Power divided between Federal and State government - Division of power
-Exclusive power: Commonwealth power
-Concurrent power: Power shared by both Commonwealth and State
-Residue power: Power left over for State
Under S109 of constitution, Federal laws always prevails over State laws where it is inconsistent.
Power is also separated into three strands - Separation of power
-Legislature: those who make the law
-Executive: those who put laws into action
-Judiciary: those who apply the law
In reality the legislature and executive is overlapped in Australia and the Judiciary is really the only independent strand of power.