A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution

Constitution of Australia

The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia...

 to resolve deadlocks between the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 and the Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

.

Unlike with the UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 and Canadian

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

 Parliaments, Australia's two parliamentary houses generally have equal legislative power. This is because at the time the Constitution was written, the two houses of the UK Parliament still had equal power. The only exception is that appropriation (money) bills must originate in the House of Representatives and cannot be amended by the Senate (although they may be rejected outright). With the Senate having more or less equal power, governments, which are formed in the House of Representatives, can be seriously frustrated by Senate majorities determined to reject their legislation. This can be the case even when a government has a very strong majority in the House of Representatives.

If the Senate and House twice fail to agree on a piece of legislation, Section 57 of the Constitution allows the Governor-General

Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...

 to dissolve the House and the entire Senate and issue writs for an election in which every seat in the Parliament is contested. This is the only occasion on which the entire Senate is dissolved. The conditions stipulated by Section 57 are:

• the bill must have originated in the House of Representatives
• a period of three months must elapse between the two rejections of the bill by the Senate ("rejection" in this context can extend to the Senate's failure to pass the bill, or to the Senate passing it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree)
• the second rejection may occur in the same session as the first, or the subsequent session, but no later.

There is no similar provision for resolving deadlocks with respect to bills that have originated in the Senate and are blocked in the House of Representatives.

Convention dictates that the Governor-General act only on the advice of the Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

. However, the Governor-General is not compelled to follow that advice. In these cases, he or she must be personally satisfied that the conditions specified in the Constitution do indeed apply, and is entitled to seek additional information or advice before coming to a decision.

Section 57 provides:

If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives by effluxion of time.

Section 57 also provides that, following the election, if the Senate a third time rejects the bill or bills that were the subject of the double dissolution, the Governor-General may convene a joint sitting of the two houses to consider the bill or bills, including any amendments which have been previously proposed in either house, or any new amendments. If a bill is passed by an absolute majority of the total membership of the joint sitting, it is treated as though it had been passed separately by both houses, and is presented for Royal Assent.

There were double dissolutions in 1914

Australian federal election, 1914

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 September 1914. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 36 seats in the Senate were up for election in a double dissolution...

, 1951

Australian federal election, 1951

Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 April 1951. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution called after the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Bank Bill...

, 1974

Australian federal election, 1974

Federal elections were held in Australia on 18 May 1974. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution...

, 1975

Australian federal election, 1975

Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....

, 1983

Australian federal election, 1983

Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...

 and 1987. However, the 1974 Joint Sitting is so far the only one held pursuant to Section 57.

The following table is a summary of the relevant details:

Date of double dissolution	Date of election	Governor-General	Prime Minister	Leader of the Opposition	Outcome
30 July 1914	5 September 1914 Australian federal election, 1914 Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 September 1914. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 36 seats in the Senate were up for election in a double dissolution...	Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson	Joseph Cook Joseph Cook Sir Joseph Cook, GCMG was an Australian politician and the sixth Prime Minister of Australia. Born as Joseph Cooke and working in the coal mines of Silverdale, Staffordshire during his early life, he emigrated to Lithgow, New South Wales during the late 1880s, and became General-Secretary of the...	Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation...	Called over the Government Preference Prohibition Bill, which sought to abolish preferential employment for trade union members in the public service. The Cook Commonwealth Liberal Party Commonwealth Liberal Party The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation....  government was defeated by Andrew Fisher's Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... .
19 March 1951	28 April 1951 Australian federal election, 1951 Federal elections were held in Australia on 28 April 1951. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution called after the Senate rejected the Commonwealth Bank Bill...	Sir William McKell William McKell Sir William John McKell GCMG , Australian politician, was Premier of New South Wales from 1941 to 1947, and was the 12th Governor-General of Australia. He was also the oldest Governor General of Australia, at 93 when he died....	Robert Menzies Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....	Ben Chifley Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...	Called over the Commonwealth Bank Bill. The Menzies Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office... -Country Party National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...  coalition government was opposed by Chifley's Labor Party, but was returned with a majority in both houses. The Commonwealth Bank Bill was presented to Parliament again and passed both houses.
11 April 1974	18 May 1974 Australian federal election, 1974 Federal elections were held in Australia on 18 May 1974. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution...	Sir Paul Hasluck Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck KG GCMG GCVO KStJ was an Australian historian, poet, public servant and politician, and the 17th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...	Gough Whitlam Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...	Billy Snedden Billy Snedden Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, KCMG, QC was an Australian politician representing the Liberal Party. He was Leader of the Opposition at the 1974 federal election, failing to defeat the Labor incumbent Gough Whitlam.-Early life:...	Called over 6 bills. The Whitlam Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...  government was returned, but still without a majority in the Senate. The bills were reintroduced and again rejected by the Senate. Sir Paul Hasluck's term ended on 11 July and the new Governor-General Sir John Kerr approved Whitlam's request for a joint sitting. This was held on 6-7 August 1974, and it passed all the bills. Subsequently, the High Court ruled that Petroleum and Minerals Authority Bill had not been eligible for the double dissolution process, as the Senate had not had sufficient time to "fail to pass" it.
11 November 1975	13 December 1975 Australian federal election, 1975 Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....	Sir John Kerr	Malcolm Fraser Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...  (caretaker)	Gough Whitlam	Called over 21 bills. Fraser, who, as Leader of the Liberal-Country coalition Opposition, had opposed the bills, had been appointed caretaker Prime Minister in extraordinary circumstances following Kerr's dismissal of the Whitlam government. The Fraser minority government immediately lost a no-confidence motion in the lower house; however, on Fraser's advice, Kerr dissolved the Parliament before the Speaker Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The presiding officer in the upper house is the President of the Senate....  Gordon Scholes Gordon Scholes Gordon Glen Denton Scholes AO is a former Australian politician and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives.Scholes was born in Melbourne, the son of Thomas Glen Denton Scholes and his wife Mary Louisa O'Brien. He was the Victorian Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Champion in 1949...  had an opportunity to advise Kerr to invite Whitlam to form a government again. Fraser remained the caretaker Prime Minister during the election campaign. On 13 December the Fraser government was elected in its own right.
3 February 1983	5 March 1983 Australian federal election, 1983 Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...	Sir Ninian Stephen Ninian Stephen Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, is a retired politician and judge, who served as the 20th Governor-General of Australia and as a Justice in the High Court of Australia.-Early life:...	Malcolm Fraser	Bob Hawke Bob Hawke Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....	Called over 13 bills. When Fraser called the election, he expected he would be facing Bill Hayden Bill Hayden William George "Bill" Hayden AC was the 21st Governor-General of Australia. Prior to this, he represented the Australian Labor Party in parliament; he was a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam, and later became Leader of the Opposition, narrowly losing the 1980 federal election to the...  as the alternative prime minister. But unbeknown to Fraser, Labor had changed leadership from Hayden to Bob Hawke earlier that same morning. The Fraser coalition government was defeated by the Labor opposition led by Hawke.
5 June 1987	11 July 1987	Sir Ninian Stephen	Bob Hawke	John Howard John Howard John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....	Called over the Australia Card Bill Australia Card The Australia Card was a controversial proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987.... . The Hawke government was returned, but still without a Senate majority. The bill was reintroduced in September and a vote in the Senate was planned for 7 October. After Ewart Smith pointed out that the Australia Card bill was unworkable because the implementation date was not part of the legislation, Hawke decided to abandon the bill.