Thats Australia

Questions

1. What kinds of laws can be made by each level of government (Commonwealth, state, territory, local)?
2. What is the difference between a state and a territory?
3. What federal electorate do I live in? Who is my federal member?
4. What state electorate do I live in? Who is my state member?

Answers

1. What kinds of laws can be made by each level of government (Commonwealth, state, territory, local)?

The Commonwealth Government generally makes laws on matters which affect the country as a whole, and on matters where it would be unhelpful for the law to be different in each state. Section 51 of the Australian Constitution defines forty specific areas over which the Commonwealth has the power to make laws. Examples of these are: currency, postal and telephone services, relations with other countries, immigration, quarantine, and the operation of a defence force. The Commonwealth Government can also make laws about Australia’s territories.

State governments can make laws on any issue that the Commonwealth Government can not. State laws usually cover issues like education, health, the environment, and the operation of emergency services (police, fire, ambulance).

It is possible in some cases for the Commonwealth and the states to make laws on the same issue. Where a Commonwealth law and a state law do not agree with one another, the Commonwealth law is followed.

Not all territories have their own government, and even if they do, the powers of a territory government are not the same as those of a state government. Territory governments can only be established with the agreement of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth law that establishes a territory government will also specify the powers of that government. It can be given the right to make the same laws that a state can, or they may only be allowed to make laws on a small number of issues. Territories without their own government can be instructed by the Commonwealth to follow the laws of a nearby state, or the Commonwealth can make its own laws for the territory.

Local governments are established by state and territory governments to look after matters relevant to local communities. These include garbage collections, public parks and sporting grounds, libraries, and local planning matters.

2. What is the difference between a state and a territory?

Australia’s six states represent the six British colonies that joined together to create the Commonwealth of Australia. In forming the Commonwealth, the states approved a Constitution that gave the new Commonwealth government the right to pass laws on certain subjects, and allowed the states to retain all other law-making rights. States therefore have a constitutional right to convene a state parliament and pass certain laws.

Any land within Australia’s national border that is not claimed by one of the states is called a territory. Territories do not have the right to convene their own government or pass laws as the states do. Under the Constitution, the Commonwealth makes the laws for the territories.

The confusion between state and territory arises because the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are often treated like states. These two territories, along with Norfolk Island, are self-governing territories. In these three cases, the Commonwealth passed a law allowing each territory to convene a parliament and make their own laws in a similar manner to the states. Unlike the states, whose powers are defined through the Constitution, the powers of these territories are defined in the Commonwealth law which grants them the right of self-government. This also means that the Commonwealth can alter or revoke these powers at will.

Under Section 121 of the Australian Constitution, territories can become states with the approval of the Commonwealth Parliament.

3. What federal electorate do I live in? Who is my federal member of parliament?

You can find out what electorate you live in, and who your local federal member is on the Australian Electoral Commission website.

• Federal Electorate and Polling Place Search (Australian Electoral Commission)
  Search for your local federal electorate; select the electorate name to find your local member and his party.

4. What state/territory electorate do I live in? Who is my local member of state/territory parliament?

You can find this information through the Electoral Commission of your state or territory

• Australian Capital Territory Electoral Commission
• New South Wales State Electoral Commission
• Northern Territory Electoral Commission
• Electoral Commission Queensland
• State Electoral Office South Australia
• Tasmanian Electoral Commission
• Victorian Electoral Commission
• Western Australian Electoral Commission

Local Government (Councils)

The six states and the Northern Territory have established one further level of government.

Local governments (also known as local councils) handle community needs like:

• waste collection
• public recreation facilities
• town planning

The states and the Northern Territory each have many local governments within their borders. The state or territory government defines the powers of the local governments, and decides what geographical areas those governments are responsible for.

Each local government has the equivalent of a legislature and an executive only.

The naming conventions for local governments vary across Australia. They can be called cities, shires, towns, or municipalities, but they are still controlled by the state or territory government above them.

In the Australian Capital Territory, the responsibilities usually handled by local government are administered by a department of the territory government.

State and Territory Government

The six states of Australia are:

• New South Wales (NSW)
• Queensland (Qld)
• South Australia (SA)
• Tasmania (Tas)
• Victoria (Vic)
• Western Australia (WA)

Each state has its own state Constitution, which divides the state’s government into the same divisions of legislature, executive, and judiciary as the Commonwealth Government.

The six state parliaments are permitted to pass laws related to any matter that is not controlled by the Commonwealth under Section 51 of the Australian Constitution.

The monarch’s powers over state matters are exercised by a Governor in each state. The head of each state government is known as the Premier.

