U4AOS1Topic 1: Roles of Vic/Cth parliament in law-making

The Commonwealth Parliament is comprised of:

1. The House of Representatives (lower house).
2. The Senate (upper house).
3. The Governor-General.

Note:

1. Please do NOT shorten the name of the 'House of Representatives' to HoR. This is WRONG and is VERY MUCH DISLIKED BY VCAA.

Preface:

1. The dot point explicitly mentions knowing the 'roles' of both the Victorian and Commonwealth Parliament, but I believe it's very good practice to know general information about the Parliament's because it ties into the roles of them and the rest of this area of study (this will make much more sense later).

Commonwealth Parliament:

The House of Representatives:

1. Is known as the 'Lower House' of the Commonwealth Parliament.
2. Is composed of 151 members who serve a term of at most, three years, before re-election. These 151 members represent 151 geographical electorates in the entirety of Australia.
3. The government of the day sits in the House of Representative. That is, the political party with the majority of seats in the House of Representatives forms government. Thus, this house is commonly referred to as the 'house of the people'.

The roles of the House of Representatives in law-making:

1. To represent the people in law making - the House of Representatives has a vital role in upholding the representative nature of government. The members of the House of Representative are directly elected to represent the people and are therefore given authority to act on behalf of the people. As each member of the House of Representatives represents a specific electorate, they often receive correspondence from their electorate regarding certain matters. If the members of the House of Representative fail to adequately represent the views and values of the people within their electorate, they risk being voted out of office at the next election.
2. Initiate and make laws - the House of Representatives has the primary role/function of initiating new legislation and this is the role that takes up most of its time. The process of initiating, debating upon and passing bills is a long and complex process. New laws are constantly being introduced and current legislation is often amended or altered to ensure a functioning society. The process of initiating new legislation includes bills that amend or change existing law.
3. Determine the government - After an election has occurred, the political party (or coalition of parties) that forms the party with the most amount of seats in the House of Representatives forms government. This matters as most pieces of legislation are introduced in the lower house by government ministers and are therefore more likely to reflect government policy and mandates in the legislations introduced.
4. Act as a house of review/scrutinise legislation - In the rare instances in which the Senate introduces and passes a bill, the House of Representatives will therefore act as a house of review. This entails that members of the House of Representatives will scrutinise the proposed legislation, which may potentially result in amendments to the bill. If the House of Representatives passes the proposed legislation, it will be sent off to the Governor-General for royal assent.
5. Scrutinise government administration - The legal principle of 'responsible government' is directly upheld as ministers, which are members of parliament, are expected to be held accountable for the decisions they make in relation to the policies and actions they advocate for. Specifically, members of parliament have the ability to question ministers during question time. The decisions and actions of the government can also be invested and scrutinised through committees.

The Senate:

1. Is known as the 'Upper House' of the Commonwealth Parliament.
2. Is composed of 76 members who serve a term of six years before requiring re-election. These 76 members represent and serve a state or territory. All states have 12 individuals elected to represent and serve their states. All territories have 2 individuals elected to represent their territory.
3. Is commonly known as the 'states' house' given that each of the states have equal representation. I.e. small states like Victoria, which has a smaller population than NSW, still have the same amount of individuals elected to represent their state in the Senate.

The roles of the Senate in law-making

1. Act as a house of review - As most bills are initiated within the lower house, the Senate therefore has the role of reviewing the bills that has already passed through the House of Representatives. That is, the Senate will rigorously scrutinise the bill and may therefore pass a proposed legislation without amendment, pass it with amendments or reject it entirely. The Senate therefore acts as an important check on government in law-making.
2. Allow for equal representation of the states - As previously mentioned, each state has the same amount of senators selected to represent their state. That is, regardless of population density or size, the states with a greater population do not have a greater amount of representation than the states with a relatively smaller population. This is mentioned specifically within section 7 of the Constitution that mandates that the Senate should have equal representation from each state, regardless of its size or population, to protect the interests of the states (in particular, the smaller ones).
3. Initiate new legislation - In some rare instances, the Senate may introduce and pass bills through the upper house. Though money bills can only originate in the lower house.

The Victorian parliament is divided into two houses:

1. The legislative assembly (lower house).
2. The legislative council (upper house).

Victorian Parliament:

The Legislative Assembly:

1. Known as the 'lower house' of the Victorian Parliament.
2. Has 88 elected members of Parliament from across Victoria. Each of these individuals represents an electoral district and serve a four-year term.
3. The political party that possesses the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly forms the government. The leader of this party becomes the Premier of the state. As of March 2025, the current Premier (since 2023) is Jacinta Allen who is the leader of the Victorian Labour Party.

The role of the Legislative Assembly in law-making:

1. Initiate and pass bills - Similar to the role of the House of Representatives in the Commonwealth Parliament, the lower house of the Victorian Parliament has the main function to initiate new law. This takes up most of its time as the process of initiating, debating upon, and passing proposed bills is a complex and meticulous process.
2. Form government - The political party (or coalition of parties) with the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly forms government. Therefore, most bills are initiated in the lower house in the form of government bills, that is reflective of the policies enacted by the Premier of Victoria (the leader of the party that forms government) and senior ministers.
3. Represent the people - Members of the Legislative Assembly serve to represent their specific electoral district. As there are 88 electoral districts, each district elects one member to be representative of the districts' views and values within the Legislative Assembly. If not, they risk being voted out at the next election. The risk of voter backlash serves to keep the members of the Legislative Assembly accountable.
4. Act as a house of review - In the rare instance in which a proposed bill has been introduced and passed through the Legislative Council (upper house), the role of the Legislative Council (lower house) is to therefore act as a house of review by debating upon the proposed bill. If the bill successfully passes through both the lower house and the upper house, it will then be sent to the Governor of Victoria for royal assent.

The Legislative Council:

1. Known as the 'upper house' of the Victorian Parliament.
2. Has 40 elected members from across Victoria who each serve a term of four years. For the purpose of electing these members, Victoria is divided into eight main regions (which are comprised of 11 electoral districts). From each of these eight regions, five members are elected into the Legislative Council.

The role of the Legislative Council in law-making:

1. Act as a house of review - This is a major role of the Legislative Council (upper house) in law-making as most bills are initiated within the Legislative Assembly (lower house). After a bill has been passed through the lower house, the upper house has the role of scrutinising, debating and, occasionally, amending or rejecting the bill entirely. This serves as an important check in the law-making process.
2. Initiate and pass bills - Similar to the Senate, the upper house can also initiate and pass bills but it does not happen as often as the Legislative Assembly. Though for money bills, only the lower house can introduce them.
3. Scrutinise government administration - During question time, ministers who are members of the Legislative Council can be questioned by the political party that forms the opposition concerning matters related to the government's policies and proposed legislations. The committee process allows for government decisions to be criticised and scrutinised.