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Our government: 15. Parliamentary principles

15.1 What is the principle of responsible government?

The principle of responsible government is meant to ensure that executive government acts responsibly (not irresponsibly) and therefore in ways approved by the Australian people.

In Australia’s parliamentary democracy the federal government is drawn from the Parliament. The government is the party, or coalition of parties, supported by a majority of elected members in the lower house (House of Representatives). Executive government (the ministry) is appointed by the government and consists of ministers selected from either the House of Representatives or the Senate. The government may only hold office while it retains the confidence of the lower house. In this way the government is responsible to the Parliament. In turn, members of parliament are representatives of the people and are responsible to the people through the mechanism of elections.

The principle of responsible government is made up of a number of conventions including:

  • The government remains in office as long as it retains the support of the majority in the House of Representatives. This support may be lost if the lower house passes a motion of no confidence or if the governing party loses its majority following a lower house election.
  • The government must have the support of the majority at least once a year when it seeks the approval of the Parliament to raise taxes and spend money.
  • The Parliament is representative and accountable to the people. At elections the Parliament is responsible to the people for their choice, scrutiny and preservation of the prime minister and ministers (executive government).

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15.2 What is the principle of separation of powers?

The Australian Constitution states how Australia is to be governed. The first three chapters of the Constitution define three separate institutions and their respective powers—the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary—and the roles that they are to perform in Australian governance.

Under the principle of separation of powers, power must be distributed to avoid a monopoly of power. The three powers that manage law in Australia should therefore work separately from each other and work within defined areas of responsibility such that no one person belongs to more than one of these bodies and such that each power keeps a check on the actions of the others. History has shown that checks on the use of power are necessary to prevent misuse of power.

Power Role Composition
Parliament The Parliament makes the law The Parliament (also referred to as the legislature) is made up of the members of the two houses of parliament.
Executive Executive government puts new laws into action The Executive is made up of government ministers and public servants.
Judiciary The Judiciary interprets the law The Judiciary is made up of a hierarchy of courts. The High Court is the ‘highest’ court in Australia.

The application of the concept of the separation of powers is not precise in Australia as:

  • the prime minister (a member of the executive) chooses High Court judges (members of the judiciary)
  • ministers (members of the executive) are drawn entirely from the ranks of members and senators (members of the legislature).

High Court judges and ministers are then officially appointed by the Governor-General, as stated in the Australian Constitution (sections 64 and 72). The Constitution does not prevent the Governor-General from seeking advice about these appointments.

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15.3 What is the principle of ministerial responsibility?

The federal government is responsible to the Parliament and to all Australians, and so all ministers are expected to answer questions in parliament about their work and the work of their departments.

The principle of ministerial responsibility underpins the convention that a minister found to be corrupt or incompetent should resign.

Some governments set their own minimum standards of ministerial responsibility. The Hon. John Howard was the first Australian Prime Minister to establish a public ministerial code. The current Prime Minister, the Hon. Kevin Rudd also established a ministerial code of conduct, which he announced after his government's first Cabinet meeting in December 2007. However, since the code of conduct is not a law or a regulation there is nothing to prevent it from being changed. Thus the code is controlled by the Executive itself rather than the Parliament.

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15.4 What is the principle of rule of law?

The principle of the rule of law is that all Australian people including Australian authorities are all equally required to uphold laws and are subject to legal and judicial processes.

There are several hallmarks of this principle.

  1. Laws should be prospective (not introduced after an event has occurred).
  2. Laws should be clearly expressed and in general terms.
  3. Laws should be stable and not change frequently.
  4. Law-making should be guided by open and clear rules.
  5. The Judiciary should be independent and free of influence by governments, private organisations or people.
  6. Natural justice must be observed.
  7. The courts should be easily accessible.
  8. Crime-preventing agencies may not change the law.

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