Preparing for a new Parliament

In Australia, the federal electoral cycle is determined by the Australian Constitution and the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. The House of Representatives can meet for a maximum of 3 years from the opening of the new Parliament before its members must face re-election. The Prime Minister chooses the date for a federal election. This could be at any time during the 3-year term.

Prorogation of Parliament and dissolution of the House of Representatives

A prorogation is a special announcement that brings the work of Parliament to a close. This British tradition is a formal way to close Parliament and is issued by the Governor-General. A prorogation may occur at any time but nowadays is usually used only before an election is called.

The House of Representatives is then dissolved – brought to an end. The dissolution of the House of Representatives triggers the issuing of writs for the election of new members to the House.

Half-Senate elections—to elect half of the 72 state senators plus the 4 senators representing the 2 territories—are usually held at the same time as elections for the House of Representatives, though they need not be.

The entire Senate is not dissolved, except in the special case of a double dissolution election under section 57 of the Constitution.

Caretaker government

After Parliament is prorogued, bills – proposed laws – and other business before the Senate and the House of Representatives expires, and will need to be reintroduced in the next Parliament. After the House is dissolved, the government becomes a caretaker government and, by tradition, does not make major decisions, except in consultation with the opposition. The sittings of the Senate are stopped but Senate committees may still meet. Parliamentary business can start again once the opening ceremony for the new Parliament has been held.

Opening a new parliament

A new Parliament starts with an opening ceremony that includes some traditional practices borrowed from the British Parliament. One such practice is that the new Parliament is declared open by the Governor-General in the Senate, not the House of Representatives. This is so the Governor-General can attend and deliver a speech.

This tradition dates back to the practice of the British Parliament in which, since the seventeenth century, the monarch has not entered the House of Commons. In Australia, the Governor-General does not enter the House of Representatives.

An important part of the opening ceremony is the swearing-in of all members of the House of Representatives, as well as the 4 senators elected to represent the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. New state senators begin their term of office on 1 July following a half-Senate election. After a double dissolution election, new state senators have their term of office backdated to 1 July before the election.

A modern addition to the opening of a new Parliament is a Welcome to Country ceremony, which was held for the first time in February 2008 before the opening of the 42nd Parliament.