54-530: The National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA ) is an executive agency of the Australian federal government under the Department of Home Affairs . The agency is responsible for coordinating and managing a national-level emergency response to help those affected by natural disasters, including droughts , bushfires and floods . NEMA was formed on 1 September 2022 from the merger of the two major disaster agencies,
108-485: A cabinet reshuffle . Cabinet meetings are strictly private and occur once a week where vital issues are discussed and policy formulated. The cabinet is not a legal entity; it exists solely by convention. Its decisions do not in and of themselves have legal force. However, it serves as the practical expression of the Federal Executive Council , which is Australia's highest formal governmental body. In practice,
162-626: A vote of no confidence . On the other hand, according to the separation of powers doctrine, the legislature in a presidential system is considered an independent and coequal branch of government along with both the judiciary and the executive. Nevertheless, many presidential systems provide for the impeachment of the executive for criminal or unconstitutional behaviour. Legislatures will sometimes delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies . Legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators , who vote on proposed laws. A legislature usually contains
216-622: A Parliamentary powers index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures. The German Bundestag , the Italian Parliament , and the Mongolian State Great Khural tied for most powerful, while Myanmar's House of Representatives and Somalia's Transitional Federal Assembly (since replaced by the Federal Parliament of Somalia ) tied for least powerful. Some political systems follows
270-458: A few of the members of the chamber(s). The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties ; the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of political power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries , militaries , and executives . In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed
324-442: A fixed number of legislators; because legislatures usually meet in a specific room filled with seats for the legislators, this is often described as the number of "seats" it contains. For example, a legislature that has 100 "seats" has 100 members. By extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a "seat", as, for example, in the phrases " safe seat " and " marginal seat ". After election,
378-526: A single unit is unicameral , one divided into two chambers is bicameral , and one divided into three chambers is tricameral . In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is usually considered the upper house , while the other is considered the lower house . The two types are not rigidly different, but members of upper houses tend to be indirectly elected or appointed rather than directly elected, tend to be allocated by administrative divisions rather than by population, and tend to have longer terms than members of
432-435: Is indirectly elected within the context of a one-party state . Legislature size is a trade off between efficiency and representation; the smaller the legislature, the more efficiently it can operate, but the larger the legislature, the better it can represent the political diversity of its constituents. Comparative analysis of national legislatures has found that size of a country's lower house tends to be proportional to
486-514: Is a role which exists by constitutional convention, rather than by law. They are appointed to the role by the governor-general (the representative of the monarch of Australia ). The governor-general normally appoints the parliamentary leader who commands the confidence of a majority of the members of the House of Representatives. Also by convention, the prime minister is a member of the lower house. The prime minister and their sworn ministers form
540-509: Is executive or legislative is determined on a case-by-case basis, and involves the weighing up of various factors, rather than the application of a strict test. As most executive power is granted by statute, the executive power of the government is similarly limited to those areas in which the Commonwealth is granted the power to legislate under the constitution (primarily under section 51 ). They also retain certain powers traditionally part of
594-482: Is that while legislative power involves setting down rules of general application, executive power involves applying those rules to specific situations. In practice, however, this definition is difficult to apply as many actions by executive agencies are wide-ranging, binding and conducted independently of Parliament. The executive can also be delegated legislative power through provisions allowing for statutory instruments and Henry VIII clauses . Ultimately whether power
SECTION 10
#1732858368111648-412: Is the body that formally advises the governor-general in the exercise of executive power. Decisions of the body give legal effect to decisions already deliberated at cabinet. All current and formers ministers are members of the council, although only current ministers are summoned to meetings. The governor-general usually presides at council meetings, but in his or her absence another minister nominated as
702-565: The Constitution of Australia is the "Government of the Commonwealth". This was the name used in many early federal government publications. However, in 1965 Robert Menzies indicated his preference for the name "Australian Government" in order to prevent confusion with the new Commonwealth of Nations . The Whitlam government legislated the use of "Government of Australia" in 1973 in line with its policy of promoting national goals and aspirations. However, academic Anne Twomey argues that
756-683: The European Union . The upper house may either contain the delegates of state governments – as in the European Union and in Germany and, before 1913, in the United States – or be elected according to a formula that grants equal representation to states with smaller populations, as is the case in Australia and the United States since 1913. Tricameral legislatures are rare;
