The 46th Parliament of Australia has begun work in Canberra, welcoming 19 new Senators and 27 new members - and a new Governor-General, David Hurley.
"I wish you well as you proceed in your service of our good and decent country. And with these words, it is my duty and my very great pleasure to declare the 46th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia open."
The number of women in the Australian parliament is at a record high with women now making up a third of all federal MPs, following the May election.The Liberal National Coalition now has 28 women in the parliament - 14 in the Lower House and 14 in the Senate.
While it is an increase from the previous term, it's almost half of Labor's 46 female representatives - 28 MPs and 18 senators. New Member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, says Labor is now closer to making its quota of 50 per cent women by 2025.
"The Labor party has done a lot of work creating a culture, we have more females and I'm just so lucky - what wonderful role models I have Tanya Plibersek, Linda Burney, Penny Wong... the list just goes on and on."
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