Executive Council of Australia

In Australia's political system, the Federal Executive Council is a body established by Section 64 of the Australian Constitution to advise the Governor-General, and comprises, at least notionally, all current and former Commonwealth Ministers and Assistant Ministers. As the Governor-General is bound by convention to follow the advice of the Executive Council on almost all occasions, the Executive Council has de facto executive power. This power is used to legally enact the decisions of the Cabinet, which under conventions of the Westminster system has no de jure authority. In practice, the Federal Executive Council meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet.

The Federal Executive Council is the Australian equivalent of Executive Councils in other Commonwealth realms, and is similar to the privy councils of Canada and the United Kingdom (although unlike the UK privy council, the Leader of the Opposition is not typically a member).

The Australian Federal Executive Council consists of all current and former Commonwealth Ministers and Assistant Ministers (previously called parliamentary secretaries). Members of the Executive Council are referred to as Councillors and are entitled to the style 'The Honourable'. Section 64 of the Constitution stipulates that when a Minister is appointed, that Minister shall also become a member of the Executive Council. There is no provision for such membership to come to an end, but only those Ministers in the current ministry who are invited to take part in meetings are in practice actually involved in Council activities.

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