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Australia has a bicameral parliamentary system, with a lower house called the House of Representatives and an upper house called the Senate. The Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. While the Parliament of Australia is bicameral, not all state legislatures are. Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory have unicameral parliaments, while the other states have a bicameral parliament.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of state legislatures in Australia | 8 |
| Number of state legislatures with bicameral systems | 6 |
| Number of state legislatures with unicameral systems | 3 |
| States with bicameral systems | New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania |
| States with unicameral systems | Queensland, Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory |
| Number of members in the upper house of the Commonwealth Parliament | 76 |
| Number of members in the lower house of the Commonwealth Parliament | 150-151 |
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What You'll Learn
Queensland has a unicameral legislature
The Legislative Assembly has 93 members, elected for fixed four-year terms in single-member constituencies using full preferential voting. Voting is compulsory, and elections take place every four years on the last Saturday of October. The Assembly first sat in May 1860 and produced Australia's first Hansard in April 1864. The Assembly has been meeting in Parliament House in the Brisbane central business district since 1891.
The Queensland Parliament retains plenary legislative power over Queensland, and its principal role involves passing legislation that establishes the laws of the state. A piece of legislation passed by the Parliament becomes an Act or Statute, and in its draft form is called a Bill. The role of the monarch in Parliament is to give royal assent to legislation, which is typically exercised by the governor of Queensland. The party or coalition with the most seats in the house is invited by the governor to form a government, and the leader of that party becomes the premier of Queensland.
The Queensland Parliament can trace its origins back to the British parliamentary or Westminster system, which was a natural consequence of the colony's British influence and the ancestry of its early settlers. The building is often viewed as an historic, sandstone structure, and the mace is the symbol of the Parliament's authority.
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South Australia has a bicameral legislature
The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It follows a Westminster system of parliamentary government, with the executive branch required to both sit in parliament and hold the confidence of the House of Assembly. The parliament is based at Parliament House on North Terrace in the state capital of Adelaide.
The South Australian Constitution does not define the parliament as including either the monarch or the governor of South Australia as one of its constituent parts. However, the constitution vests legislative power in the state's governor, who acts with the advice and consent of both houses of parliament.
General elections are held every four years, with all of the lower house and half of the upper house filled at each election. The Legislative Council has 22 members, elected for eight-year terms by proportional voting, with half of the members facing re-election every four years. The House of Assembly has 47 members, elected for four-year terms.
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Western Australia is bicameral
Western Australia (WA) is a state in Australia with a bicameral legislature. The Parliament of Western Australia is made up of the Western Australian Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly, and the King, who is represented by the Governor of Western Australia. The Legislative Council, or upper house, has 36 or 37 members, elected for fixed four-year terms from across the state by proportional voting. The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, has 59 members, elected for fixed four-year terms from single-member constituencies, using preferential voting.
Western Australia was granted self-government in 1890 with a bicameral Parliament located in Perth. Suffrage is universal and compulsory for citizens over 18 years of age. In 1901, Western Australia became a state within Australia's federal structure, ceding certain powers to the Commonwealth (Federal) government. The other Australian states with bicameral legislatures are South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales, and Victoria. Queensland and the two territories (the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory) have unicameral parliaments.
The upper house of the Western Australian legislature is elected using proportional representation, while the lower house uses instant-runoff voting in single-member electorates. This is the same across all Australian states with bicameral legislatures, except for Tasmania, where the system is reversed. In the 1970s, Australian states began to reform their upper houses to introduce proportional representation in line with the Federal Senate.
The British crown in Western Australia is represented by a governor. The legislature of the state is constituted by the bicameral parliament, with the executive government based on the cabinet system, led by a premier who represents the majority party in the legislature. Western Australians are represented at the federal level in Canberra.
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Tasmania is bicameral
Tasmania has a bicameral legislature, which is called the Parliament of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the governor of Tasmania (as the representative of the King), the Legislative Council (the upper house), and the House of Assembly (the lower house).
The Tasmanian Parliament first met in 1856, and the powers of the Parliament are prescribed in the Constitution of Tasmania. The Legislative Council has met in Parliament House, Hobart, since 1841, with the House of Assembly joining them from its establishment in 1856.
Tasmania was the first Australian colony to be granted a constitution, the Constitutional Act of Tasmania, by Queen Victoria in 1854. The new bicameral Parliament met for the first time on 2 December 1856. The Tasmanian Constitution Act does not provide for referendums of the people before changes can be made. A simple majority vote in both Houses can effect change, except in the term of the House of Assembly.
Tasmania is unusual in that it uses proportional representation for its lower house and single-member electorates for its upper house. This is the reverse of the system used in the federal parliament and in most other states.
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Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory are unicameral
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory are unicameral legislatures. The ACT Legislative Assembly, also known as the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory. The Assembly has the functions of a local council as the city of Canberra has no other local government. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, elected from five electorates, each with five members. Members are elected for four-year terms by the Hare-Clark system, a variation of the Single Transferable Vote form of proportional representation.
The Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory, is the unicameral legislature of Australia's Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method for the Assembly is the full-preferential voting system, having previously been optional preferential voting. Elections are held on the fourth Saturday in August of the fourth year after the previous election, but they can be earlier in the event of a no-confidence vote in the government.
The ACT and the Northern Territory are territories of the Commonwealth, and their parliaments were created by legislation of the Commonwealth Parliament. The legislative powers of their parliaments can be altered or abolished by the Commonwealth Parliament, which can also overturn their legislation. The two territories' legislative assemblies lack the full powers of a state legislature. While the state parliaments derive their legislative powers from constitutional sources, the Northern Territory and the ACT derive their legislative power from the delegation of powers from the Commonwealth. The Australian Parliament retains the right to legislate for the territories and can override their legislation.
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Frequently asked questions
No, not all state legislatures in Australia are bicameral. Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory have unicameral parliaments, with a single house called the Legislative Assembly. The other states have a bicameral parliament, with a lower house called the Legislative Assembly (in New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia) or House of Assembly (in South Australia and Tasmania), and an upper house called the Legislative Council.
The bicameral legislatures in Australia consist of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the Senate. The House of Representatives currently has 150 members, who are elected from single-member constituencies. The Senate has 76 members, with 12 members representing each state and two members representing each mainland territory. Senators are elected using a form of proportional voting.
The unicameral legislatures in Australia have a single house called the Legislative Assembly. For example, the Parliament of Queensland, which is unicameral, has a Legislative Assembly with 93 members elected for fixed four-year terms in single-member constituencies using preferential voting.
The adoption of unicameral or bicameral systems in states or provinces within a federal system, such as Australia, is often a result of historical factors and political compromises. Unicameral systems may be adopted for simpler and more efficient law-making, while bicameral systems can provide checks and balances and represent different interests or regions within a state.
