Parliament vs government

• Parliament is a group of people who represent the people of Australia.
• Parliament House is in Canberra. This is where the parliament meets to make decisions. It includes people from across Australia who have been elected, or voted in, as our representatives.
• Parliament is made up of two groups or houses – House of Representatives and the Senate.
• The political group or party with more than half the people in the House of Representatives is known as the federal government. The leader of the federal government becomes the Prime Minister.
• The political group with the second most number of people in the parliament is called the Opposition.
• Everyone else in the parliament is called the cross bench.

Australia has three levels of government – federal, state, and local governments. Each level has different jobs to do.

Federal government

Federal means ‘all of Australia’. The federal parliament makes laws for all national matters such as Centrelink, Medicare and Immigration.

The AEC runs elections for the federal government.

State or territory government

The state and territory parliaments make laws for things like hospitals, schools and police. Each state and territory has its own parliament.

Local government

Local governments (also known as local councils) make by-laws about local matters such as rubbish collection, libraries and parks. Australia has over 500 local councils.