The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas. The Victorian Constitution says: “the Legislature of Victoria has full power and authority.” In practice, however, the independence of the Australian states has been greatly eroded by the increasing financial domination of the Commonwealth.

Victoria 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 Parliament of Victoria, which consists of the Crown, represented by the Governor of Victoria, and the two Houses, the Victorian Legislative Council (the upper house) and the Victorian Legislative Assembly (the lower house).

Executive power rests formally with the Executive Council, which consists of the Governor and senior ministers. In practice executive power is exercised by the Premier of Victoria and the Cabinet, who are appointed by the Governor, but who hold office by virtue of their ability to command the support of a majority of members of the Legislative Assembly.

Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court of Victoria 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.

New South Wales is a major global and Asia-Pacific cultural hub. Home to a diverse population of 7.3 million people; NSW is Australia’s oldest, largest and most cosmopolitan state. It is also an economic powerhouse, with an economy larger than Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

In addition to its cultural and economic strengths, the global status of NSW is underpinned by its international transport links, with over 1000 flights operating per week. These are just a few reasons why New South Wales is Australia’s ‘First State’.

business.gov.au is an online government resource for the Australian business community. business.gov.au offers you simple and convenient access to all of the government information, forms and services you need. It’s a whole-of-government service providing essential information on planning, starting and growing your business.

We update our website continuously to ensure the content we provide is current and relevant to Australian businesses. We write the content on our website in plain and simple language so that it’s easy to understand for as many people as possible. Visit our Accessibility section for information on navigating and printing content our site.

The business.gov.au website has been upgraded as part of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science’s Single Business Service initiative.

The Australian Trade Commission–Austrade–contributes to Australia’s economic prosperity by helping Australian businesses, education institutions, tourism operators, governments and citizens as they:

• develop international markets and promote international education
• win productive foreign direct investment
• strengthen Australia’s tourism industry
• seek consular and passport services.

Austrade achieves this by generating market information and insight, promoting Australian capabilities, developing policy, making connections through an extensive global network of contacts, leveraging the badge of government offshore and providing quality advice and services.

Austrade aims to create value for businesses and institutions, in a way that represents a good investment for the taxpayer and meets or exceeds all appropriate standards of ethical behaviour.

Austrade’s role is to advance Australia’s international trade and education, investment, and tourism interests by providing information, advice and services.

Specifically, Austrade:

• Helps Australian companies to grow their business in international markets, including through administration of the Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme and the TradeStart programme, and promotes the Australian education and training sector in international markets.
• Provides coordinated government assistance to promote, attract and facilitate productive foreign direct investment (FDI) into Australia.
• Provides advice to the Australian Government on its trade, tourism, international education and training, and investment policy agenda.
• Develops policy, manages programmes and provides research to strengthen Australia’s tourism industry and to grow Australia’s tourism market share.
• Delivers Australian consular, passport and other government services in designated overseas locations.

Through Brand Australia, promote awareness of contemporary Australian skills and capability to enrich Australia’s global reputation.