此前我们发布了有关《在澳经商》总体政策及常见领域法律的文章。目前其中一些领域的情况及规定有所变化，因此我们制作了《在澳经商》系列的新版，新版的相关文章将从现在开始陆续发布。
背景
政府
澳大利亚是一个独立且稳定的民主国家。
这是一个根据成文宪法组成的联邦。其中包括联邦政府（总部设在堪培拉）、六个州（新南威尔士州、维多利亚州、昆士兰州、南澳、西澳和塔斯马尼亚州）和两个领地（北领地和澳洲首都领地）。澳大利亚联邦和每个州及领地由按照英国模式建立的议会管辖。澳大利亚联邦议会是通过所有18岁以上澳大利亚公民的强制性投票选举产生的。州和领地议会的选举投票对于所有18岁以上人士也是强制性的。
国家政府（即联邦）的权力是由宪法规定的。其中包括金融、直接税收（例如所得税）、贸易、外交、移民、社会保障、企业、交通、银行和知识产权。各州和领地承担没有在宪法中明确规定属于联邦责任的任何其它政府职能。但是，各州已经将部分权限转移至联邦，包括卫生和教育（包括高等教育）的主要领域。
每个州又细分为由选举产生（同样是强制性选举）的市政厅管理的地方市政区。该市政厅的职责包括城市规划、建设和发展的控制、并对其管辖区域内的居民提供服务。
联邦、州和领地政府遵循“三权分立”的原则。根据这一原则，政府分为三个分支机构：负责制定法律的立法机构（议会）、按法律行事的行政机构（由政府部长管理的公职部门）及负责解释和执行法律的司法机构（法院）。这一原则确保了政府的任何一个分支机构都没有绝对的权利。
在澳大利亚存在三个主要的政党 - 自由党、国家党与澳大利亚工党（ALP）。另外还有一个比较小的第四政党 - 重点关注环境的绿党。在联邦级别（以及大多数州），自由党和国家党是联盟关系（通常称为联盟），其中国家党是少数党，主要代表城乡利益 。 该联盟被视为政治的保守党，而工党则被认为是左倾的。联盟或工党都有过很长的执政时期。2013年大选中联盟取得了成功并成为了目前联邦政府的执政党，依照最新的选举结构，工党在南澳、昆士兰州及维州成为了执政党，而其他的州与领地政府的执政党为联盟。
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在澳大利亚成立公司须知
澳大利亚相关背景，例如包括澳大利亚政府制度、法律制度、企业结构
其他常见领域法律与规定，例如技术与知识产权保护、反垄断和消费者保护法、合同法、公开接管、电子商务、商业移民和雇主担保签证、房地产、环境法等
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【Doing Business in Australia 2015】I — Background: Government
Our readers may have already read our "Doing Business in Australia" series articles posted before. Recently quite a few rlevant facts and policies have been updated. Hence we have produced a new version. You will be able to receive a series of articles of the "Doing Business in Australia" new version in the coming weeks.
Background
Government
Australia is an independent and stable democracy.
It is a federation established by a written Constitution. It comprises a federal government (based in Canberra), six states (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania) and two territories (Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory). The federation of Australia and each of the states and territories are governed by parliaments based on the British model. The Australian parliament is elected by all Australians over 18 and voting is compulsory. Voting is also compulsory for all people over 18 for the state and territory parliaments.
The powers of the federal government (known as the Commonwealth) are specified in the Constitution. They include finance, direct taxation (such as income tax), trade, foreign affairs, immigration, social security, corporations, communications, banking and intellectual property. The states and territories remain responsible for any governmental function that is not specified in the Constitution as a responsibility of the Commonwealth. However, the states have ceded additional powers to the Commonwealth including major areas of health and education (including higher education).
Each state is divided into local council areas which are managed by an elected council (again, with compulsory voting). The councils’ responsibilities including town planning, control of building and development and the provision of services to residents within its area.
The federal, state and territory governments all operate on the “separation of powers” principle. Under this principle there are three branches of the government: the legislature (parliament) that makes the law; the executive (the public services directed by government ministers) that administers the law and the judiciary (courts) that interprets and enforces the law. This principle ensures that no one branch of government has absolute power.
There are three main political parties in Australia – the Liberal Party; the National Party and the Australian Labour Party (ALP). There is also a smaller fourth party – the Greens whose focus is on the environment. At the federal level (and in most states) the Liberal and National Parties act in coalition (generally called the Coalition) in which the National Party, which represents principally rural interests, is the junior party. The Coalition is regarded as the conservative side of politics while the ALP is regarded as being on the left. Both the Coalition and the ALP have held government for significant periods. The Coalition was successful in the 2013 election and is currently in power federally. Following recent elections the ALP forms the government in South Australia, Queensland and Victoria. The Coalition is in power in the other States and the Territories.
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【We provide excellent, expert advice to businesses wishing to invest in Australia.】
To view our previous news for Chinese investors and various articles in relation with the topic ‘Doing business in Australia’, please click the button on the upper-right hand corner on our WeChat platform, and choose ‘view history’. The contents include:
Business set up in Australia, business structures,company administration, etc.
Background information of Australia, including Australian government, legal system, and business structures, etc.
Laws and regulations in various common areas, including protection of technology and intellectual property, anti-trust and consumer law, contract law, business migration, real property, public takeovers, and electronic commerce etc.
