Australia - States / Territories
Australia is composed of 6 states, 2 continental territories and some other monor territories.
Each states and territories have very similar laws and legislation (alcohol, speed limits). Each state has its own head of state / territory represented at the Australian parliament in Canberra..
Australian States
New South Wales (NSW) | Queensland (QLD) | Victoria (VIC) | South Australia (SA)
Tasmania(TAS) | Western Australia (WA)
Continental territories of Australia
Northern Territory (NT) | Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
What is the difference between a state and a territory?
Territories are like states; however the federal parliament of Canberra can cancel laws voted by the parliaments of their state. An interesting thing is, federal legislation can only cancel certain cases covered by the section 51 of the constitution of Australia (hospital, education, police, justice, roads, public transports and certain local administration.Each state has its own parliament. In Australia, there is the legislative assembly and the legislative council.
In each state, the chief of the government are called 'Premier'. In the territories, they are called 'chief minister'.
The queen of England is represented by a governor. It's a bit different for the Northern Territory where she's represented by an administrator and again different in the Australian Capital Territory where she's represented by a general governor. However, despite the differences in title, they have very similar the same roles.
Minor territories
Australia posses also minor territories. The federal government of Canberra administers directly these minor territories.It exist a zone in New South Wales, the territory of Jarvis Bay and also certain ports and navy bases.
Note: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and Cocos Island are settled. In the opposite, the Coral Sea, Ashmore, Cartier, Heard, Mc Donald and also the Australian Territory of Antarctica are settled with very few people.