<P> Although elections can be called early, every 3 years the full House of Representatives and half of the Senate is dissolved and goes up for reelection . A deadlock - breaking mechanism known as a double dissolution can be used to dissolve the full Senate as well as the House in the event that the Upper House twice refuses to pass a piece of legislation passed by the Lower House . </P> <P> The two Houses meet in separate chambers of Parliament House (except in a rare joint sitting) on Capital Hill in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory . </P> <P> The Commonwealth of Australia came into being on 1 January 1901 with the federation of the six Australian colonies . The inaugural election took place on 29 and 30 March and the first Australian Parliament was opened on 9 May 1901 in Melbourne by Prince George, Duke of Cornwall and York, later King George V . The only building in Melbourne that was large enough to accommodate the 14,000 guests was the western annexe of the Royal Exhibition Building . After the official opening, from 1901 to 1927, the Parliament met in Parliament House, Melbourne, which it borrowed from the Parliament of Victoria (which sat, instead, in the Royal Exhibition Building until 1927). (The western annexe was demolished in the 1960s .) </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> The Big Picture, opening of the Parliament of Australia, 9 May 1901, by Tom Roberts </Td> <Td> Victorian Parliament House, where the Federal Parliament met until 1927 </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Where was the first parliament held in australia