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Territory government of the Australian Capital Territory, Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive branch of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party or coalition with the confidence of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly forms government. Unlike the Australian states and the Northern Territory, the Legislative Assembly directly elects one of their number to be the Chief Minister as the head of the government, rather than being appointed by a Governor or Administrator.[2]
| Government of the Australian Capital Territory | |
|---|---|
| |
| Overview | |
| Established |
|
| Polity | Australian Capital Territory |
| Leader | Chief Minister (Andrew Barr) |
| Appointed by | Legislative Assembly |
| Main organ | Cabinet |
| Ministries | 9 government directorates |
| Responsible to | Legislative Assembly |
| Annual budget | A$8.4 billion (2023–2024)[1] |
| Headquarters | 220 London Circuit, Canberra |
| Website | act |
Since December 2014, the Chief Minister has been Andrew Barr, leader of the Labor Party. Following the 2024 ACT election, Labor formed a minority government of 10 members, after the Greens moved to the crossbench and dissolved the coalition that had been in place since 2012.[3]
Ministers are appointed by the Chief Minister.[4] The current ministry of the Australian Capital Territory (Fourth Barr Ministry) comprises eight of the 25 members of the Legislative Assembly.[5]
The ACT has internal self-government, but Australia's Constitution does not afford the territory government the full legislative independence provided to Australian states. Government for the Australian Capital Territory is outlined in Commonwealth legislation; the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988.[6] Nonetheless, the ACT is governed according to the principles of the Westminster System, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom.
Legislative power rests with the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly.
Executive power rests formally with the Executive, which consists of the Chief Minister and Ministers, and is informally called the Cabinet.
Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory and a system of subordinate courts, but the High Court of Australia and other federal courts have overriding jurisdiction on matters which fall under the ambit of the Australian Constitution.
The ACT does not have a separate system of local government such as that seen in the Australian States and the Northern Territory. In the ACT, government functions that would usually be handled by local government are instead directly handled by the Territory government.
The current arrangement of the incumbent ministry (Fourth Barr Ministry) of the ACT was appointed on 6 November 2024, comprising eight Labor Party members. The current arrangement of the incumbent shadow ministry was announced on 18 November 2024, comprising seven Liberal Party members.[5][7]
| Party | Portrait | Minister | Portfolio | Opposition counterpart | Portfolio | Portrait | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | .jpg) |
Andrew Barr |
|
Leanne Castley MLA |
|
 |
Liberal | ||
 |
Yvette Berry |
|
Jeremy Hanson MLA |
|
 | ||||
 |
Rachel Stephen-Smith |
|
James Milligan MLA |
|
| ||||
 |
Chris Steel |
|
Ed Cocks MLA |
|
 | ||||
 |
Tara Cheyne |
|
Peter Cain MLA |
|
| ||||
 |
Suzanne Orr |
|
Deborah Morris MLA |
|
| ||||
 |
Michael Pettersson |
|
Chiaka Barry MLA |
|
| ||||
 |
Marisa Paterson |
| |||||||
The ACT Government is served by a unified ACT Public Service agency, reporting to a single Head of Service.
Administrative units, known as Directorates, are grouped under areas of portfolio responsibility. Each Directorate is led by a Director-General who reports to one or more Ministers.
As of November 2020[update], there are nine Directorates:[8]
The ACT Government also has a number of Public Authorities and Territory Owned Corporations:[9]
The following are officers of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly:
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