| Officially known as The Commonwealth of Australia, this Constitutional Monarchy is an independent self-governing member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The head of government is the Prime Minister who holds the majority in the federal parliament. The three branches of government are the parliament, executive, and judiciary, with a House of Representatives and Senate making up the parliament. A governor-general exercises the monarch’s power and the head of each state government is known as the Premier. In addition to its six states there are a number of Australian territories outside the borders of the states (Australian National Territory, for example) that are governed only by Commonwealth law, usually through a Commonwealth-appointed Administrator. 
The photo above features a GlobaLinks Learning Abroad student with former Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Miss Larson met Prime Minister Howard while attending a semester abroad study-internship combo program at the Australian National University.
Sources: Commonwealth of Australia 2001-2005. http://www.australia.gov.au/index.php.
Nicholson, Margaret. The Little Aussie Fact Book. Penguin Books, 2002.
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