Australian Government - Structure and the Constitution

Gathered here is some insight into how the current Australian government came into being and how it is structured.

Formal name: Commonwealth of Australia
Form of government: Constitutional monarchy. Constitution is about powers and procedures (in other words laws); and we are a monarchy because the Queen (Queen Elizabeth II) is the head of state of Australia.

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 from a grouping of 6 independent British states. This grouping is known as 'Federation' because it created a Federal governmental system.

There are 3 basic levels of government in Australia - Federal, State and Local.

• Federal level is made up of 3 arms. These are the legislature (parliament) which is responsible for introducing laws under section 51 of the constitution; the executive which is responsible for upholding the laws (ministers are members if the legislature & the executive); and the judicary which is indepentdent to both the legislature and the executive as it is responsible for enforcing the law and deciding if the other 2 arms are acting within their powers.
• State level is also made up of the 3 arm system. The state system has the power to make their own laws for matters which fall outside section 51 of the Constitution.
• Local level is made up of 2 arm system only (legislature and executive) as the state keeps responsibility for the judicial system. The states that create the local governments determine the power they hold. Their purpose is to take responsibility for community services.

References:
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-government