Concept Map

Government

The elected members of parliament who make decisions for a nation or state. The government is made up of the party or coalition that has won a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The lower house of federal parliament is the House of Representatives. The lower house of the Victorian state parliament is the Legislative Assembly.

Senate

The upper house of the federal parliament of Australia has 76 senators, 12 from each of the six states and two each from the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

Facts

  1. Senators are elected as representatives of Australia’s states and territories.

  1. The Senate chamber is arranged in a horseshoe shape with the President of the Senate sitting at the front

  1. There are 76 senators in total: 12 for each state and 2 for each territory.

  1. Government senators sit to the right of the President and Opposition senators sit to the left.

  1. Senators review the work of the government by asking questions during Question Time

House of Reprentitives

The lower house of the Commonwealth parliament

Facts

  1. The mace is used in parliament and comes from British parliamentary traditions.

  1. The next party forms the Opposition, or alternative government

  1. The party that takes up at least 76 seats forms the government

  1. 150 people are elected as members of the House, many of them representing political parties.

  1. Often called the people’s house, because during election time the people of Australia will vote in their local regions to elect one person to represent the in the House of Representatives.

Parliament

Australia has what is called a parliamentary democracy. This is because those who are elected to represent us meet at a place called parliament. It is in parliament that laws are changed or new laws passed that affect all Australians.

The elected members of parliament who make decisions for a nation or state. The government is made up of the party or coalition tat has won a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament. The lower house of federal parliament is the House of Representatives. The lower house of the Victorian state parliament is the Legislative Assembly