Year 10 Civics and Citizenship 2025
CC3. Features of Australia’s Political System - Legislature
Legislature
Law-making branch of government.
In Australia, it's the "Parliament" + Governor-General (GG).
Bicameral: two houses
House of Representatives.
Senate
House of Representatives (HoR)
151 "members"; also referred to as the "Lower house."
Members represent electorates of approximately 100,000 people.
Functions: debate, initiate, and amend laws (legislation).
Most laws originate here.
Process: first reading, second reading, third reading, then passed by majority vote.
The Prime Minister (PM) is chosen from this house.
Senate
76 "Senators"; they form the "Upper house."
Functions as the "house of review" and "state’s house."
Composition:
12 Senators per state.
2 Senators per territory.
Senators are elected from multi-member electorates.
Typically, 6 Senators are elected per election.
Functions: debate, initiate, and amend legislation; laws must pass both houses in their final form.
Offers greater minor party representation.
Cabinet
Senior ministers in the executive branch.
Constitution
A set of rules that dictates how an organization (or political system) is run.
Constitutional Court
One half of the top of Indonesia’s judicial branch.
Has power to interpret and apply the Indonesian constitution to cases.
Democracy
A system of government where the people have the power to determine how they will be ruled or managed.
Electorate
A designated geographic area represented by a member of parliament.
Executive
A group of senior politicians who make decisions about how a country is run and enforce laws.
In Australia, it consists of the Governor-General, Prime Minister, and a cabinet of senior ministers.
Government
Synonymous with the "executive".
Can also refer to all three branches of government as a general term.
Governor-General
The King’s representative and Australia’s ceremonial Head of State.
High Court of Australia
The top court in Australia’s judicial branch.
Consists of seven justices, including one chief justice.
House of Representatives
The lower house of Australia’s bicameral parliament.
Consists of 151 members of parliament (MPs), each representing an electorate of approximately 100,000 people.
Judiciary
The courts – also known as the law-interpreting branch of government.
Courts have the power to determine how the law applies to specific cases and apply remedies or sanctions.
Legislation
Laws made by the parliament.
Can be in draft form (a bill) or in force (an act of parliament).
The term "statute" is similar.
Legislature
The law-making branch of government.
See also "parliament."
Liberal Democracy
A form of democracy that emphasizes representation and the rights of the individual.
Examples: the right to vote in elections and to criticize the government.
Liberal Democratic Values
Belief systems shared by liberal democratic societies.
Examples include choosing governments through free and fair elections, rule of law, and the right to dissent, criticize, and hold power accountable.
MPR
The MPR is Indonesia’s bicameral legislature, consisting of the DPR (lower house) and DPD (upper house).
Parliament
A law-making body composed of representatives.
See also "legislature."
President
The head of Indonesia’s executive branch.
Ratification
A legal process that often follows the signing of an international agreement, binding a country to implement the agreement.
Republic
A system of government where the head of state and/or head of government are chosen directly by the people.
Resolution
A formal proposal to adopt a course of action or stance on a particular issue.
Resolutions can be binding or non-binding.
Responsible Government
The idea that a government should be accountable to the parliament and to voters.
Should resign if they fail their duties.
Rule of Law
The principle that the law applies equally to everyone, including those in power.
Senate
The upper house of Australia’s bicameral legislature.
Composed of 76 Senators – 12 for each state and 2 per territory.
Separation of Powers
The principle that political power should be divided between law-making (legislature), law-enforcing (executive), and law-interpreting (judiciary) institutions.
Supreme Court
One half of the top of Indonesia’s judicial branch.
Resolves disputes between Indonesia’s regions and is the highest court of appeal.
Treaty
Written international agreements.
Can be bilateral (between two countries) or multilateral (between more than two).
United Nations
An international organization formed in 1945 to enhance political and economic cooperation between countries.
Success Criteria
Define 'liberal democracy'.
Identify Australia as a liberal democracy and describe its values and features.
Distinguish between 'liberal', 'illiberal', and 'non-democracy' and give examples.
Identify, outline, and evaluate features of illiberal or non-democratic systems.
Values and Liberal Democracies
Values are beliefs that guide behaviors.
Example: valuing honesty leads to telling the truth.
Liberal democratic values are upheld by political systems called liberal democracies.
Liberal democracies share common values, distinguishing them from other political systems.
