Australia is both a representative democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as Australia's head of state. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed on 1 January when six partly self governing British colonies united to become states of a nation.
The rules of government for this new nation were enshrined in the Australian Constitution , which defined how the Commonwealth government was to operate and what issues it could pass laws on. The birth of our nation is often referred to as ' federation ' because the Constitution created a 'federal' system of government. Under a federal system, powers are divided between a central government and individual states. In Australia, power was divided between the Commonwealth federal government and the six state governments.
The Parliament passes laws which affect the whole country. Section 51 of the Constitution defines a number of issues that the Parliament can make laws on. Although the six states joined together to form the Commonwealth of Australia, they still each retain the power to make their own laws over matters not controlled by the Commonwealth under Section 51 of the Constitution.
You can find print publications and links to online sources through the Catalogue. Use the Catalogue standard search to find titles, authors or subjects. To search for general works about Australian politics, select the Browse alphabetically tab, then subjects. Some examples are:. Items related to special interest groups in Australian society are found using Browse subjects searches such as:. Parliamentary government in Australia by Alan J. Ward , combines constitutional history and political science to compare all nine of Australia's political systems, federal, state and territory, from colonial times to the present.
Australian political institutions by Singleton, Aitkin, Jinks and Warhurst , introduces students to the structure and organisation of the institutions and functions of government in Australia, with reference to contemporary issues and debates. Australian journal of political science includes articles on a wide range of political topics. This includes freedom of expression. See our page on common law rights and parliamentary scrutiny.
The Australian Constitution does not explicitly protect freedom of expression. However, the High Court has held that an implied freedom of political communication exists as an indispensible part of the system of representative and responsible government created by the Constitution. It operates as a freedom from government restraint, rather than a right conferred directly on individuals.
As with other rights recognised in the CRC this provision should be read with Article 5, which states:. States Parties shall respect the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community as provided for by local custom, legal guardians or other persons legally responsible for the child, to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of the rights recognized in the present Convention.
States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health.
To this end, States Parties shall:. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises that people with disability have the rights to freedom of expression and information which are recognised for all people in ICCPR Article The CRPD also goes on to. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, including by:.
The separation of powers helps to ensure that no group has all the power, by giving each group their own area of responsibility:. A representative democracy In a representative democracy, citizens choose candidates to represent them in a parliament.
Examples of other constitutional monarchies include Belgium, Tonga and Sweden. A federation of states A federation is a group of states that have joined together to form a single country. The three levels are: federal—Australian—Parliament, in Canberra state and territory parliaments, in each state and territory capital city local councils—also called shires—across Australia.
Some examples of other federations include Canada, India and Germany. Separation of powers The Australian Constitution defines 3 groups—the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary—and describes how they share power. The separation of powers helps to ensure that no group has all the power, by giving each group their own area of responsibility: Parliament the Legislature makes and changes the law.
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