How Laws Are Made In Australia

Laws in Australia are created in the country's Parliament

. Formally known as Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, this is the legislative branch of the government of Australia.

The Parliament of Australia is called a bicameral system. This means there are two chambers where ideas and bills are discussed. This system is modeled after the Westminster tradition with some influence from the United States Congress. It consists of three components, namely the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Queen is represented by the Governor-General. The Upper House is called the Senate where there are 76 members. There are twelve members for each state of Australia and two for each mainland territory of the country. The members of the Senate are elected through proportional voting. The Lower House is called the House of Representatives. This chamber consists of 150 members who represent districts called electoral divisions. These electoral divisions change depending on boundary changes on a regular basis.

These two Houses of Parliament meet separately in chambers of the Parliament House in the country's capital Canberra. The latest Parliament was elected last 2010 is the 43rd Federal Parliament since the Federation was formed. It has historical peculiarities. These include being the first hung or equally divided Lower House Parliament since 1940, with the major political parties namely the Labor Party and the Coalition Party having seventy two seats with six individual seats becoming the swing vote. The result was a 76 to 74 majority thus enabling the Labor Party to form a minority government. As for the Upper House of Parliament, there is no majority party.

Each of the Houses of Parliament elects a presiding officer, with the Senate calling its presiding officer as President while the House of Representatives installs what is called the Speaker of the House. Each House is allowed by the Constitution to formulate its own set of rules, such as quorum, procedure and motions. Each House prepares to perform its main function that is to pass laws. Any member of either House can propose a law, called a bill, but only the Lower House may propose bills regarding money, such as expenditures, budget or taxes. In order for a bill to become law, both Houses must agree to its final form after undertaking its own debate, discussion and investigations in order to make laws. Each House also has the power to investigate matters of public policy in aid of future legislation for Australia.

by: Bobby Castro

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