In recent times, there has been a lot of discussion about "Question Time" in the Australian Parliament, whether or not it is a fairly managed institution and whether or not it is “damaging the public image of Parliament and politicians generally” – Australian Collaboration. Although Australia inherited the institution from the British Parliament, the Australian Parliamentary Office confirmed that “the committee has considered proposals to restructure Question Time with the aim of making it a more effective mechanism for seeking executive government accountability towards parliament". As Parliament is divided into two sections, the House of Representatives and the Senate, each requires separate question times, however this is ultimately the result of different sitting times. The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) suggests that Question Time is “one of the ways in which parliament monitors or closely scrutinizes the work of the executive government”. However, it is important to note that the way questions are handled in both chambers of Parliament is handled in the same way. According to the Parliamentary Education Office (PEO), the 'Question Time' procedure begins with the speaker calling in with questions unannounced and asking 'are there any questions'? The first question always comes from the opposition. The government and the opposition in turn ask questions of the prime minister or ministers.” Unannounced questions are as simple as they sound. This is purely a question asked of ministers who are not aware of it and is usually challenging and difficult to answer quickly. These questions are also masked by the opposition and, according to the PEO, “are intended to test the ability of ministers to... middle of paper......f-impartial-speakers-of-the-chamber4. Verdi, T. (2000). Questions Dix. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from The Greens Party: http://greens.org.au5. Hamer, D. (1994). Can responsible government survive in Australia? Canberra, ACT, Australia: Senate Department.6. SBS Policy. (2010, September). What role does the speaker play? Retrieved April 29, 2014, from SBS: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2010/09/16/qa-what-role-does-speaker-play7. The Australian collaboration. (2013, July). Democracy in Australia: Question Time reform. Retrieved May 8, 2014, from The Australian Collaboration: http://www.australiancollaboration.com.au/pdf/Democracy/Reform-question-time.pdf8. The Parliamentary Office for Education. (2012). Question Time. Retrieved May 8, 2014, from The Parliamentary Education Office: http://www.peo.gov.au/uploads/peo/docs/fact-sheets/question_time.pdf