Key knowledge

Identify Parliament’s bicameral structure and the houses’ names

● Australia's Parliament has a bicameral structure(two houses)
Describe how government is formed (and in which house?!):
● In Australia, the government is formed in the House of
Representatives**.
● A political party or a coalition of parties must win the **majority
of seats** in this house to form the government.
● There are **151 electorates**, each represented by one
**Member of Parliament (MP)**.
● To form a government, a party or coalition needs to secure at
least **76 seats** (which is a majority) out of the 151.
● The leader of the party or coalition with the majority becomes
the **Prime Minister**

Explain what it means to have a representative government.

● A representative government means that citizens elect
representatives to make decisions and pass laws on their
behalf.
● -representative democracy, also known as indirect
democracy, as a type of democracy where elected
people represent a group of people.
● In australia, Mps are chosen by the people in elections to
represent their interests in parliament
Describe in detail how a bill becomes an Act of Parliament (law).
Explain the process of Royal assent.
Royal assent is the formal approval by the gov gen that turns a bill passed by both houses
of parliament into an official law (on behalf o the monarch)
Australian Constitution
● Identify what the Australian Constitution is.
The Australian Constitution is the foundational legal document that outlines
the framework for the government and the legal system of Australia. It
came into effect on January 1, 1901, when Australia became a federation of
states.
-it sets the powers of the federal gov, the responsibilities of the states and
the structure of the courts
Describe the process required for a successful referendum to change the
wording of the Australian Constitution.
● To have a successful referendum to change the wording of aus
consitution, a majority of voters nationwide must vote in favour and a
majority of voters in at least four out of six states must also voite in
favour( double majority)
Voting and Elections
Describe how preferential voting works.
-Preferential voting is a system where voters rank candidates in order of preference
(1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) rather than just choosing a single candidate.
-. If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first preference votes, they are
immediately elected.
-If no candidate has more than 50%, the candidate with the fewest first preference
votes is eliminated. Their votes are then redistributed to the remaining candidates
based on the voters' second preferences.
-continues until one candidate has more than 50% of the votes and is declared the
winner.
Explain reasons for and against compulsory voting

Double dissolution process

-Occurs when both houses of parliament are dissolved simultaneously to resolve a
deadlock over legislation
-Allows all sentate and house seats to be up for election at the same time
-Rare process triggered when senate repeatedly blocks bill from house
 ppls hose

States house
The PEO website is a great resource.

Key Term Definition

Member of An elected representative of an electorate in the House of Representatives or a

Parliament Senator in the Senate. MPs represent the interests of their constituents in
Parliament.

Bicameral Parliament A parliament with two houses or chambers. In Australia, this refers to the
House of Representatives and the Senate.

Coalition An alliance of two or more political parties that join together to form a
government or oppose the government. In Australia, the Liberal Party and the
National Party often form a coalition.

Government The political party (or coalition) that holds the majority of seats in the House of
Representatives and is responsible for making and implementing laws. The
leader of the majority party becomes the Prime Minister.

Electorate A geographical area represented by a Member of Parliament (MP) in the

House of Representatives. Each electorate elects one MP.

Parliament The national law-making body in Australia, consisting of the House of

Representatives, the Senate, and the Governor-General. It debates and passes
legislation.

Preselection The process by which a political party selects a candidate to represent them in
an electorate in an election.

Preferential voting A voting system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no
candidate wins more than 50% of the first-preference votes, the lowest-scoring
candidates are eliminated, and their votes are redistributed until one candidate
has a majority.

Compulsory voting A system where eligible citizens are required by law to vote in elections. In
Australia, voting is compulsory for federal and state elections.

Hung parliament A situation where no single political party or coalition has an outright majority
of seats in the House of Representatives, making it difficult to form a
government.

Representative A system of government where citizens elect representatives to make decisions

Government and pass laws on their behalf.

Informal vote A ballot paper that is not filled out correctly or is incomplete, making it invalid
and not counted towards the election result.

Senate The upper house of the Australian Parliament. Senators represent the states
and territories, with equal representation for each state, regardless of
population size. The Senate reviews and amends legislation proposed by the
House of Representatives.
 House of The lower house of the Australian Parliament, where Members of Parliament
Representatives (MPs) represent individual electorates. The party (or coalition) with the majority
of seats forms the government.

Governor General The Queen’s representative in Australia, responsible for giving Royal Assent to
bills passed by Parliament, formally appointing the Prime Minister, and
performing other constitutional and ceremonial duties.

Minority parliament A situation where the party in power does not hold a majority of seats in the
House of Representatives and must rely on support from independent MPs or
smaller parties to pass legislation.

Majority parliament A situation where the party or coalition in power holds more than half of the
seats in the House of Representatives, allowing them to form a stable
government and pass legislation without needing support from other parties or
independents.

A donkey vote occurs when a voter numbers the candidates in the order they appear on the
ballot paper, from top to bottom, without necessarily making a conscious choice.

An informal vote is a ballot that is incorrectly filled out, such as when it’s left blank or has
incorrect markings, and is therefore not counted in the election.

-Why are donkey voted counted as valid in an election?

In elections, donkey votes—where a voter marks the ballot paper in a sequential or random way
without showing a clear preference—are still counted because the voter's intention is sometimes
unclear. Even if the voter doesn't make a meaningful choice, the ballot still adheres to the
required format and rules (like numbering all the candidates in a preferential voting system), so
it's counted as valid.

What is a hung parliament and how does it occur?

A hung parliament occurs when no single political party or coalition wins an outright majority of
seats in a parliamentary election. This typically happens in systems with proportional
representation or in a closely contested election under a first-past-the-post system, where no
party secures more than 50% of the seats.

Parl vs gov
Parliament includes all elected representatives, while government refers to the ruling party or
coalition and its ministers.
Parliament passes laws, while government proposes laws and implements them.
Parliament holds the government accountable through checks and balances, such as
questioning ministers and reviewing policies.

Why have elections

We have elections because they are a fundamental part of representative democracy, where
citizens elect individuals to represent their interests and make decisions on their behalf. In large
societies, it is impractical for every person to be involved in every decision, so elections provide
a way for people to choose representatives who will govern according to their preferences.