Federal Parliament and MPs

Australia's federal Parliament has two Houses - the lower house is called the House of Representatives and the upper house is the Senate.

The House of Representatives has a total of 150 Members. Every voter has one MP in the House of Representatives.

The Senate has 76 Members - 12 for each State and 2 for each of the Territories. Each voter is represented by ALL the Senators in their State or Territory.

Current Composition of the Government
At the 2007 federal election held on 24 November 2007, the Australian Labor Party won the election and Kevin Rudd is the Prime Minister.

House of Representatives - 150 Members:
83 Labor (ALP), 55 Liberal Party, 10 National Party members and 2 Independents.
Click here for Party list of MHRs.

Senate - 76 Senators:
The current Senate took effect on 1 July, 2008.
From 1 July 2008: Australian Greens 5; ALP 32; Family First 1; Independent 1;
Liberal Party 32; National Party/CLP 5. [Senators' List]

This page gives a link to a summary of Parliament information, the Australian Parliament web site, contact details for the Prime Minister and links to obtain details of Members of the House of Representatives and Senators.

Read the article The Australian Parliament (attached below) for an overview of how the federal parliament works (printed in August 2001 Journal).

Get the FREE book Electoral Pocket Book and the federal electoral Boundaries Map from the Australian Electoral Commission by phoning 13 2326 and asking for a copy!
The 2009 edition is now available online - click here. 
It provides lots of information about Australia's electoral system.

The Federal Parliament

Australian Parliament web site

Summary of key information on the parliament:
From the Parliamentary Library website - click here.

The Prime Minister
The PM's website
Contact the Prime Minister - you can send him an email from his home page.

Federal Cabinet
For list of Cabinet Ministers and portfolios (and other Ministers) click here.  

House of Representatives - Members

You need to know which Electorate you are in.
The Australian Electoral Commission has a special webpage called 'Online Enrolment Verification Facility' - just type in your details to find your federal and state electorates and local government information as well.
OR phone 13 23 26 to find out your electorate. (They will also give you MP details.)

Lists of Members - full details
This page contains lists of Members - alphabetically, by Party, by State and by Electorate.

Senate - Senators

Senators' details - this page gives details for all Senators.

You can then choose to see an Alphabetical list or a State List or one by Political Party.
Senators by State (12 for each State, 2 for Territories)
(These details can also be found directly from the federal parliament website.)