Conflict of Laws

If the laws of a state ever conflict with the laws of the Commonwealth, the Constitution says that Commonwealth law is to be followed.

The Commonwealth judiciary may also have the power to review decisions by a state judiciary.

Territory Government

There are ten Australian territories outside the borders of the states.

Seven territories are governed only by Commonwealth law, usually through a Commonwealth-appointed Administrator. They are:

• Ashmore and Cartier Islands
• Australian Antarctic Territory
• Christmas Island
• Cocos (Keeling) Islands
• Coral Sea Islands
• Jervis Bay Territory
• Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands

See States and Territories for links to Australia’s State and Territory government entry points.

Self-Governing Territories

Two mainland territories:

• The Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
• The Northern Territory (NT)

and one offshore territory:

• Norfolk Island

have been granted a limited right of self-government by the Commonwealth. In these territories, a range of governmental matters are now handled by a locally-elected parliament.

Outside of government, the ACT and the NT are often treated like states because of their significant population sizes.

Capital Cities

Canberra, located in the Australian Capital Territory, is Australia’s national capital. The Parliament of Australia is located in Canberra, as is most of the Australian Government public service.

The other State and Territory capital cities are:

• Adelaide (South Australia)
• Brisbane (Queensland)
• Darwin (the Northern Territory)
• Hobart (Tasmania)
• Melbourne (Victoria)
• Perth (Western Australia)
• Sydney (New South Wales)

The Commonwealth Government, known also as the Australian Government or the Federal Government, was established by the Australian Constitution. It is divided into three arms:

• legislature
• executive
• judiciary

Legislature

The legislature, also known simply as parliament, is made up of democratically-elected representatives from around Australia.

These representatives meet at Parliament House in Canberra to discuss legislation and make laws for the benefit of the nation. The issues that they can make laws on are defined by sections 51 and 122 of the Constitution.

The Commonwealth Parliament comprises two separate chambers:

• the House of Representatives (or ‘the lower house’)
• the Senate (or ‘the upper house’)

The House of Representatives has 150 members, each representing a different area of the country (’electorate’). Each electorate has roughly the same number of registered voters within its boundary, meaning that states with larger populations have more electorates and therefore more representatives in the House.

The Senate is composed of 76 members. Unlike the House of Representatives, membership of the Senate is divided evenly between the states. Each state has 12 senators, and the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have 2 senators each. The Senate was established this way to ensure that the larger states could not use their majority in the House of Representatives to pass laws that disadvantaged the smaller states.

The Constitution is silent on the role of political parties in parliament. It does not make any reference to a government party, an opposition party or minor parties, or to roles like Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. These are conventions that have been adopted to assist the smooth operation of the legislature.

Executive

The executive is the administrative arm of government, and is made up of government employees (the public service) working in a number of departments and agencies. The executive is empowered by the laws of Australia to put those laws into operation and uphold those laws once they have begun to operate.

A Minister is a member of the legislature who has been chosen to also work as part of the executive, usually with responsibility for matters on a specific topic (his portfolio). The Prime Minister also serves as Australia’s Head of Government. Ministers (including the Prime Minister) are not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, but their roles are accepted as being important conventions that help to ensure an efficient executive.

Judiciary

The judiciary is the legal arm of the government.

Independent of the legislature and the executive, it is the role of the judiciary to enforce Australia’s laws. It must also ensure that the other arms of Government do not act beyond the powers granted to them by the Constitution or by parliament. The High Court of Australia is, as its name suggests, Australia’s highest court. Underneath the High Court are a number of other Federal Courts.

Australia became an independent nation on 1 January 1901. The British Parliament passed legislation allowing the six Australian colonies to govern in their own right as part of the Commonwealth of Australia.

The Commonwealth of Australia was established as a Constitutional Monarchy. ‘Constitutional’ because the Commonwealth Government was established with a written constitution, and ‘Monarchy’ because Australia’s Head of State was Queen Victoria.

The Constitution, the Monarch and the Governor-General

The Australian Constitution is the most important document in Australian government history. It established the Commonwealth government, defined its structure, powers and procedures, and defined the rights and obligations of the states in relation to the Commonwealth.

The Constitution was brought into existence through a British Act of Parliament, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. This Act granted permission to the six Australian colonies, which were still then subject to British law, to form their own Commonwealth government in accordance with the Constitution. The text of the Constitution (which was clause 9 of the Act) was written by representatives of the six colonies during a series of conventions in the 1890s, and accepted by a referendum in each colony.

