Federal Executive Council (Australia)
Commonwealth of Australia | |
Headquarters | Parliament House, Canberra |
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Council executive |
The Federal Executive Council is a statutory body established by section 62 of the Australian Constitution to advise the Governor-General of Australia,[1][2] on the matters of the federal government. The council comprises, at least notionally, all current and former Commonwealth ministers and assistant ministers. As the Governor-General is bound by convention to follow the advice of the Executive Council on almost all occasions, the Executive Council has de jure executive power.[3] In practice, this power is used to legally enact the decisions already made by Federal Cabinet, due to the practices of the Westminster system making the cabinet a de jure authority in its own right.[3][4]
There are some laws that specifically require decisions or actions to be made by the ‘Governor-General in Council’, which means that they must be effected by the Governor-General in the presence and with the authority of the Executive Council, as opposed to by a minister acting alone. The matters that are typically required to be dealt with by the Governor-General in Council include:
- the making of regulations
- appointing, renewing and removing statutory officers
- appointing judges
- determining the appropriate use of Crown land
- issuing proclamations.
The Australian Federal Executive Council is the equivalent of
Composition
The Australian Federal Executive Council formally consists of all current and former Commonwealth Ministers and Assistant Ministers (previously called
The Governor-General presides over meetings of the Executive Council but is not a member.[2] A member of the Cabinet is appointed to hold the position of Vice-President of the Executive Council to act as presiding officer of the Executive Council in the absence of the Governor-General,[6] at no additional salary or allowance. However, the vice-president cannot sign Executive Council documents on behalf of the Governor-General.
The Governor-General has the power to dismiss any member of the Executive Council, but that power is rarely exercised in practice. It might be exercised if, hypothetically, a minister or former minister were convicted of a serious criminal offence. One notable case was that of the Queensland Senator
Meetings
Meetings of the Executive Council do not require the Governor-General's attendance, but the Governor-General must be notified of the meeting in order for it to be valid. A quorum for meetings is the Governor-General and two serving ministers or assistant ministers. If the Governor-General is not in attendance, quorum is the vice-president and two serving ministers or assistant ministers. In the absence of the vice-president, quorum is three ministers, one of whom, a senior minister, will preside. In practice, meetings will only be attended by a small number of Councillors rather than the full Cabinet.[2]
Most of the powers vested in the Governor-General, such as appointments and the
An example of a Federal Executive Council meeting which the Governor-General presided over was the meeting on 11 September 2022, when the Executive Council advised the Governor-General David Hurley to proclaim Charles III as the new head of state of Australia.[8][9] The proclamation of Charles III was an example of a power exercisable only by the Governor-General in Council.
See also
- Executive Council (Commonwealth countries)
References
- ISBN 978-1-925364-53-8. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-925364-53-8. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Text may be copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)licence.
- ^ a b "Democracy in Australia – Australia's political system" (PDF). Australian Collaboration. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ a b Hamer, David. "The executive government". Department of the Senate (Australia). Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ^ "Chapter II – The Executive Government". Constitution of Australia. Office of Parliamentary Counsel (Australia). Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- Government of Australia. June 2005. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 July 2007. Retrieved 7 July 2007.
- ^ Gavin Souter, Acts of Parliament, p. 624
- ^ "VIDEO: Federal Executive Council meets ahead of Proclamation of King Charles III". ABC News. 11 September 2022.
- ^ "Nation to honour Queen as King proclaimed". Canberra Times. 11 September 2022.