Back دستور أستراليا Arabic Канстытуцыя Аўстраліі Byelorussian Constitució d'Austràlia Catalan Verfassung von Australien German Constitution of Australia English Konstitucio de Aŭstralio Esperanto Constitución de Australia Spanish Austraalia põhiseadus Estonian قانون اساسی استرالیا Persian Australian perustuslaki Finnish
| Constitution of Australia | |
|---|---|
| Created | 1898-1900 |
| Ratified | 9 July 1900 |
| Location | National Archives of Australia, Canberra, Australia |
| Author(s) | Sir Samuel Walker Griffith, Andrew Inglis Clark, and others. |
| Signatories | Queen Victoria |
| Purpose | To join the Australian colonies as a single nation, and make the law under which the Australian Commonwealth Government operates |
The Constitution of Australia is the law that set up the Australian Commonwealth Government and says how it works. It is made up of several documents. The most important is the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. The people of Australia voted in referendums from 1898–1900 to accept the Constitution. The Constitution was then passed as a part of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Queen Victoria signed it on 9 July 1900. The Constitution became law on 1 January 1901. Even though the Constitution was an Act of the United Kingdom parliament, the Australia Acts took away the power of the United Kingdom parliament to change the Constitution. Now only the Australian people can change it by referendum.
Two other laws support the Australian Constitution. The first is the Statute of Westminster, as passed by the Commonwealth as the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942. The second is the Australia Act 1986, which was passed by the Parliaments of every Australian state, the United Kingdom, and the Australian Federal Parliament. Together, these Acts had the effect of cutting all constitutional links between Australia and the United Kingdom. Even though the same person, King Charles III, is the monarch of both countries, these are now separate countries.
Under Australia's common law system, the High Court of Australia and the Federal Court of Australia have the power to decide what the constitution actually means.[1]
- ↑ The High Court's jurisdiction is under s.30, and the Federal Court's s.39B, of the Judiciary Act 1903 (Cth).