Research and Education
The Senate is one of the two houses of the Australian Federal Parliament. It consists of 76 senators, twelve from each of the six states and two from each of the mainland territories. It shares the power to make laws with the other House of Parliament, the House of Representatives. The Senate is elected by proportional representation, so that its composition closely reflects the voting pattern of the electors.
Statistics on Senate activities and summaries of legislation and other business conducted by the Senate.
This series of information sheets aims to give a basic introduction to the Senate and its work.
Papers in this series include the texts of Senate Occasional Lectures and other papers on parliamentary and governance issues.
Includes papers prepared for the Parliamentary Studies Centre, Australian National University; and papers by former Clerk of the Senate, Harry Evans.
This major study of the history and operations of the Australian Senate covers a range of topics including the design and operation of Australia’s system of government, an analysis of the confrontation between the Senate and the House of Representatives in 1975, proposals for parliamentary reform, the republic debate, minority parties and the balance of power, mandate theory, accountability and responsible government.
This work provides a detailed and systematic comparative analysis of the powers and procedures of twenty legislatures in Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
The Parliamentary Education Office provides parliamentary education services to schools, teachers and students by teaching how parliament works through experiential learning programs, producing resources and publications and running a comprehensive, interactive website with resources for all ages and levels of knowledge.
Transcripts of the 1890 Australasian Federation Conference and the Australasian Federal Conventions of 1897 and 1898 which were attended by representatives of the colonies to draft the Australian Constitution.