Overview of government
This is a segment of Lander & Rogers’ Guide to Doing Business in Australia.
Australia is a democracy with three levels of government, each with its own responsibilities:
- federal;
- state and territory (six state governments and two self-governing territories); and
- local.
Each federal, state, and territory level of government has three arms — a legislature responsible for passing new laws, an executive responsible for carrying out the laws, and a judiciary responsible for interpreting and enforcing laws.
The division of power between federal and state governments is laid out in the Australian Constitution.
Read our comprehensive guide to doing business in Australia in our downloadable Guide to Doing Business in Australia (PDF).