Parliament of Australia

The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch of Australia (represented by the governor-general), the Senate (the upper house), and the House of Representatives (the lower house). The Parliament combines elements from the British Westminster system, in which the party or coalition with a majority in the lower house is entitled to form a government, and the United States Senate, which affords equal representation to each of the states, and scrutinises legislation before it can be signed into law.

The upper house, the Senate, consists of 76 members; twelve for each state, and two for each of the two self-governing territories. Senators are elected using the single transferable vote and, as a result, the chamber features a multitude of parties vying for legislative control. No party or coalition has held a majority in the Senate since 2007, and this usually necessitates negotiation with either the opposition or crossbench to pass legislation.