Question: How many states does Australia have?
About the article "Australia", section "States and territories".

Candidate passages:
Australia is believed to be the first federation to have introduced a formal system of horizontal fiscal equalisation (HFE) which was introduced in 1933 to compensate States which have a lower capacity to raise revenue.
Many federations use fiscal equalisation to reduce the inequalities in the fiscal capacities of sub-national governments arising from the differences in their geography, demography, natural endowments and economies.
However the level of equalisation sought varies.
In Australia, the objective is full equalisation.
Full equalisation means that, after HFE, each of the six States, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory (the States) would have the capacity to provide services and the associated infrastructure at the same standard, if each State made the same effort to raise revenue from its own sources and operated at the same level of efficiency.
Currently the funds distributed to achieve HFE are the revenues raised from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), currently about AUD50bn a year.
The distribution of GST required to achieve HFE is decided by the Federal Treasurer each year, on the basis of advice provided by the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC).
Achieving HFE does not mean that the States are directed how to raise revenue or how to spend their funds.
GST revenue grants from the Commonwealth are untied and available for any purpose.
Accordingly, HFE equalises fiscal capacity, not fiscal policies which remain for the States to decide for themselves.
It does not result in the same level of services or taxes in all States, direct that the States must achieve any specified level of service in any area, nor impose actual budget outcomes in accordance with the Commission's calculations. 
Australia is believed to be the first federation to have introduced a formal system of horizontal fiscal equalisation (HFE) which was introduced in 1933 to compensate States which have a lower capacity to raise revenue.
Many federations use fiscal equalisation to reduce the inequalities in the fiscal capacities of sub-national governments arising from the differences in their geography, demography, natural endowments and economies.
However the level of equalisation sought varies.
In Australia, the objective is full equalisation.
Full equalisation means that, after HFE, each of the six States, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory (the States) would have the capacity to provide services and the associated infrastructure at the same standard, if each State made the same effort to raise revenue from its own sources and operated at the same level of efficiency.
Currently the funds distributed to achieve HFE are the revenues raised from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), currently about AUD50bn a year.
The distribution of GST required to achieve HFE is decided by the Federal Treasurer each year, on the basis of advice provided by the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC).
Achieving HFE does not mean that the States are directed how to raise revenue or how to spend their funds.
GST revenue grants from the Commonwealth are untied and available for any purpose.
Accordingly, HFE equalises fiscal capacity, not fiscal policies which remain for the States to decide for themselves.
It does not result in the same level of services or taxes in all States, direct that the States must achieve any specified level of service in any area, nor impose actual budget outcomes in accordance with the Commission's calculations. 
Other countries.
Australia does not have compulsory registration of residence. 
The main way of measuring poverty is to set a poverty line and then determine how many people fall below this line.
Poverty lines can be set as either absolute poverty lines or relative poverty lines.
Australia does not have an official poverty line, either absolute or relative.
The 2012 report entitled Poverty in Australia used two poverty lines and also took account of people’s housing costs.
One poverty line used by the OECD and in this study, referred to half of the middle income for all households, that is, 50% of median household income and the other is 60% of median income. 
Elections in Australia take place periodically to elect the legislature of the Commonwealth of Australia, as well as for each Australian state and territory.
The elections for the Australian Parliament are held under a single federal electoral system, and there are different systems for each Australian state and territory.
Part IV of Chapter 1 of the Australian Constitution briefly deals with eligibility for voting and election to the federal Australian Parliament.
It does not prescribe how elections should be conducted.
Election campaigns and associated political advertisements have some regulation.
Public election funding and party registration was introduced in 1983.
Voting is almost entirely conducted by paper ballot and is compulsory for adults, although many eligible voters choose not to vote or vote incorrectly.