Australian Parliament THE SENATE

Introduction The Senate is also referred to as the Upper House and is known for its red interior Traditionally seen as the House of checks and balances holding government accountable for their actions in the House of Representatives

Cont: There are 76 Senators in the Upper House. 12 for each Australian state and 2 each for the ACT and Northern Territory. Senators can hold their position for 6 years before they have to contest it again. This is opposed to 3 years for members of the House of Representatives

The role of the Senate Senators have many responsibilities including: delivering speeches, representing the people in their states and territories, considering Ministerial and committee advice and thinking about bills and legislation. Just like the House of Reps, the main role of the Senate is to debate and vote on laws and bills. For a bill to become law, it must pass both Houses of parliament. As previously discussed, most bills are introduced and passed by the Government members in the House of Representatives thanks to the Government’s majority in the lower house. From here, all bills move on to the Senate for voting.

Continued: Due to the proportional representation voting system used to elect Senators, it is rare for the governing party to hold a majority in the Senate as well. As a result, bills passed by the House of Representatives often do not pass through the Senate and into law. Bills not passed through the Senate are sent back to the House of Representatives for the Government to amend before being submitted once again. The fact that the Government rarely holds a majority in the Senate means that the Senate serves an important role scrutinizing the legislation of the Government, this is why it is commonly called the House of checks and balances.

Who are the Senators? Thanks to the different system of voting for the Senate, there is usually a stronger representation of smaller parties and independents in the Senate. This helps provide a greater diversity of viewpoints than the House of Representatives which is usually dominated by members of the Labor and Liberal parties.

Continued: It is a constitutional requirement that all states are represented equally in the Senate regardless of population. This means that unlike the House of Representatives, Senate representation is not proportionate to population. For example, NSW and Tasmania both have 12 seats in the Senate despite the huge difference in population

Seating Arrangements Seating in the Senate is arranged in a U-shape with Government Senators sitting to the right of the President, Opposition Senators sitting to the left, and Independents and minor party Senators sitting in between in an area referred to as the Crossbench. This area is called the Crossbench as these Senators are likely to go either way when voting on bills whereas the Government and Opposition Senators are usually assured to all vote the same way.

Conclusion The Senate is the Upper House of Australian Parliament. Most of the work of Senators is debating legislation and bills passed in the House of Representatives. Bills must pass both Houses to become law. The Government rarely holds a majority in both Houses of parliament so the Senate is seen as important for holding the Government to account. The Senate usually has a number of Independent and minor party members so is able to offer a greater diversity of viewpoints than the House of Representatives.