Chapter 2The Australian Parliamentary System

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Westminster System Bicameral – two houses – Upper and

Lower Head of Parliament is the

Sovereign/Crown/Monarch (the QUEEN) Parliament is supreme

Australia’s Parliament Terra nullius Federation – rationale: to create a

central authority to create laws/policies for national issues

The Constitution – gives us the structure of government and its powers; established the High Court

Key Principles Separation of Powers Representative Government Responsible Government

Separation of Powers The legal system has 3 main functions:

legislative (makes the laws); executive (administers the law); and judicial (interprets/applies the law)

These 3 functions are given to different bodies to perform

Provides a system of checks and balances so that no single body holds absolute authority (and therefore prevents abuse of power).

Representative Government Central to our system of government-

democracy Represents the views of the majority of

voters Government formed by party with majority

of seats in the lower house Lower house represents the will of the

majority Upper house represents the interests of each

state/region

Responsible Government Government is answerable to

parliament Parliament can establish committees to

investigate government actions Parliamentary debate and Hansard

provide for public scrutiny

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Learning Objectives Explain the need for a separation of

powers Explain the features of representative

and responsible government Explain why laws may need to change

DO NOW What do the following have in common:

Legislative assembly and House of Representatives

Governor and governor general Senate and Legis. Council Statute law, acts of parliament, delegated

legislation

Changing the law Predict what we will learn in Chapter 3 Why do laws need to change?