Introduction
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Australian
Federal Parliament, the other being the Senate. It is sometimes called
the 'people's house' or the 'house of government'.
Composition
The House has 150 Members. Each Member represents an electoral division.
The boundaries of these electorates are adjusted from time to time so
that they all contain approximately equal numbers of electors—because
of the distribution of Australia's population they vary greatly in area
(from a few square kilometres to over two million square kilometres).
Members are elected by a system known as preferential voting, under which
voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Each House of Representatives may continue for up to three years, after
which general elections for a new House must be held. Elections are often
held before the end of this period.
The main political parties represented in the House are the Australian
Labor Party, the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of
Australia. In recent years there has also been a number of independent
parties and Members.
Functions
Makes laws—The House's central function and the one which
takes up most of its time is the consideration and passing of new laws
and amendments or changes to existing laws. Any Member can introduce a
proposed law (bill) but most are introduced by the Government. To become
law, bills must be passed by both the House of Representatives and the
Senate. They may start in either house but the majority of bills are introduced
in the House of Representatives.
Determines the Government—After an election the political
party (or coalition of parties) which has the most Members in the House
of Representatives becomes the governing party. Its leader becomes Prime
Minister and other Ministers are appointed from among the party's Members
and Senators. To remain in office a Government must keep the support of
a majority of Members of the House.
Publicises and scrutinises government administration—Debate
of legislation and ministerial policy statements, discussion of matters
of public importance, committee investigations, asking questions of Ministers
(during question time—at 2 pm—Members may ask Ministers questions
without notice on matters relating to their work and responsibilities;
questions can also be asked on notice for written answer).
Represents the people—Members may present petitions from
citizens and raise citizens' concerns and grievances in debate. Members
also raise issues of concern with Ministers and government departments.
Controls government expenditure—The Government cannot collect
taxes or spend money unless allowed by law through the passage of taxation
and appropriation bills. Expenditure is also examined by parliamentary
committees.
Sittings
The normal sitting pattern
for the House extends from February to March, May to June and August to
December. During these periods the House usually meets in blocks of two
sitting weeks followed by two non-sitting weeks. Normally the House sits
from Monday to Thursday each sitting week.
The order of business for each
sitting is set down by the rules of the House (the standing
orders). The largest proportion of time is taken up with debate on
government business—mainly the consideration of bills. On Monday,
'private Members' day', time is reserved for debating reports from parliamentary
committees and business sponsored by both government and non-government
backbenchers.
All proceedings are open to the public.
Committees
The House has a comprehensive system of standing committees. These include:
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investigative committees—These committees carry out inquiries
on matters of public policy or government administration. They take
evidence from the public and report to the House with recommendations
for government action. The system of general purpose standing committees
parallels the functions of government, for example, Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Affairs; Economics, Finance and
Public Administration; Education and Vocational Training; and
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domestic or internal committees—These committees are
concerned with the operation of the House, for example, Procedure,
Privileges, Members' Interests.
There are several joint committees on which both Members and Senators
serve together, for example, the Public Accounts and Audit Committee.
The Chamber
The photograph at left shows the Chamber of the House in action.
At the centre is the Speaker's Chair and the Table of the House. The
two Clerks at the Table advise the Chair and Members about procedure and
record the formal minutes of proceedings. Hansard reporters sit at the
small central table to record the debates. Each Member has his or her
own seat, with government Members to the right of the Speaker and opposition
and other non-government Members to the left. Ministers and senior opposition
Members (the shadow ministry) sit on the facing front benches and speak
from the Table, other Members speak from their places.
With the exception of question time, Members are rarely all present in
the Chamber at the same time, but are engaged in work elsewhere, including
participating in committee meetings and debates in the Main Committee.
Members can watch what is happening in the Chamber at all times from their
offices through the Parliament House internal television system.
Behind the Speaker's Chair at first floor level is the press gallery,
reserved for media representatives. On the other three sides of the Chamber
are the public galleries, which are always open to for visitors.
Diagram of Chamber
History and Role of the Mace
History and Role of the Serjeant at Arms
The Main Committee
The Main Committee provides an additional forum for the second reading
and consideration in detail stages of bills and debate of committee reports
and papers presented to the House. One of the House of Representatives
committee rooms is dedicated to this function and fitted out as a small-scale
Chamber. Its proceedings are also open to the public.
The Speaker
The first action of the House following an election is to elect one of
its Members to be Speaker. The
Speaker presides over the sittings of the House and is responsible for
its administration. The Deputy Speaker and Second Deputy Speaker are also
elected. A panel of other Members, appointed by the Speaker, provides
assistance in presiding over the House and the Main Committee. When in
the Chair these Members are referred to as 'Deputy Speaker'.
Further information
Refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page or
the Infosheets which contain more detailed information about
the House.
Inter-Parliamentary Relations
The Parliamentary Relations Office (PRO) provides advice and support relevant to the conduct of the Parliaments international and regional affairs. It provides general support for inter-parliamentary conferences and incoming and outgoing parliamentary delegations; training support for other parliaments, particularly the smaller parliaments in our region; and advice to the Presiding Officers and members on international parliamentary matters.
The PROs objective is to support external relations for the Parliament with a view to achieving productive and amicable international and regional relationships with other parliaments and parliamentary bodies and organisations.
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