Levels of Government

Federal Parliament

The Constitution established a—federal—Parliament. The 227 members —76 in the Senate and 151 in the House of Representatives—are responsible for making federal laws.

Sections 51 and 52 of the Constitution describe the law-making powers of the federal Parliament. Section 51 lists 39 areas over which the federal Parliament has legislative—law-making—power. These include:

international and  trade and commerce
defence
postal and telecommunications services
banking and insurance
foreign policy
citizenship
taxation
pensions
census and statistics
welfare payments
currency
Medicare
national employment conditions
marriage and divorce
immigration

State and territory parliaments make laws that are enforced within their state or territory. By defining federal powers, the Constitution reserved—left—most other law-making powers to the states. These are called residual powers. As a rule, if it is not listed in sections 51 and 52 of the Constitution, it is an area of state responsibility. State laws relate to matters that are primarily of state interest such as:

schools
hospitals
roads and railways
public transport
utilities such as electricity and water supply
mining
agriculture
forests
community services
consumer affairs
police
prisons
ambulance services

Councils
There are over 500 local government bodies across . They are often called councils, municipalities or shires. Local governments consist of 2 groups who serve the needs of local communities:

elected members, who normally have 4-year terms
staff who work for the council.
On average each council has 9 elected members who are usually called councillors or aldermen, while the chair or head of the council is usually called the mayor or president. These smaller legislative bodies make by-laws about local matters and provide services. For example, councils are responsible for:

local roads, footpaths, cycle ways, street signage and lighting
waste management, including rubbish collection and recycling
parking
recreational facilities such as parks, sports fields and swimming pools
cultural facilities, including libraries, art galleries and museums
services such as childcare and aged care
sewerage
town planning
building approvals and inspections
land and coast care programs
pet control.
One of the main tasks of local government is to regulate—manage—services and activities. For example, councils are responsible for traffic lights, and dog and cat registration. These tasks would be difficult for a state government to manage because they are local issues


Federal State and territory Local
The federal government raises money to run the country by collecting taxes on incomes, goods and services, and company profits, and spends it on national matters: for example, trade, defence and immigration. State and territory governments also raise money from taxes but receive more than half their money from the federal government and spend it on state and territory matters: for example, schools, housing, hospitals, roads and railways, police and ambulance services. Local councils collect taxes—rates— from all local property owners and receive grants from federal, state and territory governments, and spend this on local matters: for example, town planning, rubbish collection, water and sewerage, local roads and pet control.