On the evening of Monday, 19 July, the House of Representatives and half the Senate were dissolved, writs were issued for a general election, and both the federal government and the Australian Public Service went into caretaker mode. What does ‘caretaker’ mean in this context? It’s a long-established convention which goes to the heart of our democratic system and the ideas of responsible government that underpin it. Find out more in our Prime Fact 63, The Caretaker Conventions in Australia available for download