Australia-Asia parliamentary vs British parliamentary

While there are many types of debating styles all over the world, a majority of the population agrees on 2 big debating styles for academic debating. That being Australia-Asia parliamentary, often shortened to Austral, and British parliamentary. There are some notable differences between these 2 styles, specifically on the teams and how they are structured.

British parliamentary has 2 teams on each side of the debate. That means 2 Government teams and 2 Opposition teams, totaling 4 teams overall. Even though there are 2 teams on each side, if a side wins, that does not mean that both team wins. Depending on the style, there will usually be only 1 winner team and the rest being runner ups, so each team is expected to keep relevancy and presence throughout the debate using Points of Information or POIs. The length of a speech allowed is usually 5-7 minutes but some events or institutions might increase or decrease the times.

On the other hand, Austral style debating involves 2 teams, the government and the opposition, with 3 speakers each. Each team are still allowed to use POIs, and whoever’s side wins the case, that team will win the debate. Debate time again varies based on event or institution, however in most cases it is similar in length as British parliamentary clocking in at about 5-7 minutes