by Les Scammell

Created on: October 23, 2010   Last Updated: October 26, 2010

Australia's parliament house is located in the heart of the national capital city, Canberra. This is in a specially created region known as the Australian Capital Territory, or ACT. Australia's system of government is based on the British Westminster system which in turn is based on a demographic form of government. Australia's parliament house therefore contains two 'houses', the lower house, or House of Representatives, and the upper house, or Senate. The lower house is also referred to as the 'people's house' while the upper house is referred to as the 'state's house' - a similar system to that found in the US.

Unlike the US, Australia's government is led by a Prime Minister. The prime minister is the leader of the political party that has the most support, generally the most number of seats, in the lower house. Parliament house is also home to a huge army of support staff along with ancillary staff such as cleaners, cooks (for the restaurants and cafe), and bar staff (for the parliament house bar). The two houses of parliament are well separated with a purported rivalry between the two. Members from each house will often refer to the other house as just that, 'the other house', rather than by name. An interesting historical feature of Australia's parliament.

History is at the core of Australia's parliament house. Proceedings are led by the 'speaker of the house' in the lower house and by the 'president' in the upper house. The term president should not be confused with the title given to political leaders, rather, the position refers more to a role of chairperson. Both roles are said to be impartial although voting and party politics to at times hold sway. In the lower house, the Speaker has no vote except that of a casting vote should there be a tie. In the Senate, rather than a casting vote, the President votes with the senators.

There are 150 lower house members who are elected for three year period. The senate consists of 76 members who are elected for six year periods. Whenever an election is called, only half of the senate stands for re-election. The other half stand at a consequent election. If both houses of parliament are dissolved for any reason, then all members from both houses must stand for re-election.

The role of Australia's parliament house then is to act as center of focus for Australian politics. It is where Australia's politicians meet to discuss, debate and vote on legislation that affects the people of Australia. It is also home to the vast support network including a parliamentary library that is required to assist over 200 politicians to run the country.

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