Classification by Value/Belief Systems
Liberal Democracy
Liberal (Free): Yes
Democratic: Yes
Example: Australia
Illiberal Democracy
Liberal (Free): Partly
Democratic: Yes
Example: Indonesia
Non-Democracy
Liberal (Free): No
Democratic: No
Example: Russia
Democracy vs. Freedom
Consider what democracy and freedom are, whether they're the same, and if one can exist without the other.
Justify your position with evidence/examples.
Source 1: Liberal Democracy in Decline
Source: Abromowitz, M (2017 and 2024). Freedom House World Freedom Report (adapted extract).
Liberal democracy is facing a serious crisis, with values like free/fair elections, freedom to criticize, and the rule of law under assault globally.
After an initial victory of liberal democratic values, they are now weakened.
For 18 years, there has been a decline in these values globally.
Liberal democracies allow people to help set the rules and have a say in their lives, while non-democracies impose arbitrary rules.
The increasing number of non-democracies is troubling.
Young people are losing interest in liberal democratic values due to not experiencing the struggles against non-democratic governments in the 20th Century.
Values of Liberal Democracies
According to the article, liberal democracies embody (share) values like:
The right to choose leaders in free and fair elections.
Freedom to criticize and dissent.
The rule of law.
Difference Between Liberal Democracies and Non-Democracies
According to the same article:
Liberal democracies allow people to help set the rules they must follow and have a say in the direction of their lives and work.
Non-democracies impose arbitrary rules on their citizens while ignoring the rules themselves.
Extension Discussion
Analyze the visual elements of the image, including people, symbols, and events, to determine what it suggests about the state of liberal democracy in the world today.
Freedom House Analysis
Go to https://freedomhouse.org/ to see how Australia compares politically with other countries.
Each country is given a score out of 100.
Status means whether the country is free, partly free or not free.
Country Classification
Classify countries from the table as liberal (free) democracies, illiberal (partly free) democracies, or non-democracies.
Justify your classifications.
Non-Democracy Example
Give an example of a non-democracy from the table.
Non-Democratic Features
Consider the cartoon showing a non-democratic country.
Identify the main features using the word bank:
Secret police
Govt suppression of religion
Youth indoctrination
Personal bodyguards
Historical revisionism
Militarism
Promotion of industry to produce arms
Cult following of Leader
Govt propaganda
Govt control of judiciary
Xenophobia
Govt control of press
Hyper-nationalism
Suppression of political opposition
Dictatorship
Source 2: India and Bollywood as propaganda
Source: Bollywood ‘takeover’: Pro-Modi films swamp Indian voters ahead of election. Al-Jazeera (March 2024)
*Reflect: based on your research for Question 5 (page 16), is India a liberal democracy, illiberal democracy or not a democracy?
India as a Democracy
Reflect on whether India is a liberal democracy, illiberal democracy, or not a democracy based on previous research.
Undemocratic Features in Case Study
Identify at least 3-4 undemocratic features from Question 9 that are also referred to in the case study.
Undemocratic features are also referred to in this case study.
Bollywood ‘takeover’: Pro-Modi films swamp Indian voters ahead of election
At least 10 releases before the election amplify Modi’s political agenda and vilify critics and opponents – sparing not even Mahatma Gandhi.
As India’s nearly one billion voters get ready to pick their national government in general elections between March and May, Prime Minister Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are receiving campaign support from an unusual ally: cinema. A slew of new films, timed with the elections and often backed by major production studios, are relying on storylines that promote Modi and his government’s policies or target rival politicians. Many of these stories re-tell historical events through an anti-Muslim or pro-Hindu lense (Modi’s party, the BJP’s, has a pro-Hindu political agenda). At least 10 such films have either been released recently or are poised to hit theatres and television in this election season. “This is part of a larger attempt to ‘take over’ the Hindi film industry, just as other forms of popular culture have been infiltrated,” said Ira Bhaskar, a retired professor of cinema studies at JNU who also served as a member of the country’s censor board until 2015. Bhaskar was referring to the growing Hindu nationalist narratives found in pop culture forms like music, poetry and books.
