Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Introduction

Welcome to the PEO (Parliamentary Education Office) FAQ (frequently asked questions)—a database of over 200 questions, answers and support information.

The FAQ is designed to:

answer many questions about the role, operation and people of the federal Parliament in a quick, clear and concise manner
provide a range of information options including: text explanations, conceptual diagrams, contextual photographs, links to relevant PEO website pages, links to external website pages and direct access to parliamentary definitions.

The FAQ is organised across four major topic areas:

Our Federation—the Australian federation, important people and events in Australian political history, the Australian Constitution and the buildings that have housed the federal Parliament.
Our Parliament—the people and processes of the federal Parliament, Australian representation and law-making, parliamentary committees and more.
Our Government—how Australia is governed including key parliamentary principles, the role of the Prime Minister, executive government, alternative government, the Governor-General, government departments and more.
Our Judiciary—the role of Australian courts in Australian law and more.

The FAQ is suitable for:

primary and secondary students searching for information and images to include in school projects and assignments
tertiary students inquiring into Australian parliamentary democracy and with a need for simple or detailed information
teachers looking for a reliable source of parliamentary information to meet the needs of visual and non-visual learners
members of the public who want an answer to a question!

The FAQ is simple to use:

Choose from one of the four major topic areas on the right e.g. Our Parliament
Choose a sub-topic e.g. 5. How the Parliament Works
Scan the list of questions for your area of interest e.g. What is the Parliament of Australia?
Click on a question to open a new screen containing the answer to the question. Click on links within the answer to go to the Parliamentary Glossary.
Click on More information to expand the information box at the end of each question to view diagrams, photos, to find related information in the PEO website, or to visit other websites (see example and key below).