| − | The Australian Senate is one of the Houses in the Parliament of Australia along with the Australian House of Representatives. It is very similar to the [[United States Senate]] in the sense that it is the upper house and has less members that the House of representatives. Senators are elected using proportional representation and some preferential voting. There are 12 Senators from each of the 6 states in Australia (despite their population differences) and 2 each from the 2 territories making a total of 76 Senators. | + | The Australian Senate is one of the Houses in the Parliament of Australia along with the Australian House of Representatives. The Australian Senate is much less powerful than the House of representatives, but can block legislation. |