Page 313 - A READY RECKONER

australia*

H.E. Tom Rogers,
Electoral Commissioner of Australia

part i part ii
CoUNtrY ProfiLE LEgisLAtivE sYstEM

Country Name
AUSTRALIA LEGISLATURE

Official Name Structure of National Legislature
The Commonwealth of Australia Bicameral

Government Names of the Houses in vernacular and English
A federation of states, under a constitutional The Senate and the House of Representatives
monarchy represented in government by a
parliamentary democracy Total no. of members in each house elected/
nominated
Capital 76 members of the Senate are elected through
Canberra single transferable vote (STV) proportional
representation system. Members serve 6-year
Currency terms with one-half of state and territory
Australian Dollar membership renewed every 3 years.

Ethnic Groups (with %age population) 151 members of the House of Representatives
Australia is a multicultural society with residents are directly elected in single-seat constituencies
and citizens who identify with ethnic groups from by majority preferential vote; members serve
all over the world terms of up to 3 years. Number of members is
determined by population and is updated based
Date of adoption of Democratic Constitution
1 January 1901 on census data.
Popular House
Language (s)
English is primary language spoken, 30% of Both the Senate and the House of Representatives
Australians speak a language other than English
at home

Literacy Levels
High level of literacy in general population

*Draft. Updated by the respective EMB AU-1 293

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