Uniquely Australian However, the Australian system cannot be simply described as a mixture of British responsible government and American federalism. It has evolved into something uniquely Australian. Compared with the US system of checks and balances, Australia tends to have the checks but there are few balances. Since the dismissal in 1975, it is understood that the doctrine of responsible government in Australia requires the government of the day to have the confidence of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the United Kingdom, the doctrine of responsible government only requires the government to have the confidence of the lower house.
Party discipline is almost absolute in Australian parliaments.
With the rarest of exception, members of parliament vote along party lines. While party discipline has never been strong in the United States, Australian party discipline is stronger than in Westminster. As a consequence, some have suggested that in Australia the Westminster notion of responsible government has been replaced by responsible party government. In framing policy, the Prime Minister and Ministers are more concerned with the views of their party than the House of Representatives. Since the 1949 Senate elections, when the system for Senate voting was changed, it is more common than not for the government to face a hostile party in control of the Senate.