Source 3: North Korea and elections
Source: North Koreans vote in “no choice” parliamentary elections. BBC (May 2019)
North Koreans vote in 'no-choice' elections
North Koreans are voting to elect the country's rubber-stamp parliament, the second such election since Kim Jong-un took power. Voting for the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) is mandatory and there's no choice of candidates. Any kind of dissent is unheard of. Turnout is always close to 100% and approval for the governing alliance is unanimous. North Korea is an isolated state, ruled by the Kim family dynasty. Citizens are required to show complete devotion to the family and its current leader. So how does it work? On election day, the entire population aged 17 or older must come out and vote. "As a sign of loyalty you're expected to turn up early, that means there'll likely be long queues," says North Korea analyst Fyodor Tertitskiy, who is based in the South Korean capital Seoul. Once it's your turn, you receive a ballot paper with just one name on it. There's nothing to fill in, no boxes to tick. You take that paper and put it into the ballot box, which is located in the open. You theoretically have the right to cross out that single candidate. But, according to Mr Tertitskiy, doing that would almost certainly mean the secret police go after you and you likely would be declared insane.
Refer to the article to explain why North Korea isn't a democracy, even though it runs elections.
Source 4: Political Oppression in Putin’s Russia
Source: Nerve agents, poison and window falls. Associated Press (February 2024)
Russia's 2024 Presidential Election
Identify who won the March 2024 Russian presidential election.
Evaluating Claims
Evaluate the claim that India, North Korea, and Russia are all liberal democracies because they hold elections.
Use evidence from Sources 2-4 to justify your response.
Nerve agents, poison and window falls. Kremlin foes have been attacked or killed
The attacks range from the exotic — poisoned by drinking polonium-laced tea or touching a deadly nerve agent — to the more mundane of getting shot at close range. Some take a fatal plunge from an open window. Over the years, Kremlin political critics, turncoat spies and investigative journalists have been killed or assaulted in a variety of ways. On Friday, Russian authorities said President Vladimir Putin’s key political challenger, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic prison colony. The details of what happened are unknown; Navalny’s team says it has no official confirmation of his death and Russian authorities say they are establishing why he died. His allies previously accused Russian officials of trying to poison him with a nerve agent in 2020. Assassination attempts against foes of Putin have been common during his nearly quarter century in power. Those close to the victims and the few survivors have blamed Russian authorities, but the Kremlin has routinely denied involvement.
POLITICAL OPPONENTS
In August 2020, Navalny fell ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow. The plane landed in the city of Omsk, where Navalny was hospitalized in a coma. Two days later, he was airlifted to Berlin, where he recovered. His allies almost immediately said he was poisoned, but Russian officials denied it. Labs in Germany, France and Sweden confirmed Navalny was poisoned by a Soviet-era nerve agent known as Novichok, which he reported had been applied to his underwear. Navalny returned to Russia and was convicted last August of extremism and sentenced to 19 years in prison. It was his third conviction with a prison sentence in two years. He said the charges were politically motivated.
Success Criteria
List and describe the main features and institutions that make up Australia’s political system: the legislature, executive and judiciary.
Briefly explain the function of each.
Describe in detail the structure and function of the legislative branch of government.
Baron Charles Louis Montesquieu
(1689-1755) was a French nobleman who had an immense interest in the world and a particular interest in politics and government.
He wrote many books, one of the most famous being book L'Esprit des Lois (The Spirit of Laws 1748).
In this book, ‘Monty’ tried to understand how you could make a political system more democratic.
In 1748 there were no democracies as we would understand them today, although England was seen as the most democratic country in the world, much more so than France which was ruled by an absolute monarch.
He wrote that a nation's freedom depended on the 3 powers of governance—legislative, executive & judicial—each having their own separate institution.
Montesquieu’s ideas have since been widely used in the development of many democratic countries:
The Australian Constitution
The Australian Constitution is the set of rules by which Australia is run.
The first 3 chapters of the Constitution define the 3 branches of government—
The Legislature
Section 51 of the Constitution states that the Parliament has the power to make laws.
The Australian parliament consists of two chambers – the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Executive
Section 61 of the Constitution states that the King, and the Governor-General as his representative, has the power to enforce the law.
The Constitution also explains that the Governor-General is advised by the cabinet:
a group of ministers (including the Prime Minister) who run the country on a day-to-day basis by administering government departments.
The Judiciary
Section 71 of the Constitution gives the High Court of Australia the power to interpret/apply the law.
There are 7 justices (judges), including one Chief Justice.
The High Court has jurisdiction over all cases concerning the interpretation of the constitution, and disputes between states.
They can also hear appeals from courts lower in the hierarchy.
This division is based on the principle of the 'separation of powers'.
Under this principle, the power to govern should be distributed between the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary to avoid any group having all the power.