Under the Constitution, the reigning British monarch is also the Australian monarch, and therefore Australia’s Head of State. The Constitution grants the monarch - currently Queen Elizabeth II - certain governing powers that place them above all other levels of the government. Because of the large distance between Australia and Britain, the monarch is permitted to appoint a Governor-General who can exercise the monarch’s powers in their absence.

The Federal System

The birth of our nation is often referred to as ‘federation’. This is because the Constitution created a ‘federal’ system of government.

Under a federal system, powers are divided between a central government and several regional governments. In Australia, power was divided between the Commonwealth Government and the governments of the six colonies, which were renamed ’states’ by the Constitution.

Specific areas of legislative power (”heads of power”) were given to the Commonwealth Government, including:

• taxation
• defence
• foreign affairs
• postal and telecommunications services

A complete list of Commonwealth heads of power is at section 51 of the Constitution. The Commonwealth also has power to make laws for Australia’s territories (section 122).

The states retained legislative power over all other matters that occurred within their borders, including:

• police
• hospitals
• education
• public transport

Australian internet domain names end in .au. There are several second level domains within the .au domain and each second level domain has a purpose. Some of these include:

• gov.au - for Commonwealth, State, Territory and local government bodies
• com.au & net.au - for commercial entities etc
• org.au - for charities and non-profit organisations
• edu.au - for educational institutions registered at Federal or State/Territory level and
• asn.au - for incorporated associations etc

The phone country code to use when telephoning Australia from another country is 61. The area codes for the capital cities are:

• Adelaide - 8
• Brisbane - 7
• Canberra - 2
• Darwin - 8
• Hobart - 3
• Melbourne - 3
• Perth - 8
• Sydney - 2

For example, if you are calling Canberra from outside Australia, first dial your country’s international access number, then dial 61, then dial 2, then dial the local phone number.

Time Zones

There are three times zones in Australia -

Eastern

Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) is equal to Greenwich Mean Time plus 10 hours (GMT +10).

AEST is followed in these regions:

• New South Wales (except Broken Hill)
• Victoria
• Queensland
• Tasmania
• Australian Capital Territory

Central

Australian Central Standard Time (ACST) is equal to Greenwich Mean Time plus 9 ½ hours (GMT +9 ½).

ACST is followed in these regions:

• South Australia
• Northern Territory
• Broken Hill, NSW

Western

Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) is equal to Greenwich Mean Time plus 8 hours (GMT +8).

AWST is followed in these regions:

• Western Australia

Daylight Saving

Daylight saving time is observed by New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory from early to late October to the end of March. Western Australia began a three year trial of daylight saving on 3 December 2006. Queensland and the Northern Territory do not observe daylight savings.

Where daylight saving is being observed:

• AEST becomes Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT), and clocks are advanced to GMT +11.
• ACST becomes Australian Central Daylight Time (ACDT), and clocks are advanced to GMT +10 ½.
• AWST becomes Australian Western Daylight Time (AWDT), and clocks are advanced to GMT +9.

Public Holidays

Public holidays are designated on a state and territory basis with the exception of national public holidays eg: Australia Day, ANZAC Day, Christmas Day, New Years Day etc.

National Public Holidays

Australia Day

January 26 is celebrated as Australia Day and is a national public holiday.

ANZAC Day

April 25 is ANZAC Day which is a national public holiday to commemorate the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during World War I. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

School Terms

School terms in Australia are also designated on a state and territory basis.

Australian Flags

The Australian National flag, the Australian Aboriginal people flag, the Torres Strait Islander flag and the Australian Defence Force flag are all proclaimed flags of Australia.

National Anthem

The Australian National Anthem, ‘Advance Australia Fair’, was declared the national anthem in 1984. It is a revised version of a song written by Peter Dodds McCormick (also known as Amicus) in the late 1900s.

Commonwealth Coat of Arms

The Commonwealth Coat of Arms is the formal symbol of the Commonwealth of Australia and its ownership and authority.

Floral Emblems of Australia

• Commonwealth of Australia - Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha)
• Australian Capital Territory - Royal Bluebell - (Wahlenbergia gloriosa)
• New South Wales - Waratah - (Telopea speciosissima)
• Northern Territory - Sturt’s Desert Rose - (Gossypium sturtianum)
• Queensland - Cooktown Orchid - (Dendrobium phalaenopsis)
• South Australia - Sturt’s Desert Pea - (Swainsona formosa)
• Tasmania - Tasmanian Blue Gum - (Eucalyptus globulus)
• Victoria - Common Heath - (Epacris impressa)
• Western Australia - Red and Green Kangaroo Paw - (Anigozanthos manglesii)

National Colours

Green and gold were proclaimed Australia’s national colours by the Governor-General in 1984.