Federal Governance

The Commonwealth of Australia was established as a Constitutional Monarchy. The Australian Constitution defines the rules that guide how Australia should be governed and created a 'federal' system of government where powers are divided between a central government and the individual states.

Under Australia’s federal system, specific areas of legislative power are granted to the Commonwealth Government, including:

• taxation
• defence
• foreign affairs
• postal and telecommunications services.

The states have legislative power over all other matters, including:

• police
• hospitals
• education
• public transport.

The Commonwealth Government, known also as the Australian Government or the Federal Government, is divided into three sections:

• the legislature
• the executive
• the judiciary.