The Parliament of Australia is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
House of Representatives[]
The House of Representatives consists of 200 elected members.
Membership[]
According to the Australian constitution the number of MHR's should be double the number of senators, and as the size of the senate has increased, so has the size of the House of Representatives
Election[]
Members of the House of Representatives are elected by a First Past the Post system on a constituency basis. All federal parliamentary elections must take place on a Saturday.
Senate[]
The Senate consists of 100 elected members.
Membership[]
The constitution originally provided for three senators from each of the original six states, plus one additional senator from the Northern Territory (19 Senators in Total). However the constitution provides for parliament to increase the size of the senate, providing that each State has equal representation and that the size of the House of Representatives is also increased.
There are currently 100 senators, 14 from each State, and 2 from the Australian Capital Territory.