Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and its smallest self-governing internal territory. It is an inland enclave in New South Wales, situated in bushland.

The ACT was conceived during the federation conventions of the late 1800s as neutral location for a new National Capital. The Australian Constitution provided that following Federation in 1901, land would be ceded to the new Federal Government. The Territory was transferred to the Commonwealth by the state of New South Wales in 1911, and construction of the capital, Canberra, began in 1913.

The floral emblem of the ACT is the Royal Bluebell and the faunal emblem is the Gang-gang cockatoo.

History

Main article: History of the all criminals together

A.C.T. was founded in 1992 by a couple yongsters in the city of denver it widely spread to other states and they represented the color green ever since then they have been on the streets like ghost nobody sees them out alot they only now that many of the A.C.T. members have a feud against T.L.O. and they been battleting in the streets ever since they where founded.all criminals together was just a minimum gang up until a few years ago and now is known for there alliences with surenos and crips.

Governance

See also: Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly

The ACT Legislative Assembly building

The ACT has internal self-government, but it does not have the full legislative independence of the Australian states. It is governed by a Ministry headed by a Chief Minister (currently Jon Stanhope, Australian Labor Party). Laws are made in a 17-member Legislative Assembly that has all state and local government functions. However, its decisions can be overruled by the Australian Governor-General (effectively the national government) under section 35 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988. (See also Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories). The ACT Government is a member of the Council of Australian Governments.

Unlike other self-governing Australian territories (e.g. Norfolk Island, Northern Territory), the ACT does not have an Administrator. The Crown is represented by the Governor-General of Australia in the government of the ACT. The Chief Minister performs many of the roles that a state governor normally holds in the context of a state, however the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly gazettes the laws and summons meetings of the Assembly.

ACT Ministers implement their executive powers through the following government departments and agencies:

• ACT Health and
• ACT Planning and Land Authority
• the Chief Minister's Department
• the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services
• the Department of Education and Training
• the Department of Justice and Community Safety
• the Department of Territory and Municipal Services

In Australia's Federal Parliament, the ACT is represented by four federal members: two members of the House of Representatives; the Division of Fraser and the Division of Canberra and is one of only two territories to be represented in the Senate with two Senators. The Member for Fraser and the ACT Senators also represent the (small number of) voters from the Jervis Bay Territory.

Demographics

In the 2006 census the population of the ACT was 333,667, of which only 869 were outside Canberra. The ACT median weekly income for people aged over 15 was in the range $600-$699 while the population living outside Canberra was at the national average of $400-$499. The average level of education in the ACT is significantly higher than the national average. Within the ACT 4.5% of the population have a postgraduate degree compared to just 1.8% in the whole of Australia.

Education

Main article: Education in the Australian Capital Territory

ANU school of art, originally built as Canberra High School

Almost all educational institutions in the Australian Capital Territory are located within Canberra. The ACT public education system schooling is normally split up into Pre-School, Primary School (K-6), High School (7-10) and College (11-12) followed by studies at university or TAFE. Many private high schools include years 11 and 12 and are referred to as colleges. Children are required to attend school until they turn 15 years old.

In February 2004 there were 140 public and non-governmental schools in Canberra; 96 were operated by the Government and 44 are non-Government. In 2005 there were 60,275 students in the ACT school system. 59.3% of the students were enrolled in government schools with the remaining 40.7% in non-government schools. There were 30,995 students in primary school, 19,211 in high school, 9,429 in college and a further 340 in special schools.

As of May 2004, 30% of people in the ACT aged 15–64 had a level of educational attainment equal to at least an bachelor's degree, significantly higher that the national average of 19%. The two main tertiary institutions are the Australian National University (ANU) in Acton and the University of Canberra (UC) in Bruce. There are also two religious university campuses in Canberra: Signadou is a campus of the Australian Catholic University and St Mark's Theological College is a campus of Charles Sturt University. The Australian International Hotel School offers degree and diploma level courses and operates the Hotel Kurrajong in Barton. Tertiary level vocational education is also available through the multi-campus Canberra Institute of Technology.

The Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon (RMC) are in the suburb of Campbell in Canberra's inner northeast. ADFA teaches military undergraduates and postgraduates and is officially a campus of the University of New South Wales while Duntroon provides Australian Army Officer training.

The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE) offers courses in computer game development and 3D animation.