Australia’s system of government is based on the Westminster system inherited from Great Britain. The Australian Constitution brought into existence Federation in 1901 and sets out the rules by which Australia is to be governed. In addition, each State has its own Constitution.  

There are three main types of power: 

• Legislative
• Executive 
• Judicial

Each has its own responsibilities and each, to some extent, is separate from the other. Each also has some power or authority to check over the others. No one branch can control all power in a democratic system. This is referred to as the separation of powers.

The separation of powers is applied strictly at the Commonwealth level due to the structure and wording of the Commonwealth Constitution, particularly in insulating the judiciary from the legislature and executive.  In NSW our basic governmental structures were in place before the Australian Constitution. The separation of powers is less stringent, but remains an accepted practice through convention.

This is the law-making body in our democracy. NSW has a bicameral Parliament that is elected every four years. It is made up of two Houses: 

1. 1. 1. 1. • the Upper House or Legislative Council and
            • the Lower House or Legislative Assembly.

Bills can be introduced in either House of Parliament but must pass both to become an Act (also known as a law).

As well as law-making, Parliament represents the people (through elections) and determines the Government (the party with an elected majority in the Lower House). It also provides an overview, or check, on the activities of the Government.

Watch: An example of a Sitting Day from the 57th Parliament (2019 – 2023) 

Stay tuned for an updated video with the Speaker of the 58th Parliament The Hon. Greg Piper MP.

• Elections for the NSW Parliament are held every four years on the fourth Saturday in March 
• 93 members are elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly, each representing one of the 93 electorates in the state
• Each member is elected for a four year term

• In the Westminster system the Government is formed by the political party that wins the majority of seats in the lower house. The leader of that party is commissioned by the Governor to form the Government. Some members are chosen from the Government to perform special roles as Ministers. Ministers sit on the front bench to the right hand side of the Speaker. Members of the Government who are not Ministers sit on the back bench and are called backbenchers
• The Opposition sits on the left hand side of the Speaker. Shadow Ministers sit opposite them.Members of the Opposition who are not Shadow Ministers sit on the back bench and are also called backbenchers. 
• Members of minor parties or Independents also sit to the left of the Speaker but near the back of the chamber in front of the public galleries. 
• The Speaker presides over the parliamentary sittings of this chamber. His/her role is similar to the chairperson of a meeting who ensures that the rules of debate are followed so that members can represent their constituents. He /She is assisted by the Clerks and the Serjeant-at-Arms who are not elected representatives but expert public servants. 
• The Mace sits on the table symbolising the authority of the Speaker and of the Parliament to make decisions for the people of NSW. 
• Parliamentary sittings are live streamed on the parliament’s website and open to the public. They are also recorded by Hansard reporters and the media can attend and report on proceedings from the press gallery.

Go on a Virtual Tour of the Legislative Assembly Chamber

Currently in NSW the seats in the Legislative Assembly are distributed in the following way: 

Although the Government is formed in the Legislative Assembly, there are also members of the Government in the Legislative Council or Upper House. Some of these Government members are also Ministers. After an election the Government may or may not hold the majority of seats in the Legislative Council. 

More than half, or 21, of the 42 members of the Legislative Council need to support a bill for it to pass. As shown in the diagram below, currently no one party in the Legislative Council has a majority of seats so the Government must negotiate either with the Opposition or with the Minor parties and Independents to pass a Bill.  This gives these members the balance of power as their decision to vote with or against the Government will decide if a Bill is passed.

The word “government” is often used to talk about our whole system of law and decision making. When we add a capital G, we are talking about the “Government” or Executive. This refers to the Premier and Ministers of a State Government or the Prime Minister and Ministers, if we are talking about the Federal Government. 

In Australia and other Westminster style governments, the majority party in the lower house of the Parliament (in New South Wales this is the Legislative Assembly) forms ‘the government’. The members of that party sit in the Chamber to the right of the Speaker and are referred to in parliament as “the Government”. Leading members of Parliament from this majority party become the Ministers, and the chief minister in the state is called the Premier. The Government is made up of the Premier and Ministers. Each Minister is responsible for one or more government department or agency  which actually carries out the activities of government. Members of the government who are not ministers are called backbenchers. They do a range of work for the government, including researching, participating in committees, making speeches and voting on bills. Like all the other members of parliament,  all members of the Government represent their constituents in their electorate.

The responsibilities of the NSW Government include:

• Developing government policy for the state – for example plans for managing schools, hospitals or public transport. 
• Introducing  Bills to parliament to create new  legislation or amend current.  
• Administering the laws passed by Parliament for Government departments and agencies.
• Preparing the Budget, also called an Appropriation Bill. The Government proposes how much money it will need to action the policies that it took to an election. The Parliament must pass the Appropriation Bill before the Government can spend the money and implement the policies. (Find the 2023 Appropriation Bills here and the 2023 – 2024 NSW Budget Papers here.

To use a sporting analogy, Parliament is the whole game and the Government is the team with the most members in the Legislative Assembly. 

The Parliament is made up of all of the members that have been elected to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. The role of the parliament is to represent the people and to make laws. The Parliament also checks up on what the Government is doing. This is called keeping the Government accountable to the people of NSW. 

Government is made up of the Premier and the Ministers, who come from the political party that won the most seats in the Legislative Assembly after an election. The role of Government is to propose some of the ideas that become laws and to put those laws into action. The Government also administers government departments to make sure that all of the State’s services are working properly. 

In NSW (and the other states) the Head of State is the Governor who is appointed by the sovereign on the Premier’s recommendation and represents the Crown in NSW. The Governor-General is the Head of State for Australia. The Governor is part of both the Executive and Legislature of the State, acting on the advice given to them by the Government or Parliament. The Governor can act independently if necessary. The Governor swears in the Premier and Ministry after an election and assents to bills passed by Parliament, making them Laws. The Governor represents NSW at special occasions and acts as patron to community organisations and supports community activities. 

The Governor of NSW Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC

This is made up of independent judges appointed to a system of courts, the highest in NSW is the NSW Supreme Court. The Commonwealth also a system of courts and at the apex of our country’s system is the High Court. 

Judges are appointed by the Executive Government but cannot be removed except by a Parliamentary process. Judges interpret the laws and can even decide that a law passed by the Parliament is unconstitutional. They ensure that the law is applied fairly to all.

Entrance to the NSW Supreme Court, King Street Sydney