TOTAL SEPARATION?In Australia, there is not a complete separation between the executive, judiciary and legislature for the following reasons:
The Governor-General (executive) must approve new laws created by the parliament (legislature)
The prime minister and cabinet of ministers (executive) are elected members of the parliament (legislature)
The justices (judges) of the High Court (judiciary) are appointed by the executive
Legislative Function
Identify who in Australia fulfills the legislative function.
Executive Function
Identify who in Australia fulfills the executive function.
Judicial Function
Identify who in Australia fulfills the judicial function.
Separation of Powers Venn Diagram
Use the Venn Diagram below to illustrate the separation of powers in Australia’s political system, by placing the words from the box into the correct circles.
Prime Minister?
Cabinet of Ministers?
Governor-General?
King?
House of Representatives?
Senate?
High Court + other courts?
Functions of the Two Houses
Outline two roles/functions of the House of Representatives.
Outline two roles/functions of the Senate.
House of Representatives
Outline two roles/functions of the House of Representatives.
The Senate
Outline two roles/functions of the Senate.
Comparison
Compare the main features (size, composition, purpose) of the House of Representatives and Senate. State three differences between the two houses.
Governor-General
Refer to the roles of the Governor-General described on page 448. Which role(s) relate to their function as a member of the legislative branch?
Features of Australia’s Representative Parliament
A Constitutional Monarch
A monarch as head of state whose power is limited by law & convention. In Australia the Governor-General exercises this power as the Head of the Executive.
Parliamentary Sovereignty
Parliament is the supreme law-making body. Parliament made law is called statute law. Statute law overrides all court made law, (called ‘common law’) except where the High Court has made a decision on how the Constitution is to be interpreted.
Bicameralism
A parliament with two houses. The upper house, the Senate, to represent the States and act as a house of review. The lower house, the House of Representatives to represent one electorate & is the ‘house of government’ and the ‘people’s house’.
*Discuss: consider these other features of Australia’s parliament in the table below. How might these features relate to our liberal democratic values of choosing government through free and fair elections, freedom to criticise and dissent, and the rule of law?
Three Voting Systems
*Understanding three voting systems: Preferential, Proportional and Plural
Elections
*Use the summary notes on elections below, and your notes from the previous activity, to complete the table on page 31.
Voting Systems
*Voting systems are the way in which votes are counted in an election to determine who will
and who will not enter parliament. The method used to count votes can have a big effect on
the composition of the parliament and so it is a very important issue in any democracy.
There are three main voting systems.
Plural Voting (First Past the Post)
*This is the simplest of all voting systems. It is used to elect members to the UK Parliament
and members of both houses of the US Congress, to name but two countries. It is also used
in local council and shire elections in Western Australia.
*In plural voting the candidate who gets the most votes wins. It does not matter if the
winning candidate gets under 50% of the vote. As long as they have the most votes they
win.
Preferential Voting
*The other main type of majoritarian voting system is preferential voting. This system is used
extensively at both a state/territory and federal.
*In preferential voting a voter is required to number the candidates, in order of preference,
on the ballot paper.
How preferential voting works:
*All the number one votes for each candidate are counted. (These are called first
preference votes.)
*If one candidate has over half the votes, they win the vote and enter the House of
Representatives.
*If no candidate gets over half the votes, then things get quite fiddly!
The candidate with the lowest number of number one votes is eliminated from the
race. These votes are then looked at to see how many times people voted for the
other candidates as number two (these are called second preference votes). These
Proportional Voting
*Proportional voting, or proportional representation as it is also known, is the other major
voting system in use in Australia. It is also widely used in other countries.
In Australia proportional representation is used to elect members to the Senate, the
Legislative Council in WA (and other states/territories) as well as members to both houses
of the Tasmanian parliament.
*Proportional representation works on the principle that the percentage of votes a party gets
is roughly equal to the percentage of seats they get in parliament.So, the Australian Senate has 76 seats. If one political party gets 50% of the vote that means
they get 38 seats.
Elections of the Legislative branch – case study
*TikTok asked to remove footage of vote-countingThe Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), which monitors the integrity of elections in Australia to ensure they are free and fair, was forced to ask social media giant TikTok to remove footage showing scrutineers at work inside polling centres on election day.One of the images uploaded to TikTok, which claims to show volunteers manipulating votes for the House of Representatives. Scrutineers are appointed by political candidates to observe the counting of ballot papers and verify that proper election processes have been followed. The footage uploaded to TikTok claims to show irregularities in the counting process, suggesting vote fraud. The AEC has since debunked these claims, saying that the counting was done on the floor due to a lack of available table space. In another clip seen by journalists, a woman films herself demanding to speak to scrutineers, and can then be seen walking into a counting centre where she argues with staff about the counting process. These efforts are argued to be part of a push to undermine trust in the Australian election by borrowing from unproven allegations in the United States that the 2020 presidential election was compromised by voter fraud.What is the role of the Australian Electoral Commission?
