Legal Studies - Governance

Question 1

Within the Commonwealth what are the 2 houses of parliament

Answer 1

House of representatives and Senate (12 for each state, 2 for each territory)

Question 2

What is an electorate

Answer 2

Geographic area containing a number of people (151 in federal, 93 in QLD)

Question 3

What does S51 of the Constitution outline

Answer 3

This section details what power the federal government has to make laws (foreign affairs, immigration, justice, defence, trade, environment)

Question 4

What does S109 of the Constitution outline

Answer 4

This section simply details what happens if there is an inconsistency between federal laws and other jurisdications (state), where FEDERAL TAKES PRECEDENCE

Question 5

What does S128 of the Constitution outline

Answer 5

This section details how to make a change to the Constitution through a process being called a referendum, all Constitutions must be considered ‘living’ documents as they can be changed along with changes in society

Question 6

What does S44 of the Constitution outline

Answer 6

This section is about needing to be an Australian citizen (no dual citizenship) to be a parliament member

Question 7

What does the term taxation mean

Answer 7

The federal government collects ‘lions’ share of the tax revenue, this means they can change how states run as they can withhold tax dollars (blackmail)

Question 8

What is a plebiscite

Answer 8

A plebiscite works in the same way that a referendum does – the difference is that the result is non-binding (meaning that the government doesn’t have to do what society wants)

Question 9

What is a postal vote

Answer 9

Similar to a plebiscite in that it is non-binding
The country is asked a question by mail, and the government gets an answer to a question

Question 10

What are the three parliament groups

Answer 10

To reduce possibility of abuse of power the parliament is split into 3 groups these are: parliament - legislative
executive - executive
judiciary - conditional

Question 11

What members are within Parliament

Answer 11

House of reps (makes law - legislative power)
Senate (reviews laws)
Governor-general (needs their sign off - royal assent)

Question 12

What members are within Executive

Answer 12

Cabinet (Prime Minister and Ministers)
Governor-general
they have the power to put the law into action

Question 13

What members are within judiciary

Answer 13

Courts (judges) - they interpret laws as they come up

Question 14

What are the three levels of Government

Answer 14

Federal (powers set by S51)
State (has their own Constitution)
Local (given power by state government)

Question 15

What is a Bicameral parliament

Answer 15

has two houses - upper and lower, this is how most states and federal governments operate

Question 16

What is a Unicameral parliament

Answer 16

has one house - only in QLD
makes it easier to pass legislation at the cost of less oversight (no house of review) Queensland’s one house is called legsilative assembly

Question 17

What is a Responsible government

Answer 17

a government that is supposed to represent the will of the people, this works by having majority seats to form government

Question 18

What is double majority

Answer 18

When a party has both upper and lower house this is called double majority, and makes passing legislation very easy through parliament.

Question 19

What is balance of power

Answer 19

when a party of independent is in minority but can get the government to deal with them to pass legislation

Question 20

What is minority government

Answer 20

when no one party can win enough seats to win the election outright, they form minority government if they can get enough independents or minor parties to support them.

Question 21

What is the relationship between case law and legislation

Answer 21

legislation ‘trumps’ case law, but legislation can be interpreted by the courts to create a new case law

Question 22

How many types of special courts are there

Answer 22

Family court, Children’s court, Murri Court, Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT)

Question 23

What does family court deal with

Answer 23

federal court that deals with all legal matters relating to family law
- marriages
- granting divorces
- custody matters
- property division
- prenuptial agreements
- de facto relationships (not married but living as if married)

Question 24

what does children courts deal with

Answer 24

state court that deals with all legal matters relating to children (that arent already dealth with in family court)
- youth criminal offences
- adoption
- child protection orders
- non-commerical surrogacy
- NO PUBLIC GALLERY

Question 25

what does murri court deal with

Answer 25

state court that recognises Indigenous Australians to provide a more culturally appropriate alternative - focus is on the reason for offending and rehabilitation - enables for language and cultural issues - punishments are similar to regular court, its the process of engaging that is different

Question 26

what does Administrative Appeals Tribunal Court deal with

Answer 26

federal tribunal that allows for disagreements with government decisions to be solved quicker and less formally than taking the government to court - centrelink - National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) - Child support - Veteran affairs - Immigration decisions

Question 27

What does the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) court deal with

Answer 27

state tribunal that allows for quicker decisions to be made in matters rather than going to court - fence disputes - building disputes - discrimination complaints - residential tenancy disputes - retail shop lease - tree disputes