Our Year 7s visited the Constitutional Centre in the final week of Term 4 to revise their knowledge and understanding of the Australian Constitution and the three levels of government through the Constitution and You program.

When looking at the number of senators in the Senate or Upper House from the states and territories in Australia, one student asked why the territories only had two senators each instead of 12 like the states. Educator Remie explained the reason is that the territories were not part of the Australian Constitution when it came into effect in 1901. It wasn’t until 1975 when Gough Whitlam’s government finally passed legislation to acknowledge the territories within the Senate that the new laws allowed the election of two senators each, from the Northern Territory and the ACT.