Election Roles
*What is the role of the Australian Electoral Commission?
*What is the role of a scrutineer?
*How does the role of a scrutineer ensure elections are “fair” and “open”?
Executive Government
*What is the role of the Australian Electoral Commission?
*Complete this quiz to test your knowledge of Separation of Powers
*The main features of Australia’s Executive
The Westminster System and Responsible Government
*Complete the chain below by filling in the blanks.
*Australian Health Minister Sussan Ley resigns over expenses scandal
Rule of Law
*Explain what is meant by the “rule of law”.
*Identify and outline any three components of the rule of law.
*Understanding the Rule of Law
*Who is NZYQ?
Explanation: What happens to stateless people in Australia after the NZYQ ruling?
In December 2023 the High Court of Australia ordered the immediate release of the stateless refugee, known as ‘NZYQ’, from immigration detention.What are the facts?
NZYQ was living in Australia on a protection visa as a refugee, fleeing persecution in his home country of Myanmar.
While living in Australia, NZYQ was convicted of a serious crime. He was sent to jail and had served the full duration of his sentence in prison.
After being released, his protection visa was cancelled, and he was sent to an immigration detention centre to await deportation from Australia.
As Australia has signed the refugee convention, it must abide by the principle of nonrefoulment.
Non-refoulment means that Australia cannot send a refugee back to a country where they would suffer harm.
NZYQ was therefore unable to be returned to his home country of Myanmar, because he had a well-founded fear of persecution in Myanmar, where he would be targeted and possibly killed due to his ethnicity.
Australia approached various other countries, including the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada, but all declined to take NZYQ.
Unable to find a country to send him to, the Australian Government kept NZYQ in immigration detention for the next five years.
Due to his circumstances, it is possible that NZYQ would be in immigration detention for the rest of his life.
In December 2023, the High Court unanimously found that because there was ‘no real prospect’ of his removal from Australia ‘becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future’, his detention was unlawful. They therefore found that it was not in the executive’s powers to hold NZYQ: indefinite detention is a form of punishment, and punishment is a role of the judiciary, not the executive.
They ordered his immediate release (and as a consequence, dozens of others in similar circumstances were also released).
In December 2023 the High Court of Australia ordered the immediate release of the stateless refugee, known as ‘NZYQ’, from immigration detention.
Why couldn’t they be sent back to Myanmar?
How did this impact the court’s decision?
How does the court’s decision reinforce the rule of law?
I can describe in detail the main features and functions of Indonesia’s political system
Understanding Indonesia’s Political System from Noteworthy
Who has legislative power?
C/w Parliament which is made up of 2 houses:
House of Representatives (151)
Senate (76)
They create laws (statutes) & represent the people of Australia who voted for them.
Who has executive power?
Aust is a Constitutional Monarchy with a PM [2022 Anthony Albanese] who is Head of Govt, while the GG is the Head of Exec. (In theory the British monarch is Head of State & has executive power exercisable by the GG – David Hurley)
Cabinet (by convention) is part of the Executive
Role: They Administer power; run the govt.; They deal with crises should they occur such as terrorism, natural disasters, Covid, bushfires, world inflation, etc
Who has judicial power? (How many in the highest court & what do they do?)
High Court of Australia which consists of
1 Chief Justice (Stephen Gageler) and 6 justices
They resolve disputes between the C/w & the States, as well as interpreting statutes & the Constitution.
I can explain how Indonesia’s political system functions, with reference to the example of the 2024 Presidential election
Who was the outgoing president of Indonesia in 2024?
Earlier in the course, we learned that liberal democracies all share certain values:
b. freedom to criticise, dissent and hold power accountable
c. the rule of law
How Will Jokowi’s Legacy Impact Indonesia’s Presidential Election? CAN Insider
Use this information, and the 2024 Indonesian Presidential election, to explain why Indonesia is not a liberal democracy. Support your answer with comparisons to Australia.
Outline four values that serve to protect/safeguard democracy in Australia
I can outline the main features of the United Nations
The Formation of the United Nations
one of the principal organs of the UN & is charged with the maintenance of international peace & security.