain their sovereign powers except where power has been assigned to the federal government in accordance with the Constitution, or referred to the government by the states by legislation. Territories, on the other hand, are given their autonomous powers by the federal government through legislation.
The federal government and most states and territories possess a judiciary
which is constitutionally separate from the legislature
and executive
branches of government. Each of these is a separate jurisdiction, though current jurisprudence in Australia suggests that there is only one common law
of Australia, the ultimate authority of which is the High Court of Australia
.
The third level of government are local governments
. These are creations of the states and territories under each of their laws. The divisions are collectively called Local Government Areas, or LGAs for short. A large variety of titles are used by local governments, including "cities", "shires", "municipalities" and the generic "councils".
Externally, though Australia shares the same monarch as the United Kingdom and a number of other realms
, it is constitutionally separate. Since the passing and subsequent adoption of the Statute of Westminster
in 1942, the Australian federal government has been legally separate from the (then) Imperial government at Westminster, and Australia as a whole has not been subject to laws passed by the Imperial parliament. Since the passing of the Australia Act 1986
, Australia, and its states and territories, have become legally completely separate and no longer subject to the authority of any part of the government of the United Kingdom. However, Australia still retains a symbolic reminder of its former relationship with the United Kingdom and other realms through its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations
.
, had been established in 1788. With Federation
in 1901, a new entity, the Commonwealth of Australia, was created by an Act of the British Parliament. The system of government for the Commonwealth was a federation, with a federal, Commonwealth government being the national government. The former colonies were converted into States, sub-national sovereign entities whose governments retained plenary power within their own territories, except where power has been assigned to the Commonwealth by the Constitution. Some of the non-integral territories of the former colonies, such as the Northern Territory
of South Australia
, were handed over to the Commonwealth. The Constitution also provided for the power of the federal government to create further territories in future.
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
, headed by the Queen, who is represented in Australia by the Governor-General of Australia
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
, though ordinarily actual political power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
under the Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
.
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
is further divided into states and territories
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
. These states and territories are mostly self-governed, and largely employ a similar Westminster system
Westminster System
The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....
of government. Under the Constitution of Australia
Constitution of Australia
The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...
, the states retain their sovereign powers except where power has been assigned to the federal government in accordance with the Constitution, or referred to the government by the states by legislation. Territories, on the other hand, are given their autonomous powers by the federal government through legislation.
The federal government and most states and territories possess a judiciary
Judiciary
The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes...
which is constitutionally separate from the legislature
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
and executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
branches of government. Each of these is a separate jurisdiction, though current jurisprudence in Australia suggests that there is only one common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
of Australia, the ultimate authority of which is the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
.
The third level of government are local governments
Local government in Australia
Local government in Australia is the third tier of government, administered by the states and territories which in turn are beneath the Commonwealth or federal tier. Unlike New Zealand, the US or the UK, there is only one level of local government in all states, with no distinction such as...
. These are creations of the states and territories under each of their laws. The divisions are collectively called Local Government Areas, or LGAs for short. A large variety of titles are used by local governments, including "cities", "shires", "municipalities" and the generic "councils".
Externally, though Australia shares the same monarch as the United Kingdom and a number of other realms
Commonwealth Realm
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations that has Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. The sixteen current realms have a combined land area of 18.8 million km² , and a population of 134 million, of which all, except about two million, live in the six...
, it is constitutionally separate. Since the passing and subsequent adoption of the Statute of Westminster
Statute of Westminster 1931
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Passed on 11 December 1931, the Act established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire with the United Kingdom...
in 1942, the Australian federal government has been legally separate from the (then) Imperial government at Westminster, and Australia as a whole has not been subject to laws passed by the Imperial parliament. Since the passing of the Australia Act 1986
Australia Act 1986
The Australia Act 1986 is the name given to a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an Act of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia, the other an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, Australia, and its states and territories, have become legally completely separate and no longer subject to the authority of any part of the government of the United Kingdom. However, Australia still retains a symbolic reminder of its former relationship with the United Kingdom and other realms through its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
.
History
Prior to 1901, Australia was a collection of colonies answerable to the United Kingdom. The oldest among these, New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, had been established in 1788. With Federation
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
in 1901, a new entity, the Commonwealth of Australia, was created by an Act of the British Parliament. The system of government for the Commonwealth was a federation, with a federal, Commonwealth government being the national government. The former colonies were converted into States, sub-national sovereign entities whose governments retained plenary power within their own territories, except where power has been assigned to the Commonwealth by the Constitution. Some of the non-integral territories of the former colonies, such as the Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, were handed over to the Commonwealth. The Constitution also provided for the power of the federal government to create further territories in future.
Federal government
For the operations of Australia's federal government, see- Government of AustraliaGovernment of AustraliaThe Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
- Queen of Australia
- Governor-General of AustraliaGovernor-General of AustraliaThe Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
- Prime Minister of AustraliaPrime Minister of AustraliaThe Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
- Parliament of AustraliaParliament of AustraliaThe Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
- High Court of AustraliaHigh Court of AustraliaThe High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
- Australian electoral systemAustralian electoral systemThe Australian electoral system has evolved over nearly 150 years of continuous democratic government, and has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, preferential voting and the use of proportional voting to elect the upper house, the Australian Senate.- Compulsory voting...
State and territory governments
For the operations of the governments of Australia's states and territories, see- Governors of the Australian statesGovernors of the Australian statesThe Governors of the Australian states are the representatives of the Queen of Australia in each of that country's six states. The Governors perform the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the Governor-General of Australia at the national level...
- Parliaments of the Australian states and territoriesParliaments of the Australian states and territoriesThe Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing, with parliaments which had come into existence at various...
- Premiers of the Australian statesPremiers of the Australian statesThe Premiers of the Australian states are the de facto heads of the executive governments in the six states of the Commonwealth of Australia. They perform the same function at the state level as the Prime Minister of Australia performs at the national level. The territory equivalents to the...
- Government of New South WalesGovernment of New South WalesThe form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
- Government of Victoria
- Government of QueenslandGovernment of QueenslandThe Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...
- Government of Western AustraliaGovernment of Western AustraliaThe formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
- Government of South AustraliaGovernment of South AustraliaThe form of the Government of South Australia is prescribed in its constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
- Government of TasmaniaGovernment of TasmaniaThe form of the Government of Tasmania is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
- Government of the Australian Capital TerritoryAustralian Capital Territory Legislative AssemblyThe Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory...
- Government of the Northern TerritoryGovernment of the Northern TerritoryThe Northern Territory is governed according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom...
Local governments
For local government see- Local government in AustraliaLocal government in AustraliaLocal government in Australia is the third tier of government, administered by the states and territories which in turn are beneath the Commonwealth or federal tier. Unlike New Zealand, the US or the UK, there is only one level of local government in all states, with no distinction such as...
- Local Government Areas of Australia