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35 Separation of Powers

Governing Australia needs lots of power. The Constitution says that this power is divided between three groups of people so they can balance each other. Each group checks the power of the other two. This division of power stops one person or group of people taking over all the power to govern Australia.

The idea of the separation of powers was described by Montesquieu in his L’Esprit des Lois in 1748. He said that a nation’s liberty depended on the separation of the three types of power - legislative, executive and judicial - each having their own separate institution.

Legislative power means the power to make laws and is concentrated in the Parliament. Executive power means the power to implement laws and is given to the government. Judicial power gives the High Court power to decide whether laws are legal according to the Constitution.

Commonwealth of Australia

Executive

Prime Minister and Cabinet

Government Departments

Parliament (Legislature)

House of Representatives and Senate

Functions of Parliament:

Representation

Scrutiny

Formation of government

Legislation

High Court (Judiciary)

Judges make decisions about the Constitution

Separation of powers means that people in one of these three arms should not control the other two arms. The important exception is the Prime Minister and ministers who work in both the executive as well as in the legislature.

PDF icon (this link will take you to a PDF document)Download: 35 Separation of Powers [182KB]

More information

APH icon (this link will take you to a page on the APH website)Parliament an overview: Separation of Powers

http://www.aph.gov.au/parl.htm#seppow

APH icon (this link will take you to a page on the APH website)PDF icon (this link will take you to a PDF document)House of Representatives Infosheet: Australian system of government

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/info/infosheets/is20.pdf

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