house of responsible government, in that the government of the day must command a majority of support in this chamber. Furthermore, the Premier and Ministers are accountable to Parliament and must face questioning and scrutiny from Parliament. The Assembly schedules question time and has time and subject limits on the ways that Ministers must respond to matters raised to them by any other member of the Assembly. It consists of eighty-eight members who are elected for four-year terms using instant run-off preferential voting. Casual vacancies in the Assembly are filled by a by-election within the electorate. The Assembly functions as a representation of Victoria and commanding a majority within the Assembly provides a mandate for government policies. The Assembly is the only chamber authorised to draw funds from the public treasury, or to raise taxes, on its own initiative. Changes to taxation or funding for projects can still be debated by the council, but the Assembly may always authorise funding for the ordinary operation of government without needing Council approval. If the Council does not pass the Assembly's budget within a month it is passed to the Governor for Royal Assent regardless. This means that, unlike the Australian Senate, the other chamber of Victoria's parliament cannot block supply for government funding. The Assembly has increased in power over time compared to the Legislative Council. It is assumed that the government of the day will act upon the initiatives it campaigned on and the Assembly serves as a direct link between local members and each individual constituency. Furthermore, while it is not a requirement that ministers come from the Assembly, it is convention that more members of the executive branch sit within the Assembly than the council. Most bills originate within the Assembly, partly as a matter of convention and mostly due to the fact that bills not sponsored by the government are unlikely to be passed. A bill typically goes through three readings, each followed by a vote, before being presented to the Legislative Council. Legislative Council The Legislative Council is the house of review. It contains forty members, elected from eight multi-member electorates known as regions. Each region returns five members for a four-year term. Each region contains eleven divisions from the Legislative Assembly. The council is elected using a single transferable vote with the option of group voting tickets. Casual vacancies are filled by a joint-sitting of both