ABSTRACT
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of six states and two territories. Each state and territory has its own government and concomitant instrumentalities, such as a public service, police force and education department, while the federal government retains control of such things as the armed forces, external and diplomatic affairs and the national economy. The Minister for Education in each state is responsible, through a Department of Education or an equivalent, for the provision of appropriate education for all children of eligible age. While each state has a system of local government in the form of urban and rural councils, these councils have no responsibility for education.