810-643: The Massachusetts Governor's Council still exists, but the most recent national example existed in the waning years of White-minority rule in South Africa . Tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. The only legislature with a number of chambers bigger than four was the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia ; initially established as a Pentacameral body in 1963, it
864-1070: The National Recovery and Resilience Agency and Emergency Management Australia . The formation of the agency was first announced in July 2022 by the newly-appointed Cabinet headed by Anthony Albanese . The agency was originally intended to be named the National Emergency Management, Resilience and Recovery Agency. The name was later simplified to its current name prior to the creation of the agency. The agency leads Australia’s disaster and emergency management efforts by providing informed strategic oversight and guidance, and by being constantly connected with local communities. It funds programs and initiatives, works with communities, industry and NGOs, gives national leadership, and provides round-the-clock all-hazards monitoring and operational coordination. The Minister for Emergency Management , currently Jenny McAllister , holds ministerial responsibility for
918-585: The Parliament of the United Kingdom , the floor of the legislature frequently sees lively debate. In contrast, in committee-based legislatures like the United States Congress , deliberation takes place in closed committees. While legislatures have nominally the sole power to create laws, the substantive extent of this power depends on details of the political system. In Westminster-style legislatures
972-626: The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements . Australian Government [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Australian Government , also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the Federal government , is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy . The executive consists of the prime minister and other cabinet ministers that currently have
1026-411: The cabinet , the key decision-making organ of the government that makes policy and decides the agenda of the government. Members of the government can exercise both legislative power (through their control of the parliament) and executive power (as ministers on behalf of the governor-general and the monarch). However, in accordance with responsible government , and to ensure accountability, actions of
1080-597: The executive and judicial powers of government . Legislatures can exist at different levels of government–national, state/provincial/regional, local, even supranational (such as the European Parliament ). Countries differ as to what extent they grant deliberative assemblies at the subnational law-making power, as opposed to purely administrative responsibilities. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as primary legislation. In addition, legislatures may observe and steer governing actions, with authority to amend
1134-771: The front bench . This practice has been continued by all governments except the Whitlam government . The prime minister's power to select the ministry differs depending on their party. When the Liberal Party and its predecessors (the Nationalist Party and the United Australia Party ) have been in coalition with the National Party or its predecessor the Country Party , the leader of the junior Coalition party has had
SECTION 20
#17328583681111188-462: The royal prerogative , such as the power to declare war and enter into treaties. Finally, there exists certain "nationhood powers", implied from section 61 of the Constitution . These were defined by High Court Justice Anthony Mason , as powers "peculiarly adapted to the government of a nation and which cannot otherwise be carried on for the benefit of the nation". They have been found to include
1242-557: The vice-president of the Executive Council presides at the meeting of the council. Since 1 June 2022, the vice-president has been senator Katy Gallagher . As of 17 August 2024 , there are 16 departments of the Australian Government. Additionally, there are four departments which support the Parliament of Australia : The following corporations are prescribed by Acts of Parliament: As of March 2024 ,
1296-628: The Estates . The oldest surviving legislature is the Icelandic Althing , founded in 930 CE. Democratic legislatures have six major functions: representation, deliberation, legislation, authorizing expenditure, making governments, and oversight. There exist five ways that representation can be achieved in a legislature: One of the major functions of a legislature is to discuss and debate issues of major importance to society. This activity can take place in two forms. In debating legislatures, such as
1350-587: The European assemblies of nobility which the monarchs would have to consult before raising taxes. For this power to be actually effective, the legislature should be able to amend the budget, have an effective committee system, enough time for consideration, as well as access to relevant background information. There are several ways in which the legislature can hold the executive branch (the administration or government) accountable. This can be done through hearings, questioning , interpellations , votes of confidence ,
1404-653: The Federal Executive Council meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the cabinet. All members of the cabinet are members of the Executive Council. A senior member of the cabinet holds the office of vice-president of the Executive Council and acts as presiding officer of the Executive Council in the absence of the governor-general. The cabinet meets not only in Canberra but also in state capitals, most frequently Sydney and Melbourne. Kevin Rudd
