Cocos Islands Government

Cocos Islands are an Australian external territory and therefore, the country follows the political system of Australia. Australian citizens elect representatives to the Federal Parliament with elections taking place in the six states and two territories of the nation. The legislative process in Australia resembles the Westminster system and the leader of the country is officially known as the Prime Minister.

Cocos Islanders are also Australian citizens and have the ability to vote in the national federal elections of the country. The citizens of the country are represented in the parliament of Australia by Senators from the Northern Territories and in the House of Representatives by a member elected in the Division of Lingiari. Elections for these representatives take place every three years.

The national parliament of Australia, of which Cocos Islands is a part of and represented in, is located in the capital city of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Parliament Hill consists of several government buildings as well as foreign embassies. This parliament consists of two houses with 226 seats in total, 76 of these in the Senate and the remaining 150 in the House of Representatives.

Australia has a political party that can be described as multi-party, although it leans towards being a two-party system.