Leslie Massey
Australia is divided into six states and ten territories, including internal and external territories. Each state has its own constitution and the power to make laws, while the federal government legislates for the territories. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory have representation in Parliament and the Senate, but their legislation can be overridden, and they have fewer senators than the states, which affects their voting power in referendums.
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What You'll Learn
States have their own constitution, territories do not
Australia is divided into six states and ten territories. Each state has its own constitution, which outlines the powers of its parliament, including the ability to make laws. The territories, on the other hand, do not have their own constitutions. Instead, the Australian Parliament is granted the power to make laws for the territories by Section 122 of the Australian Constitution.
The six states of Australia are New South Wales (including Lord Howe Island), Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania (including Macquarie Island), Victoria, and Western Australia. Each state is a successor to a historical British colony, and they were established between 1788 and 1859. In 1901, these colonies formed a Federation, known as the Commonwealth of Australia.
The ten territories of Australia include three internal territories: the Australian Capital Territory, the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory; and seven external territories: the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island. While the internal territories have their own legislatures and judicial systems, the external territories are governed by federal departments, with most being subject to the judiciary and legislature of either a state or internal territory.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory operate similarly to the states, with representation in the Parliament and the ability to form their own parliaments and make laws. However, their territorial legislation can be overridden by the Federal Parliament, and they have different voting powers in referendums.
While all states and territories share the same head of state, currently King Charles III, the states have an independent head of government, while the territories that are not self-governing are run by the federal government.
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Territories have fewer senators than states
Australia is divided into six states and ten territories. The six states are New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. The ten territories include three internal territories: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory; and seven external territories: the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, the Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island.
Each state has its own constitution, which grants its parliament the power to make laws. The territories, on the other hand, do not have their own constitutions. Instead, the Australian Parliament has the power to make laws for the territories, as granted by Section 122 of the Australian Constitution. While the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory have representation in Parliament and the Senate, they only have two senators each, compared to the twelve senators that represent each of the six states.
The territories' lack of representation in the Senate is a result of their different status compared to the states. The territories were not initially given the right to vote in referendums, and their residents only gained this right in 1977 under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Even today, votes cast by territory residents are treated differently, with their votes only counting towards the national majority and being discarded when determining the majority in the states. This means that territory residents have less voting power than their counterparts in the states, and their votes weigh less in referendums.
The justification for this disparity in voting rights is that the territories have smaller populations than most states. However, some argue that the Northern Territory, with the highest proportion of First Nations people of any jurisdiction at 30.8%, should have more voting power to enable greater contributions to change. Nonetheless, the territories' voting rights have been a topic of debate, with some calling for their ballots to be counted the same as state ballots to ensure equal democratic rights for all Australians.
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Territories have less voting power than states
Australia has six states and ten territories. While the states and internal territories have their own legislatures and judicial systems, the territories do not have their own constitutions. The territories' power to make laws is granted by the Australian Parliament, which can also override territorial legislation.
Each state has 12 senators, while the self-governing internal territories have two senators each. This means that the territories have less voting power than the states in referendums. For example, votes cast by territory residents are only counted towards the national majority and are then discarded when determining if a proposal has won enough support "in a majority of the states". This means that their votes weigh less than those of other Australian voters.
The territories' limited voting power has been a source of controversy, with some arguing that it gives territories too much influence over constitutional reform, while others argue that it limits the ability of First Nations people to contribute to change. In 1977, a referendum led by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser gave all Australian residents the right to vote in referendums. However, the different voting power of the states and territories remains.
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States can make their own legislation, territories cannot
Australia is divided into six states and ten territories. Each state has its own constitution, which outlines the powers of its parliament, including the ability to make laws. The territories, on the other hand, do not have their own constitutions. While the territories have the power to make laws, their legislation can be overridden by the Australian Parliament, which has the authority to make laws for the territories as per Section 122 of the Australian Constitution.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory, despite having representation in the Parliament and Senate, do not have constitutional status as states and are subject to restrictions in their authority. They have fewer senators than the states, with two each compared to the states' 12 apiece, which affects their voting power in referendums.
The states' ability to make their own legislation is subject to the limits of the federal constitution, particularly Section 51 and Section 109. While the Federal Parliament can override territorial legislation, it rarely does so. The federal High Court of Australia serves as the final court of appeal for all matters and can override any state judiciary.
The territories' lack of constitutional status and their limited voting power in referendums have sparked debates about inequality and the need for reform. While some argue that granting territories state-like power would give them too much influence over constitutional reform, others advocate for granting territory residents the same democratic rights as other Australians.
In summary, while the states possess the autonomy to create their own legislation, the territories' law-making abilities are constrained by the Australian Parliament's authority to make laws for them and override their legislation. This distinction has led to discussions about voting rights and territorial representation in Australia's political system.
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Territories are governed by the federal government
Territories in Australia are areas that are governed by the federal government. They are distinct from the six states that make up the country, each of which has its own constitution and independent executive government.
The territories can be categorised into internal territories, which are on the Australian mainland, and external territories, which are offshore dependent territories. The three internal territories are the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory. The seven external territories include the Australian Antarctic Territory and the Coral Sea Islands.
While the internal territories have their own legislatures, the federal government can override their laws. The external territories, except for the Heard Island and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory, are governed by the federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, and Communications.
The territories have fewer senators than the states, with two senators each compared to the states' 12 apiece. This contributes to a total of 76 senators in the Australian upper house, known as the Senate.
The votes cast by territory residents are also treated differently in referendums. While they now have the right to vote in referendums, their votes only count towards the national majority and are discarded when determining if a proposal has won enough support "in a majority of the States". This means that the votes of territory residents carry less weight than those of state residents.
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Frequently asked questions
Votes cast by territory residents are treated differently, with their votes only counting towards the national majority. They are then discarded when determining if a proposal has won enough support "in a majority of the states". The NT and ACT have two senators each, while the states have 12 apiece.
Each state has its own constitution, which lists the powers of that state's parliament, including the ability to make laws. The territories do not have their own constitutions, and the Australian Parliament can override territorial legislation.
All states and self-governing territories have an independent head of government. Those that are not self-governing are run by the federal government.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is unique in Australia because its parliament combines the responsibilities of both a local and state government. The Northern Territory and the ACT have different rights to the six Australian states, as they are restricted in their authority.
