Parliament of Australia

The Parliament of Australia is the primary legislative branch of the federal government of Australia. Political theorists who have examined the Australian Parliament have likened it to the English system of parliament in primary form, but blended to a certain extent with modifications and improvements made as a result of examination of the American system of government. Like many other parliamentary systems and legislative branches throughout the world, the Australian Parliament is a bicameral institution.

The two houses involved in the Parliament of Australia include the Senate of Australia and the House of Representatives of Australia. The House of Representatives of Australia is made up of 150 representatives from the different electoral divisions of Australia, and the Senate of Australia is made up of 76 Senators of Australia, with 12 coming from the states of Australia and two each coming from the mainland territories.

The Australian Parliament describes these legislative entities primarily, though it can also encompass the executive branch of the government, in the form of the Queen, and the Prime Minister of Australia, who is elected from Parliament. The judicial system of Australia is kept relatively separate from the Parliament of Australia, however.

Courts such as the Family Court of Australia are not directly under the jurisdiction of the Australian Parliament. They may be created by acts of the Parliament of Australia, however, such that the two bodies of government are not entirely detached from one another. The Family Court of Australia, for example, was created by an Act passed through the Australian Parliament.