The Australian Commonwealth Government is centred in Canberra, within the Australian Capital Territory.

The Australian Constitution of 1901 established a federal system of government. Under this system, powers are distributed between a federal government (the Commonwealth) and the six States (three Territories - the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, and Norfolk Island have self-government arrangements).

The Constitution defines the boundaries of law-making powers between the Commonwealth and the States/Territories.

 

Commonwealth Government Entry Point

The Australian Electoral Commission

How an election works (Australian Democracy Magazine, AEC)
Preferential voting demystified (a bit)

ScalePlus
Search all Commonwealth legislation and caselaw for nuclear issues (or anything else)

The Australian Parliament
The Parliament is at the very heart of the Commonwealth government. The Parliament consists of the Queen (represented by the Governor-General) and two Houses (the Senate and the House of Representatives). These three elements make Australia a constitutional monarchy, a federation and a parliamentary democracy.

 

Parliamentary Education Office

The House of Representatives
The House has 148 Members. Each Member represents an electoral division. The boundaries of these electorates are adjusted from time to time so that they all contain approximately equal numbers of electors-because of the distribution of Australia's population they vary greatly in area (from a few square kilometres to over two million square kilometres).

Members are elected by a system known as preferential voting, under which voters rank candidates in order of preference. Each House of Representatives may continue for up to three years, after which general elections for a new House must be held. Elections are often held before the end of this period.

 

The Senate
The Senate is one of the two houses of the Australian Federal Parliament. It consists of 76 Senators, twelve from each of the six states and two from each of the mainland territories. It has virtually equal power to make laws with the House of Representatives. It is elected by proportional representation, so that its composition closely reflects the voting pattern of the electors.

State and Territory Electoral Administrations

• ACT - ACT Electoral Commission/Elections ACT
• New South Wales - State Electoral Office
• Northern Territory - NT Electoral Office
• Queensland - Electoral Commission of Queensland
• South Australia - State Electoral Office
• Tasmania - State Electoral Office
• Victoria - Victorian Electoral Commission
• Western Australia - Western Australian Electoral Commission