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National

Parliament of Australia

Governs Australia

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House of Representatives

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Senate

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What it can do

  • Make laws on the Commonwealth heads of power

    The Parliament holds the legislative power of the Commonwealth (Constitution s 1) and may make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth on the matters listed in s 51, including trade and commerce, taxation, defence, external affairs, immigration, banking, currency and social security.

  • Impose taxation and appropriate public money

    Laws imposing taxation and laws appropriating revenue for the ordinary annual services of the Government must originate in the House of Representatives; the Senate may not amend them (Constitution ss 53, 54, 55, 81).

  • Resolve deadlocks between the houses

    If the Senate twice rejects a bill passed by the House, the Governor-General may dissolve both houses and, after a further deadlock, convene a joint sitting (Constitution s 57).

  • Propose changes to the Constitution

    A bill to alter the Constitution must pass both houses (or one house twice) and then be approved at a referendum by a majority of voters overall and in a majority of states (Constitution s 128).

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Sources

  • aph.gov.au · checked Parliament of Australia website, read 2026-10-12: chamber names and websites. For: Parliament of Australia
  • legislation.gov.au · checked Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, compilation on legislation.gov.au, cited 2026-10-12 (legislation.gov.au was unreachable from the loader so the section references are from the standard text, not re-read this run; the Constitution text is at aph.gov.au/constitution): Parliament (Ch I), Executive (Ch II), Judicature (Ch III); names and structure of the Parliament, Government and High Court. For: Parliament of Australia
  • legislation.gov.au · checked Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, cited 2026-10-12 (legislation.gov.au was unreachable from the loader so the section references are from the standard text, not re-read this run; the Constitution text is at aph.gov.au/constitution): the sections cited in the description. For: Make laws on the Commonwealth heads of power, Impose taxation and appropriate public money, Resolve deadlocks between the houses, Propose changes to the Constitution
  • aph.gov.au · checked Parliament of Australia, current Members and Senators search results, read 2026-10-12: seat counts 150 and 76 match the lists (150 members, 76 senators). For: Member of the House of Representatives, Senator
  • legislation.gov.au · checked Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, cited 2026-10-12 (legislation.gov.au was unreachable from the loader so the section references are from the standard text, not re-read this run; the Constitution text is at aph.gov.au/constitution): office, size and method of selection (ss 7, 24, 35, 17, 61-64, 72). For: Member of the House of Representatives, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senator, President of the Senate
  • en.wikipedia.org · checked Wikipedia fallback, read 2026-10-12: Speaker/President of the Senate; the official sites could not be fetched; cross-check against Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 2025-2028 and Members of the Australian Senate, 2025-2028. For: Speaker of the House of Representatives, President of the Senate
  • aph.gov.au · checked Parliament of Australia, current Members and Senators lists, read 2026-10-12: who holds the seat and their party. Start date: first sitting of the 48th Parliament, 22 July 2025 (Wikipedia, Members of the Australian House of Representatives 2025-2028, fallback); David Farley (Farrer by-election 9 May 2026) start date unknown, left empty. For: Steve Georganas as Member of the House of Representatives, Division of Adelaide, Mary Doyle as Member of the House of Representatives, Division of Aston, Catherine King as Member of the House of Representatives, Division of Ballarat, Zhi Soon as Member of the House of Representatives, Division of Banks, Tony Pasin as Member of the House of Representatives, Division of Barker and 145 more
  • en.wikipedia.org · checked Wikipedia fallback, read 2026-10-12: Speaker (Milton Dick) and President of the Senate (Sue Lines), in office since 26 July 2022 per Wikipedia member-list pages; both re-elected to the 48th Parliament. For: Milton Dick as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sue Lines as President of the Senate
  • aph.gov.au · checked Parliament of Australia, current Senators list, read 2026-10-12: who holds the seat and their party. Start dates (Wikipedia fallback: Members of the Australian Senate 2025-2028 and 48th Parliament membership changes; Wikidata P39): 2025-07-01 for the class elected in 2025, 2022-07-01 for the class elected in 2022, the fill date for casual vacancies; left empty where not sourced (territory senators, Dave Sharma). For: David Pocock as Senator, Australian Capital Territory, Katy Gallagher as Senator, Australian Capital Territory, Andrew Bragg as Senator, New South Wales, Dave Sharma as Senator, New South Wales, David Shoebridge as Senator, New South Wales and 71 more
  • en.wikipedia.org · checked Wikipedia, Senate of Peru / Chamber of Deputies of Peru, read 2026-10-12: presiding officers. Fallback: Wikipedia, official sites did not state the presidency. For: Sue Lines as President of the Senate
  • en.wikipedia.org · checked Wikipedia, Next Australian federal election, read 2026-10-12: latest possible dates (House 23 Sep 2028, half-Senate 20 May 2028) derived from Constitution s 28 and the Electoral Act 1918 s 156. Fallback: no election date has been announced by the AEC; confirm at aec.gov.au. For: General election, May 20, 2028, General election, September 23, 2028

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