The Senate elects one of its members as president at the start of each new term, or whenever the position is vacant.

[1] The president of the Senate's primary task is to maintain parliamentary procedure in the chamber during legislative sessions.

If there are no other nominations, no election is required; however, the Australian Greens in 2005 and again in 2007 put forward Senator Kerry Nettle as a rival candidate when the position of president was vacant.

The president also co-administers the Department of Parliament Services (DPS) with the speaker of the House of Representatives.

[4] The president of the Senate is ranked highly in the Commonwealth Table of Precedence, either before or after the speaker of the House of Representatives depending on seniority.

[4] As with all other parliamentarians, the president of the Senate's salary is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal, an independent statutory body.

Until 1981, the title was just Chairman of Committees; it was changed "to reflect more accurately the nature of the office in practice".

The position is not provided for by the constitution, but instead by the Senate's standing orders – it was borrowed more or less directly from the colonial legislative councils.