Political parties

What is a political party?

A political party is an organisation that represents a particular group of people or set of ideas. Australians can form new political parties or choose to join a political party whose ideas and aims they support. Party members can:

• suggest ideas for party policies
• help pre-select – choose – party candidates for local, state and federal elections
• assist with election campaigns.

Parliamentary political parties

Political parties aim to have members elected to the Australian Parliament so they can share their views and contribute to decisions made in Parliament. Political parties who have members elected to Parliament are called parliamentary political parties. Members of parliamentary parties generally work as a team and vote the same way on issues and bills – ideas for new laws.

Major parties

Political parties who have enough members elected to form government or opposition are called major parties.

The Australian Labor Party is Australia’s longest running major party.

Minor parties

Parties that do not have enough members elected to form government or opposition are called minor parties. While minor parties have fewer members than major parties, they can hold the balance of power, along with independents. This means that their vote may affect the outcome of a decision if the government and opposition disagree but do not have enough members to win a vote by themselves.

Coalitions

A coalition is formed when 2 or more political parties agree to work together to create a bigger group. Parties that have formed a coalition generally vote the same way, although each party keeps their own identity and usually holds separate party meetings. Parties only work as a coalition when they have enough ideas and goals in common to be able to work together effectively.

The Liberal Party of Australia and the Nationals have formed the longest-running coalition in the Australian Parliament. Their partnership is often referred to as ‘the Coalition’.

Australian Parliament current numbers.

DPS AUSPIC/Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

Australian Parliament current numbers.

DPS AUSPIC/Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

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Party meetings

During sitting weeks, each parliamentary party has a meeting where they decide how the party will work as a team. In party meetings, members may:

• debate and make decisions about party policies
• discuss how the party will vote on bills or issues in parliament
• decide which party members will give speeches on bills or ask questions during Question Time
• elect positions such as the party leader, ministers and the whips
• sort out any disagreements to make sure party members work and vote together.

These meetings are only for party members and are confidential.

Registering a political party

Anyone can start a political party. However, before a political party can enter a candidate in an election, it must be officially registered with the Australian Electoral Commission. It also must meet certain terms under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, such as having a written constitution and at least 1500 members who are on the electoral roll. The written constitution of a party contains rules about how it works and how it is organised.

How to form a political party.

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

How to form a political party.

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

Description

This graphic shows the steps required to form a political party: name the party and write a party constitution, have at least 1500 members or a member of the Australian Parliament, and apply for registration with the Australian Electoral Commission.

Copyright information

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

You are free to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work.

Attribution – you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Non-commercial – you may not use this work for commercial purposes.

No derivative works – you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

Waiver – any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.