1458-574: The agency. The agency is headed by its Coordinator-General, currently Brendan Moon. The National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) was the executive agency to help those affected by natural disasters, including droughts , bushfires and floods . It was formed on 5 May 2021 from the merger of the National Bushfire Recovery Agency and the National Drought and North Queensland Flood Response and Recovery Agency, in response to
1512-419: The budget involved. The members of a legislature are called legislators. In a democracy, legislators are most commonly popularly elected , although indirect election and appointment by the executive are also used, particularly for bicameral legislatures featuring an upper house . The name used to refer to a legislative body varies by country. Common names include: By names: By languages: Though
1566-650: The caucus regained this power in 2013. According to reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald , ministerial positions are allocated by the Left and Right factions proportionally according to their representation in the Parliament. The King is not involved with the day-to-day operations of the government, belonging (according to the Bagehot formulation) to the "dignified" rather than the "efficient" part of government. While
1620-581: The confidence of the lower house, are uncontroversial, others are subject to much greater debate. The most notable example of their use occurring in the Dismissal of 1975. In that case, the Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the prime minister and government due to his conclusion that the government had failed to secure supply. The propriety of the use of the powers during that event remain highly contested. The Federal Executive Council
1674-516: The executive (composed of the cabinet) can essentially pass any laws it wants, as it usually has a majority of legislators behind it, kept in check by the party whip, while committee-based legislatures in continental Europe and those in presidential systems of the Americas have more independence in drafting and amending bills. The origins of the power of the purse which legislatures typically have in passing or denying government budgets goes back to
National Emergency Management Agency (Australia) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1728-464: The executive power of the Commonwealth is formally vested in the monarch, the Constitution requires those powers to be exercisable by a governor-general, appointed by the monarch as their representative (but since the appointing of Sir Isaac Isaacs in 1931, always appointed according to the advice of federal ministers, rather than British ministers). Members of the government do not exercise executive power of their own accord but are instead appointed by
1782-413: The following Corporate Commonwealth entities are prescribed as Government Business Enterprises (GBEs): The following Commonwealth companies are prescribed as GBEs: Legislative power A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country , nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with
1836-472: The formation of committees. Parliaments are usually ensured with upholding the rule of law, verifying that public funds are used accountably and efficiently as well as make government processes transparent and actions so that they can be debated by the public and its representatives. Agora notes that parliamentary systems or political parties in which political leaders can influence or decide which members receive top jobs can lead to passivity amongst members of
1890-537: The government in its executive capacity are subject to scrutiny from parliament. The Australian Government is headquartered in the executive wing of Parliament House , located in the nation's capital, Canberra , in the Australian Capital Territory . The head offices of all the federal departments are located in Canberra, along with Parliament House and the High Court . The name of the government in
1944-487: The government was also motivated by a desire to blur the differences between the Commonwealth and the states in an attempt to increase federal power. The Parliament of Australia website also notes that the name "Australian Government" is preferable in order to avoid confusion with the Commonwealth of Nations and the US federal government by those not familiar with Australia's system of government. This terminology remains preferred by
1998-467: The government. However, the terms Commonwealth Government and federal government are also common. In some contexts, the term "government" refers to all public agencies that exercise the power of the State , whether legislative, executive or judicial. The government's primary role, in its executive capacity, is to implement the laws passed by the parliament. However, laws are frequently drafted according to
2052-495: The governor-general as ministers, formally as the "Queen's [or King's] Ministers of State". As such, while government ministers make most major decisions in cabinet, if those decisions require the formal endorsement of the governor-general in council, those decisions do not have legal force until approved by the Federal Executive Council , which is presided over by the governor-general. Similarly, laws passed by both houses of parliament require royal assent before being enacted, as
2106-420: The interests of the executive branch as the government often also controls the legislative branch. Unlike the other two branches of government, however, membership of the executive is not clearly defined. One definition describes the executive as a pyramid, consisting of three layers. At the top stands the king, as the symbolic apex and formal repository of executive power. Below him lies a second layer made up of
2160-435: The legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a certain number of legislators present to carry out these activities; this is called a quorum . Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are usually delegated to committees made up of
