Federal Executive Council (Australia)

Federal Executive Council

Parliament House
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Australia
Council overview
Formed1901
JurisdictionCommonwealth of Australia
HeadquartersParliament House, Canberra
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 executive councils in other Commonwealth realms, and is similar to the privy councils of Canada and the United Kingdom (although unlike the UK privy council, the Leader of the Opposition is not typically a member).[4]

  1. ^ "Federal Executive Council Handbook 2021". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 10 March 2021. ISBN 978-1-925364-53-8. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  2. ^ Commonwealth of Australia. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2021). Federal Executive Council Handbook 2021 (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. 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.
  3. ^ a b "Democracy in Australia – Australia's political system" (PDF). Australian Collaboration. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b Hamer, David. "The executive government". Department of the Senate (Australia). Retrieved 25 January 2014.

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