A joint meeting of the Australian Parliament is a convening of members of the Senate and House of Representatives sitting together as a single legislative body. The Australian Parliament has two bicameral houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Subject to the Constitution of Australia, each house has its own rules, standing orders and procedures; its own presiding officer; and meets separately, at dates and times it alone decides. However, there are some occasions when the two Houses have come together as a single body. Typically, the Speaker of the House of Representatives presides over the joint meetings. If the Governor-General attends the meetings, they could preside instead of the Speaker of the House.
Reasons for joint meetings The reasons for joint meetings have included: to resolve deadlocks between the Houses following a double dissolution to fill casual vacancies in the representation of the territories in the Senate a special commemorative joint sitting to celebrate the Centenary of Federation secret meetings to discuss security-related issues, such as Australia's participation in war to receive addresses by invited guests such as visiting foreign heads of state or government.
Resolving deadlocks between the two Houses
The Constitution makes provision for a joint sitting as part of a procedure to resolve legislative deadlocks between the House of Representatives and the Senate. Section 57 provides that, under certain circumstances where there is a deadlock over a bill, both houses may be dissolved in a double dissolution. This is followed by a general election, and the bill may be put to the separate Houses of the newly elected parliament for reconsideration. If this still fails to resolve the deadlock, the bill may be considered by a joint sitting, convened as a single legislative body. If passed by the joint sitting, the bill will be treated for all purposes as if it had been separately passed by the two Houses.
The only time such a joint sitting has occurred was on 6–7 August 1974.
Casual vacancies in the representation of the Territories in the Senate
Between 1980 and 1989 when the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) gained self-government, the choice of a replacement ACT senator to fill a casual vacancy was made by a joint sitting of both Houses. This occurred twice: Margaret Reid was elected on 5 May 1981 to replace the deceased ACT Senator John Knight Bob McMullan was elected on 16 February 1988 to replace former ACT Senator Susan Ryan, who had resigned.
Casual vacancies for ACT senators are now filled by the ACT Legislative Assembly, under Section 44 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
A joint sitting of the federal parliament would still be used to fill a casual vacancy in the representation of any external territory, in the event that such a territory ever gains separate Senate representation.
Special commemorative joint sitting On 9 May 2001, the Parliament met in a special joint sitting at the site of the 1st Parliament, the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, to commemorate the Centenary of that event specifically, and the Centenary of Federation more generally. The joint sitting was addressed by the Governor-General, Sir William Deane.
Secret meetings During World War II, the Parliament met in secret on a number of occasions, to hear confidential reports on the progress of the war. There is no Hansard record of the proceedings.
Both Houses met in secret joint sittings on 20 February 1942, 3 September 1942, and 8 October 1942.
The House of Representatives met in secret on 13 December 1940, 29 May 1941, and 20 August 1941.
General Douglas MacArthur is sometimes reported to have addressed the Parliament during World War II. If he addressed the secret joint sittings, this was not officially recorded. However, General MacArthur was provided with a seat on the floor of the House of Representatives on 26 March 1942, and addressed members of Parliament from outside the chamber later that day.
Addresses by invited guests
The first address by an invited guest to the Parliament in a formally convened joint sitting of which there was an official record was on 2 January 1992, by the US President, George H. W. Bush. Later addresses to joint sittings included those from US presidents Bill Clinton (1996), George W. Bush (2003), and Barack Obama (2011); and paramount leader of China Hu Jintao (2003). (George W. Bush's and Hu Jintao's addresses occurred on consecutive days in October 2003.)Timothy Kendall, Australian Parliamentary Library, Within China’s Orbit?: China Through the Eyes of the Australian Parliament; Chapter Three: Foreign Policy and Identity Stuff: Hu Jintao Addresses the Australian Parliament
Subsequently, the Senate Standing Committee on Procedure and the Senate Standing Committee of Privileges both recommended that the practice of formally convening a joint sitting for these purposes be discontinued, as they had no constitutional authority, and there were doubts about the validity of the presiding officer of one house giving instructions to members of the other house. On 2 March 2006, it was agreed that future addresses by invited dignitaries would be to a meeting of the House of Representatives only, but to which the members of the Senate would be invited as guests.
List of addresses Date Speaker Office Prime Minister Chamber Link to speech Notes29 November 1951Richard LawMember of the British House of CommonsRobert MenziesRepsThey were part of a visiting delegation from the United Kingdom House of Commons which presented a Mace to the House of Representatives, as a gift from King George VI to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Federation.House of Representatives Practice David Rhys GrenfellMember of the British House of CommonsJo GrimondMember of the British House of Commons, later leader of the British Liberal Party 2 January 1992 George H. W. Bush President of the United States Paul Keating RepsSenate Hansard, 2 January 1992: Address by George H. W. Bush. Retrieved 17 July 2014 The address had been arranged under Keating's predecessor, Bob Hawke 20 November 1996 Bill Clinton President of the United StatesJohn Howard RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, 20 November 1996, pp. 7165–72, Address by Bill Clinton. Retrieved 17 July 2014 23 October 2003 George W. Bush President of the United States RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by George W. Bush. Retrieved 17 July 2014 24 October 2003 Hu Jintao RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by Hu Jintao. Retrieved 17 July 2014 27 March 2006 Tony Blair Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Reps* House of Representatives Hansard, Address by Tony Blair. Retrieved 17 July 2014 * Formally, this and subsequent addresses were made to the House of Representatives only, to which members of the Senate were invited as guests. Previously, addresses were made to formally convened joint meetings of both Houses. 11 September 2007 Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by Stephen Harper. Retrieved 17 July 2014 10 March 2010 Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono President of Indonesia Kevin Rudd RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Retrieved 17 July 2014 20 June 2011 John Key Prime Minister of New ZealandJulia Gillard RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by John Key. Retrieved 17 July 2014 This reciprocated the address by Julia Gillard to the New Zealand Parliament in February 2011. 17 November 2011 Barack Obama President of the United States RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by Barack Obama. Retrieved 17 July 2014 This reciprocated an earlier address by Julia Gillard to the United States Congress. 8 July 2014 Shinzō Abe Prime Minister of JapanTony Abbott RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by Shinzaro Abe. Retrieved 17 July 2014ABC News: Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe addresses Federal Parliament, signs free trade deal with Australia. Retrieved 11 July 2014 14 November 2014 David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by David Cameron. Retrieved 19 February 2017 17 November 2014 Xi Jinping Reps 18 November 2014 Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India Reps 12 October 2016 Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister of Singapore Malcolm Turnbull RepsHouse of Representatives Hansard, Address by Lee Hsien Loong. Retrieved 19 February 2017 10 February 2020 Joko Widodo President of IndonesiaScott Morrison Reps31 March 2022 Volodymyr Zelenskyy President of Ukraine Reps, by videolinkAddress during the Russo-Ukrainian War, discussed Australian support, preceded by address from Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition noting Vladimir Putin as a war criminal and likening him to Adolf Hitler8 February 2024James MarapePrime Minister of Papua New Guinea Anthony AlbaneseReps29 February 2024Bongbong MarcosPresident of the PhilippinesRepsPresident Marcos is the first Philippine president to deliver a speech to federal parliament.5 March 2026Mark CarneyPrime Minister of CanadaReps24 March 2026Ursula von der LeyenPresident of the European CommissionRepsPresident von der Leyen is the first European Commission president to deliver a speech to federal parliament. She is also the first woman to deliver a speech to federal parliament
Source: Australia's Parliament House—more than 25 years in the making! A chronology
References