There are two broad types of appropriation mechanism: annual appropriations, which are the subject of the Appropriation Acts tabled on Budget night and special appropriations, which are found in other legislation. This guide explains further.

This first edition of the Australia Institute's Senate Projections series finds that, on current polling, future elections are likely to return a crossbench that is about as large and divided as the current one.

This research paper outlines the recent history of Senate electoral reform in federal elections, including examining the reasons for the most recent changes to the Senate voting system.

Cory Bernardi's decision to quit the Liberals to start a new conservative party has dominated the start of parliament. 'I fought within the Liberal Party tent to uphold the principles and visions and values that attracted me to the Liberal Party in the first place, and that our grassroots overwhelmingly support', he said. 'But the...

Introduction: Senators and members receive an annual allowance by way of basic salary—$195,130 from 1 July 2014.1 This research paper explains the legislative basis, fixing and linking mechanisms for the allowance. Adjustments to the base salary since 1968 are provided in Table 1 and Graph 1 of the report. Information on the base salary of...