Australian Senate

Uncommon card · No. 89940

The Senate is a chamber of the bicameral Parliament of Australia; it is the upper house, with the lower house being the House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia as well as federal legislation and constitutional convention. There are a total of 76 senators: 12 are elected from each of the six Australian states, regardless of population, and 2 each representing the Australian Capital Territory (including the Jervis Bay Territory and Norfolk Island) and the Northern Territory (including the Australian Indian Ocean Territories). Senators are popularly elected under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation in state-wide and territory-wide districts. Section 24 of the Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall have, as near as practicable, twice as many members as the Senate. The constitution grants the Senate nearly equivalent powers to the House, with the exception...

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