Australian Civics

• Separation of powers prevents any one branch from becoming too powerful.
• The 3 Levels of Government are Federal, State and Local
• Representatives work for citizens in different geographic areas, called electorates.
• The 3 Levels of Government are called the 3 levels of Law Making.
• Judicial power is the power of the courts to make judgments and interpret the laws.
• A referendum is when citizens over 18 vote for a change in the Australian Constitution.
• In Australia, we have an indirectly elected head of state - The Governor-General represents the Monarch as Head of State.
• Parliament consists of two houses; the House of Representatives (Green) and the Senate (Red).
• A Hung Parliament is when no party has an overall majority in the House of Representatives.
• Australia has a mixed system of government - liberal democracy and a constitutional monarchy
• Liberal Democracy

  1. Citizens vote to elect leaders to run the country on their behalf

  2. Representatives (politicians) represent citizens in parliament

  3. Representatives work for citizens in different geographic areas, called electorates
• Australia is a federation of states
• Liberal Democracy


  System of government that promotes the rights of individuals and groups with regard to political, legal, and social representation
• Constitutional Monarchy


  The monarch does not have absolute power – they must follow the country’s constitution
• The King appoints the Governor-General to act on his behalf
• The Australian head of state is His Majesty King Charles III
• The three levels of government work together to provide Australians with the services they need
• Federation of states

  A group of states that have joined together to form a single country
• Representatives are elected to federal Parliament, state and territory parliaments, and local councils so that all Australians have someone to represent them at each level of government
• Redfern speech returned land to Aboriginal Australians
• Parliaments and councils make laws; governments put these into action
• Each level of government provides different services to Australians. Sometimes these services overlap
• Three levels of government

  • Federal - Australian parliament (located in Canberra, the nation’s capital)
  • State + territory parliaments (located in the capital cities of each of the 6 states and 2 territories)
  • Local councils (located around Australia in each local council division)
• Preferential Voting - A system of voting in which voters rank candidates in order of preference.
• Executive power is the power to make decisions & laws and to put them in action
• Legislative power is the power to create new laws or change existing ones
• political party is a group of people who share a common political idea and work together to influence the government.
• Prime Minister is the head of the government and is elected by the House of Representatives.
• Cabinet is made up of ministers from both houses, chosen by the Prime Minister.
• House of Representatives minimum 8 votes.
• Senate minimum 12 votes below the line
• Senate minimum votes above the line is 6