The Australian Parliament

The yarn

• The Australian Government is also called the Federal Government or the Commonwealth Government. It's made up of members of the Australian Parliament, which has 2 Houses.
• The House of Representatives is also called the Lower House or the People's House. Australia is divided into federal electorates, and MPs represent the people in their electorate. There are over 150 members.
• The number of MPs for each state and territory is based on the number of people living there.
• The Senate is also called the Upper House, the House of Review or the States' House. There are 76 senators in total.
• All states are equally represented in the Senate regardless of size or population: each state elects 12 senators, and the ACT and NT elect 2 senators each.
• Both Houses consider, debate and vote on new laws or changes to laws, and discuss matters of national importance.