Glossary |
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| Act of Parliament | a body of law passed by the legislature and given royal assent |
| Abandoned | give up all interest in something |
| Abolition | having an end put to the existence or practice of something |
| Accessible | make it easier to use |
| Appropriation Bill | the authorisation by Act of parliament of government expenditure |
| Ballot | the voting process by which a choice is made between candidates or the vote itself |
| Ballot Paper | the paper printed for an election showing the candidate’s names and (where possible) parties which a voter marks to record his or her vote |
| Bicameral | A system characterised by two houses of parliament. The NSW parliament is bicameral with a Legislative Council known as the Upper House and a Legislative Assembly, known as the Lower House. |
| Bill | A legislative document in the form of a proposed Act of Parliament that has not been passed by parliament and has not received Royal assent. In New South Wales, bills require approval by the lower and Upper House and the assent of the Governor. |
| Bill of Rights | a statement of civil and political human rights guaranteeing to a large extent freedom from government interference in matters private and personal to the individual |
| Candidate | a person who is nominated for election to government |
| Championing | fighting for or defending a cause |
| Compromise | the settlement of a dispute by mutual concession |
| Conjunction | the act of joining |
| Contravened | to say something that tells against something else |
| Court injunction | a judicial order issued by the court restraining a person from an act or compelling redress to an injured party |
| Credibility | to be believable |
| Constitution | A statement of the laws governing a society or group. The NSW Constitution establishes the framework for the system of government in the State, for example the two houses of Parliament. |
| Crown | Originally the term Crown referred to the monarch in his or her official governing capacity. In New South Wales the expression is now used in an extended sense as synonymous with the executive arm of government. |
| Deceptive | something that might appear to be correct but may not be actually correct |
| Democracy | government on behalf of the people by their elected representatives |
| Election | the selection by a vote of a person or persons to hold office |
| Electoral Commission | the Australian Electoral Commission was established under the Commonwealth Electoral Act to organise elections and take general responsibility for electoral matters |
| Electoral Commissioner | the statutory office holder who has general responsibility for the electoral matters including the registration and enrolment of electors, the preparation of lists and rolls and the conduct of elections |
| Electoral Office | the NSW Government department responsible for overseeing the conduct of parliamentary, local government, industrial and miscellaneous elections and administering other electoral matters |
| Act of Parliament | The certified list of person eligible to vote in an election. The Australian Electoral Commission maintains these rolls. A person must be registered on the role in order to vote. |
| Electoral Roll | The certified list of person eligible to vote in an election. The Australian Electoral Commission maintains these rolls. A person must be registered on the role in order to vote. |
| Electorate | The population of electors or the region in which the electors live. The electorates have clearly defined boundaries shown on electoral maps. |
| Equitable jurisdiction | the power of a court to administer the rules of equity including the granting of equitable relief such as an injunction |
| Executive | the body of people, members of the governing party or parties, that form policy and control the appropriate government departments and instrumentalities, and who are responsible to parliament for such administration |
| Fledging | young or inexperienced |
| Franchise | the right to vote at elections or referendums |
| Government | The exercise of political authority over the actions and affairs of the people. There are three levels of government in Australia, Federal, State and Local. |
| Home Fund | a scheme initiated by the NSW Government to assist low to middle income earners obtain private finance for the purchase a residential property |
| Human rights |
rights of the individual against the state, including liberty and security of the person, freedom from discrimination and equality before the law |
| Independent | a candidate for election to, or Member of Parliament, who is not a member of a political party |
| Injunction | a court order of an equitable jurisdiction requiring a person to do, or refrain from doing something |
| Legislative Assembly | The Lower House of the NSW State Parliament. It has 99 Members who are elected for a four term year by voters in NSW |
| Labyrinthine | a complicated or confusing arrangement |
| Legislative Assembly | The Lower House of the NSW State Parliament. It has 99 Members who are elected for a four term year by voters in NSW. |
| Legislative Council | The Upper House of Parliament in New South Wales. It has 42 councilors elected for an eight-year term, half of whom are elected at each state General Election. |
| Legislature | the legislative body, incorporating the Crown, which was established in each of the Australian colonies as they achieved self-government during the second half of the 19th century |
| Members of Parliament |
all representatives elected by the people to serve them in Parliament |
| Meticulously | paying careful attention to all the details |
| Multiculturalism | the theory that is beneficial to a society to maintain more than one culture within its structure |
| Negotiated | conferred with others to reach an agreement |
| Ombudsman | A statutory officer responsible for the investigation of action relating to government departments or prescribed authorities. An ombudsman may make a report recommending a department or authority takes certain action or may make a special report to parliament if a department or authority does not respond adequately. |
| Opposition | the party or parties which do not hold sufficient seats in Parliament to form the Government |
| Optional preferential voting | a voting system in which an elector shows by numbers his or her preference for individual candidates but need not show a preference for all candidates listed for the vote to be formal |
| Parliament | The name given to the legislative body made up of the elected representatives of the people, which determine the laws governing the nation or state. The persons or party holding the majority of seats from the government. |
| Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act | an Act to amend the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912 with respect to voting in Legislative Council elections and the registration of political parties; and to make consequential amendments to the Local Government Act 1993 |
| Policy | a social or political goal chosen by a government |
| Political party | An organised group within a common political philosophy which seeks to win and retain public office for itself and its leaders. The party with the greatest numbers in Parliament form the Government. |
| Poll | an election |
| Preferences | votes distributed from one candidate to another until a winner with a majority can be declared |
Preferential vote |
A vote for all candidates in order of preference. Preferences of candidates with the least number of votes are then distributed until one candidate has sufficient votes to be elected. This system of vote counting is used in the NSW Legislative Assembly elections, where a candidate needs an absolute majority to be elected. |
| Primary votes | first preference votes |
| Pro-active | in favour of taking direct action |
| Quota | the proportion or percentage of votes required for a candidate to be elected to Parliament |
| Quota system |
also known as optional preferential voting or more properly proportional representation by a single transferable vote and commonly known as the quota preferential method |
| Referendum | the principle or procedure of referring or submitting measures proposed by the parliament to the vote of the electorate for approval or rejection |
| Reforms | make better by the removal of errors |
| Representative Government |
a system of government which requires members of the parliament (the legislators) to be directly chosen by the people and to represent their electors in parliament |
| Responsible Government | a system of government where the executive arm of government (made up of the Crown and its ministers) is responsible and accountable to the House of Representatives, which is in turn accountable under the concept of representative government to the people |
| Royal Assent | assent in the name of the monarch by the Governor to proposed laws passed by both houses of Parliament |
| Secret Ballot | A vote made in secret. Sometimes called "the Australian ballot". |
| Statutory | pertaining to an Act of Parliament |
| Unicameral | a legislature in which there exists only one house of parliament |
| Upper House | One of the two houses of Parliament in NSW, also known as the Legislative Council. It has 42 councilors elected for an eight-year term, half of whom are elected at each state General Election. |
| Voters/Electors | those entitled to be placed on the electoral roll and vote in an election |
| Westminster system | A system of government originating in Britain, the major characteristics of which are the collective and individual responsibility of ministers to parliament, a head of state who is not also head of government, and a judiciary independent of the executive and legislature.
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