Parliament of Australia

The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of Australia. According to Section 1 of the Constitution of Australia, Parliament consists of the Queen of Australia, the House of Representatives (the "lower house"), and the Senate (the "upper house" or "house of review"). The Queen is normally represented in Australia by the Governor-General. The Parliament of Australia is modelled on the Parliament of the United Kingdom and, to a lesser extent, the Congress of the United States.

Functions

The principal function of the Parliament is to pass laws, or legislation. Any Member or Senator may introduce a proposed law (a bill), except for a money bill (a bill proposing an expenditure or levying a tax), which must be introduced in the House of Representatives. In practice, the great majority of bills are introduced by ministers. Bills introduced by other Members are called private members' bills. All bills must be passed by both Houses to become law. The Senate has the same legislative powers as the House, except that it may not amend money bills, only pass or reject them. The enacting formula for Acts of Parliament is simply "The Parliament of Australia enacts:".

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The Parliament performs other functions besides legislation. It can discuss urgency motions or matters of public importance: these provide a forum for debates on public policy matters. Members can move motions of censure against the government or against individual ministers. On most sitting days in both Houses there is a session called Question Time at which Members and Senators address questions to the Prime Minister and other ministers. Members and Senators can also present petitions from their constituents. Both Houses have an extensive system of committees in which draft bills are debated, evidence is taken and public servants are questioned.

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