Charters of Our Nation

National Archives of Australia website

Charters of Our Nation is a permanent exhibition at the National Archives of Australia (NAA) that brings together seven key documents in Australia's history, including our national 'birth certificates'.

Federation Gateway

The National Library of Australia's Federation Gateway has been created to assist you to locate a wide variety of materials like books, web sites, pictures and manuscripts relating to the Federation of Australia.

History and Structure of Government

History

The Commonwealth of Australia was established on 1 January 1901. The Constitution of the new Commonwealth had been drawn up by various contemporaries of colonial parliamentarians during the 1890s. It was endorsed by the people at referendums and embodied in an Act of the British Parliament in 1900, which authorised Queen Victoria to proclaim the establishment of federation.

Prior to 1901, the system of government in Australia had evolved progressively, from the time when the country had been proclaimed as a British possession in 1788, to the point where it comprised a collection of six self-governing British colonies, effectively under the control of the United Kingdom.

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Structure

There are three levels of government in Australia:

  • The Commonwealth Government, also known as the Australian Government, is responsible for laws which effect Australians in the areas of Commonwealth responsibility, gives authority for the Federal Executive Government and is set up and described by the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.
  • State and Territory governments, which are responsible for laws the Australian Constitution leaves to the states and territories or the Commonwealth has given to the states and territories.
  • Local government, which has the power to make by-laws and is responsible for local infrastructure and services including planning and development, roads, waste disposal and some community services.

Both the Commonwealth and State systems of government derive from the British Westminster system. Many features of the Australian Constitution however, including the federal structure, were also influenced by the Constitution of the United States of America. Federalism divides power between two levels of government - that is, the Commonwealth and the States and Territories. Each government, at each level, has a parliament.

Under the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, the legislative power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Parliament of the Commonwealth, consisting of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Queen is represented in Australia by the Governor-General.

At the State and Territory level, a legislature, executive government and judiciary are responsible for matters specifically relevant to the states and territories.

Approximately 730 local government bodies operate in Australia at the city, town, municipal and shire level.