Politics of Australia
The politics of Australia take place within the framework of a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system under its Constitution, one of the world's oldest, since Federation in 1901. Australia is the world's sixth oldest continuous democracy and largely operates as a two-party system in which voting is compulsory.[1][2] The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Australia a "full democracy" in 2021.[3] Australia is also a federation, where power is divided between the federal government and the states and territories.
Politics of Australia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Polity type | Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Constitution | Constitution of Australia |
| Formation | 1 January 1901 |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | Parliament |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Meeting place | Parliament House |
| Upper house | |
| Name | Senate |
| Presiding officer | Slade Brockman, President |
| Lower house | |
| Name | House of Representatives |
| Presiding officer | Andrew Wallace, Speaker |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of State | |
| Title | Monarch represented by Governor-General |
| Currently | Elizabeth II represented by David Hurley |
| Head of Government | |
| Title | Prime Minister |
| Currently | Anthony Albanese |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Cabinet of the Federal Executive Council |
| Current cabinet | Albanese Ministry |
| Leader | Prime Minister |
| Deputy leader | Deputy Prime Minister |
| Ministries | 30 |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary |
| Courts | Courts of Australia |
| High Court | |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Australia |
|---|
|
| Constitution |
|
|
The federal government is separated into three branches:
- Legislature: the bicameral Parliament, defined in section 1 of the constitution as comprising the monarch (represented by the governor-general), the Senate, and the House of Representatives;
- Executive: the Federal Executive Council, which in practice gives legal effect to the decisions of the cabinet, comprising the prime minister and ministers of state who advise the governor-general;[4]
- Judiciary: the High Court of Australia and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the governor-general on advice of the Federal Executive Council.
The Australian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the United Kingdom (fused executive, constitutional monarchy) and the United States (federalism, written constitution, strong bicameralism), along with distinctive indigenous features, and has therefore been characterised as a "Washminster mutation".[5]