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President of the Australian Senate

The President of the Australian Senate is the presiding officer of the Australian Senate, the upper house of the Parliament of Australia. The other presiding officer is the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The Australian Senate occupies an analogous position in the Australian Parliament to the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, on which the Australian Parliament is modelled. But since the presiding officer of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, a position which could not be replicated in Australia, the Constitution of Australia makes a specfic provision for the position of its presiding officer, whereas the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is simply assumed in the Constitution to exist.

Section 17 of the Constitution says:

The Senate shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any other business, choose a senator to be the President of the Senate; and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President. The President shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a senator. He may be removed from office by a vote of the Senate, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the Governor-General.

The President is elected by the Senate in a secret ballot. The Presidency has always been a partisan office and the nominee of the government party has nearly always been elected - although this cannot be guaranteed since the government of the day does not necessarily have a majority in the Senate. The President is assisted by an elected Deputy President. Since 1981, the Australian Democrats have held the balance of power in the Senate. They have maintained a policy of supporting the nominee of the Government for the position of President, and the nominee of the Opposition for the position of Deputy President.

Unlike the Speaker, the President has a deliberative as well as a casting vote. This is because the Senate is in theory a states' house, and depriving the President of a deliberative vote would have robbed one of the states or one of its Senators' votes (in practice the Senate has always been a party house).

Like the Speaker, the President continues to attend party meetings, and at general elections stands as a party candidate. On the other hand, the President does not usually take part in debates in the Senate and does not speak in public on party-political issues. He or she is expected to conduct the business of the Senate in an impartial manner, and generally does so.

The President’s principal duty is to preside over the Senate, although he or she is assisted in this by the Deputy President and a panel of Acting Presidents, who usually preside during routine debates. The occupant of the Chair must maintain order in the Senate, uphold the Standing Orders (rules of procedure) and protect the rights of backbench Senators. The President, in conjunction with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, also administers Parliament House, Canberra, with the assistance of an administrative staff.

The Senate is not as rowdy as most Australian legislative chambers, and the President seldom exercises the disciplinary powers available under Standing Orders.

Presidents of the Senate

(in this table the President's party and state are shown in brackets)