What is a session of parliament?

The Governor-General sits in the President of the Senate's chair in the Senate for the opening of Parliament.

The Governor-General delivers his opening of Parliament address.

Penny Bradfield/DPS Auspic

The Governor-General delivers his opening of Parliament address.

The Governor-General sits in the President of the Senate's chair in the Senate for the opening of Parliament.

Penny Bradfield/DPS Auspic

Description

The end of a T-shaped table is shown with a number of people in suits sitting around it. There is a raised platform with a man sitting in a large wooden chair speaking into a microphone. A woman is sitting in a high backed chair to the left of the man speaking. Three people stand behind the chairs under a wood and metal representation of the Australian coat of arms.

Permission should be sought from DPS AUSPIC for third-party or commercial uses of this image. To contact DPS AUSPIC email: auspic@aph.gov.au or phone: 02 6277 3342.

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The period in which the Australian Parliament operates between federal elections is called a parliamentary term. Each term of Parliament may then be divided into sessions.

A session of Parliament starts on the first sitting day following a federal election and ends when the Parliament is prorogued – formally closed – or the House of Representatives is dissolved – ended – for an election. The Governor-General acts on the advice of the Prime Minister to prorogue or dissolve the Parliament.

Section 6 of the Australian Constitution states that: 'There shall be a session of the Parliament once at least in every year, so that 12 months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Parliament in one session and its first sitting in the next session.'

The term of a Parliament may include more than one session and constitutionally there is no limit to the number of sessions which may occur. However, in practical terms, the number of sessions would be unlikely to exceed 3 in any one Parliament (given that an election for the House of Representatives is required at least every 3 years).

In recent years, there has generally only been one session of Parliament per parliamentary term. However, in earlier times, parliamentary terms often included more than one session.