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About Government
Three levels of Government
How the NSW Government Works
- Elections
- A government is formed
- Structure of Government
- Ministers and their portfolios
- Departments and agencies
Three levels of Government
In Australia there are three levels of government.
- Federal
- State
- Local
You probably hear a lot about 'government' on the news but it's not easy to know which level they are talking about.
The responsibility for some services is shared between two or more levels of government.
Federal Government
If you heard a story about foreign affairs, trade or defence it was referring to the Federal Government. It is responsible for national affairs and these responsibilities are stated in the Australian Constitution of 1901.
It does however deal with areas like health and education which are services that are mostly delivered by the states
State Government
You might have heard the Premier on the news talking about schools or police. These are just two areas under the responsibility of state governments. They look after all things not listed as a Federal Government responsibility in the Australian Constitution.
Some other areas of state government responsibility include hospitals, water, roads, ambulance, gas, electricity, vehicle registrations, fishing licences, trains, buses and stadium development.
Local Government
Your local newspaper may have reported on a new playground in the park. This is an example of a local government responsibility, known also as your local council. Their power is controlled by acts of state parliament. There are about 170 local council areas in NSW. These are made up of a group of suburbs, a town, a town and its surrounding countryside or a rural area.
Local government is concerned with matters close to your home like playing fields, libraries, garbage collection and recycling, deciding what sorts of buildings can be put up in different parts of the town and dog registrations.
Activities
Do you know which level of Government is being referred to in these news headlines?
- The Minister announced today that NSW residents could soon move towards voluntary water restrictions as storage levels head towards worrying low levels.
- Government yesterday came under pressure from legal experts to water down a controversial bill giving Australian Security Intelligence Organisation tougher powers to combat terrorism.
- Councils have warned that they'll crack down on cat owners who haven't registered their moggie by the end of the month.
- People who fish on the far north coast are set to benefit from the Government's latest release of 5,000 Australian bass into Toonumbar Dam, near Kyogle, the Minister for Fisheries said today.
Next to each service list what level of Government is primarily responsible for it
- Money
- Medicare
- Buses
- Hospitals
- Bus stops
- Libraries
- Planning laws
- Footpaths
- School funding
- Local kindergartens
- State development
- Trade
- Electricity
How the NSW Government Works
The NSW Government is made up of people who are elected by people who live in NSW to look after their interests and make laws for the good of NSW. How does this all happen?
The election
In NSW, elections are held on the fourth Saturday in March every four years.
If you're 18 years old and an Australian citizen you have to register on the electoral role and vote in government elections. This is called compulsory voting – it was introduced in 1924 and first used in the 1925 elections. People who don't vote get fined.
Your vote is a secret – you don't put your name on the voting form (referred to as the ballot paper) and when you have filled it in, you fold it up and put it in an official box called a ballot box.
This type of voting is called a secret ballot and it was introduced in 1858.
There are currently 93 separate electorates in NSW. When a person votes they choose a candidate (a person running for election) within their own electorate.
The winners - a Government is formed
If a candidate wins their electorate, also know as a 'seat' they are now a Member of Parliament – we sometimes call them an MP for short.
The political party that wins the most seats is called the Government.
Up to 20 Ministers are selected from these Members of Parliament (MPs), including the leader of the State Government, the Premier. They form the Executive which is also called the Cabinet or Ministry.
Structure of Government
There are three main branches or elements of Government. The Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. No one branch can control all power in a democratic system. This is referred to as the Separation of Powers.
The Executive makes all major government decisions on policy directions or spending needed to be approved by all of the Executive.
The Legislature is the law making body which is made up of the upper and lower house, together with the Governor. It also represents the people through elections.
The Judiciary is made up of independent judges appointed to ensure the law is applied fairly to all.
Ministers are given 'portfolios'
The Premier and Ministers are given 'portfolios' like the environment, policing, health, technology or education.
A portfolio includes government departments and agencies that are responsible to their Minister for funding and decisions that will affect the State.
The boss of a Department is called a Director-General, also known as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A number of Directors-General could report to the one Minister.
For example, the Directors-General of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and the Department of Education and Training both report to the Minister for Education and Training, and Aboriginal Affairs, and this Minister represents these agencies in Parliament, and in Cabinet.
Government departments and agencies
Government departments and agencies are also referred to as the public service or the public sector. People who work in the public sector are called public servants.
There are currently over 130 public sector agencies, and they employ over 300,000 people across the State.
This includes big departments like NSW Health and the Department of Education and Training as well as smaller, but important agencies, like the Privacy Commission.
Corporations such as Port Kembla Ports and Sydney Water operate as private businesses, but pay profits to the State, and are called Public Trading Enterprises.
Together, these agencies and the many public servants such as teachers, doctors and engineers working in them, serve the people of NSW and provide high quality services to the millions of citizens of this State.
All of these agencies are answerable to their CEO's, their Minister, the Cabinet, and eventually, though your elected representatives in Parliament, to you.