Living in or travelling to Australia and need to understand the government? Then this is the set for you.

Australian Government Vocabulary

This is the group of politicians who make laws for the whole country.

Australia is divided into 6 states and 2 territories. These are the governments which govern these areas.

The State Government/The Territory Government

Australia's cities and regions are governed by local councils

The Governor-General is the Queen's representative in the Federal Government, and decides whether to approve new legislation. He can also fire the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister is the leader of the political party which won the Federal election. Australians do not vote for the Prime Minister, but for the political party.

The Premier is the leader of the State Government. The Chief Minister is the leader of the Territory Government.

A department is an administrative group responsible for a certain area of governance. For example, the Department of Education, or the Department of the Environment.

The Minister is responsible for running a government department. Some departments have more than one minister, in addition to assistant ministers. All ministers are serving politicians.

This is the department which grants visas for travel and study.

This is the department which represents Australia overseas.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Treasury is responsible for creating economic forecasts.

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury)

The treasurer is responsible for creating the budget. The Federal Government budget is delivered in May every year.

The AEC is responsible for ensuring all elections are run effectively and transparently.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)

In Australia, all citizens are required to vote by law for Federal, State/Territory and local council elections.

This is the department which is responsible for overseeing the national broadcasters

The ABC is the Federal Government's national broadcaster. It broadcasts in English.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

SBS is the Federal Government's second national broadcaster and mostly delivers news in languages other than English.

This is Australia's centre left political party and it currently governs Australia.

The Coalition is Australia's centre right political party and is currently in opposition.

The Greens are Australia's most progressive mainstream party

One Nation is Australia's most conservative mainstream party

The Two Party System refers to the fact that the ALP and Coalition are Australia's only parties that hold major influence and win elections.