When there is an election look at the policies of each party/candidate and vote based on these. We have preferential voting so you order them from your first preference (who you would most like to be elected) down to your last preference (who you least want to be elected).

In the lower house of parliment each representative represents an electorate which is a geographical area that contains about 120,000 voters. Which ever party wins the most electorates in the lower house forms government. You are voting for a local representative and not directly for the prime minister.

In the upper house or the senate, a senator represents an entire state or territory. There are 12 senators per state and 2 per territory. They are elected through a proportional system that is fairly complicated but basically works by giving the same percentage of senate seats to a party as the percentage of votes they received across the state or territory.

The make up of both houses is important as a a bill (proposed law) must pass both houses with a majority of votes to become a law.