2214-406: The lower house. In some systems, particularly parliamentary systems , the upper house has less power and tends to have a more advisory role, but in others, particularly federal presidential systems , the upper house has equal or even greater power. In federations , the upper house typically represents the federation's component states. This is also the case with the supranational legislature of
National Emergency Management Agency (Australia) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2268-513: The members may be protected by parliamentary immunity or parliamentary privilege , either for all actions the duration of their entire term, or for just those related to their legislative duties. A legislature may debate and vote upon bills as a single unit, or it may be composed of multiple separate assemblies , called by various names including legislative chambers , debate chambers , and houses , which debate and vote separately and have distinct powers. A legislature which operates as
2322-481: The monarch is a constituent part of the Parliament. However, in all these cases, except for certain reserve powers, the King and the governor-general must follow the advice of the prime minister or other ministers in the exercise of his powers. Powers subject to the governor-general’s discretion are known as reserve powers. While certain reserve powers, such as the ability to choose the prime minister most likely to command
2376-444: The outer ministry. Additionally, there are also assistant ministers (formally parliamentary secretaries ), responsible for a specific policy area, reporting directly to a cabinet minister. The cabinet consists of the prime minister and senior ministers and makes most of the important policy decisions of the government. Members of the cabinet are selected by the prime minister and may be added or removed at any time, usually through
2430-407: The party and less challenging of leadership. Agora notes that this phenomenon is acute if the election of a member is dependant on the support of political leadership. In contrast to democratic systems, legislatures under authoritarianism are used to ensure the stability of the power structure by co-opting potential competing interests within the elites, which they achieve by: Each chamber of
2484-457: The power to provide financial stimulus payments to households during a financial crisis and the power to prevent "unlawful non-citizens" from entering the country . Ministers drawn from the Australian parliament form the core of the Australian Government. A subset of these ministers form the cabinet, the de facto highest executive body of the government. Ministers not part of cabinet belong to
2538-410: The prime minister would retain the right to allocate portfolios. This practice was followed until 2007. Between 1907 and 2007, Labor prime ministers exercised a predominant influence over who was elected to Labor ministries, although the leaders of the party factions also exercised considerable influence. However, in 2007 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd , assumed the power to choose the ministry alone. Later,
2592-495: The prime minister, cabinet and other ministers who in practice lead the executive. Finally, the bottom layer includes public servants , police, government departments and independent statutory bodies who directly implement policy and laws. Executive power is also difficult to clearly define. In the British context, it was defined by John Locke as all government power not legislative or judicial in nature. The key distinction
2646-409: The principle of legislative supremacy , which holds that the legislature is the supreme branch of government and cannot be bound by other institutions, such as the judicial branch or a written constitution . Such a system renders the legislature more powerful. In parliamentary and semi-presidential systems of government , the executive is responsible to the legislature, which may remove it with
2700-581: The right to nominate their party's members of the Coalition ministry, and to be consulted by the prime minister on the allocation of their portfolios. When Labor first held office under Chris Watson , Watson assumed the right to choose members of his cabinet. In 1907, however, the party decided that future Labor cabinets would be elected by the members of the Parliamentary Labor Party, the Caucus , and
2754-575: The specific roles for each legislature differ by location, they all aim to serve the same purpose of appointing officials to represent their citizens to determine appropriate legislation for the country. Among the earliest recognised formal legislatures was the Athenian Ecclesia . In the Middle Ages , European monarchs would host assemblies of the nobility, which would later develop into predecessors of modern legislatures. These were often named
SECTION 50
#17328583681112808-532: The support of a majority of the members of the House of Representatives (the lower house) and also includes the departments and other executive bodies that ministers oversee. The current executive government consists of Anthony Albanese and other ministers of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), in office since the 2022 federal election . The prime minister is the head of the federal government and
2862-547: Was in favour of the cabinet meeting in other places, such as major regional cities. There are Commonwealth Parliament Offices in each state capital, with those in Sydney located in 1 Bligh Street . Until 1956 all members of the ministry were members of the cabinet. The growth of the ministry in the 1940s and 1950s made this increasingly impractical, and in 1956 Robert Menzies created a two-tier ministry, with only senior ministers holding cabinet rank, also known within parliament as
2916-508: Was turned into a hexacameral body in 1967. Legislatures vary widely in their size. Among national legislatures , China's National People's Congress is the largest with 2,980 members, while Vatican City 's Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7. Neither legislature is democratically elected: The Pontifical Commission members are appointed by the Pope and the National People's Congress
#110889