{ Adopted: 1900 / In Force Since: 1 Jan 1901 / Status: 1988 }
{ The Constitution was adopted as a schedule to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 63 & 64 Vict Chapter 12 of the year 1900. }
Section 1 [Federal Parliament]
The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a
Federal Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, a Senate,
and a House of Representatives, and which is hereinafter called
"The Parliament", or "The Parliament of the Commonwealth."
Section 2 [Governor-General]
A Governor-General appointed by the Queen shall be Her Majesty's
representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have and may
exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen's pleasure, but
subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the
Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.
Section 3 [Governmental Remuneration]
There shall be payable to the Queen out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund of the Commonwealth, for the salary of the
Governor-General, an annual sum which, until the Parliament
otherwise provides, shall be ten thousand pounds. The salary of a
Governor-General shall not be altered during his continuance in
office.
Section 4 [Other Offices]
The provisions of this Constitution relating to the
Governor-General extend and apply to the Governor-General for the
time being, or such person as the Queen may appoint to administer
the Government of the Commonwealth; but no such person shall be
entitled to receive any salary from the Commonwealth in respect of
any other office during his administration of the Government of
the Commonwealth.
Section 5 [Convening Parliament]
(1) The Governor-General may appoint such times for holding the
sessions of the Parliament as he thinks fit, and may also from
time to time, by Proclamation or otherwise, prorogue the
Parliament, and may in like manner dissolve the House of
Representatives.
(2) After any general election the Parliament shall be summoned
to meet not later than thirty days after the day appointed for the
return of the writs.
(3) The Parliament shall by summoned to meet not later than six
months after the establishment of the Commonwealth.
Section 6 [Minimal Sessions]
There shall be a session of the Parliament once at least in every
year, so that twelve months shall not intervene between the last
sitting of the Parliament in one session and its first sitting in
the next session.
Section 7 [Senators]
(1) The Senate shall be composed of senators for each State,
directly chosen by the people of the State, voting, until the
Parliament otherwise provides, as one electorate.
(2) But until the Parliament of the Commonwealth otherwise
provides, the Parliament of the State of Queensland, if that State
be an Original State, may make laws dividing the State into
divisions and determining the number of senators to be chosen for
each division, and in the absence of such provision the State
shall be one electorate.
(3) Until the Parliament otherwise provides there shall be six
senators for each Original State. The Parliament may make laws
increasing or diminishing the number of senators for each State,
but so that equal representation of the several Original States
shall be maintained and that no Original State shall have less
than six senators.
(4) The senators shall be chosen for a term of six years, and the
names of the senators chosen for each State shall be certified by
the Governor to the Governor-General.
Section 8 [Electors of Senators]
The qualification of electors of senators shall be in each State
that which is prescribed by this Constitution, or by the
Parliament, as the qualification for electors of members of the
House of Representatives; but in the choosing of senators each
elector shall vote only once.
Section 9 [Electoral Method]
(1) The Parliament of the Commonwealth may make laws prescribing
the method of choosing senators, but so that the method shall be
uniform for all the States. Subject to any such law, the
Parliament of each State may make laws prescribing the method of
choosing the senators for that State.
(2) The Parliament of a State may make laws for determining the
times and places of elections of senators for the State.
Section 10 [State Methods]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to this
Constitution, the laws in force in each State, for the time being,
relating to elections for the more numerous House of the
Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as practicable, apply to
elections of senators for the State.
Section 11 [Electoral Failure]
The Senate may proceed to the despatch of business,
notwithstanding the failure of any State to provide for its
representation in the Senate.
Section 12 [Dissolution]
The Governor of any State may cause writs to be issued for
elections of senators for the State. In case of the dissolution
of the Senate the writs shall be issued within ten days from the
proclamation of such dissolution.
Section 13 [Term]
(1) As soon as may be after the Senate first meets, and after
each first meeting of the Senate following a dissolution thereof,
the Senate shall divide the senators chosen for each State into
two classes, as nearly equal in number as practicable; and the
places of the senators of the first class shall become vacant at
the expiration of three yearst and the places of those of the
second class at the expiration of six yearst, from the beginning
of their term of service; and afterwards the places of senators
shall become vacant at the expiration of six years from the
beginning of their term of service.
(2) The election to fill vacant places shall be made within one
year before the places are to become vacant.
(3) For the purposes of this section the term of service of a
senator shall be taken to begin on the first day of July following
the day of his election, except in the cases of the first election
and of the election next after any dissolution of the Senate, when
it shall be taken to begin on the first day of July preceding the
day of his election.
Section 14 [Adaptation of Numbers]
Whenever the number of senators for a State is increased or
diminished, the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make such
provision for the vacating of the places of senators for the State
as it deems necessary to maintain regularity in the rotation.
Section 15 [Vacancies]
(1) If the place of a senator becomes vacant before the
expiration of his term of service, the Houses of Parliament of the
State for which he was chosen, sitting and voting together or, if
there is only one House of that Parliament, that House, shall
choose a person to hold the place until the expiration of the
term, or until the election of a successor as hereinafter provided
whichever first happens. But if the Parliament of the State is
not in session when the vacancy is notified, the Governor of the
State, with the advice of the Executive Council thereof, may
appoint a person to hold the place until the expiration of
fourteen days from the beginning of the next session of the
Parliament of the State, or the expiration of the term, whichever
first happens.
(2) Where a vacancy has at any time occurred in the place of a
senator chosen by the people of a State and at the time when he
was so chosen, he was publicly recognized by a particular
political party as being an endorsed candidate of that party and
publicly represented himself to be such a candidate, a person
chosen or appointed under this section in consequence of that
vacancy, or in consequence of that vacancy and a subsequent
vacancy or vacancies, shall, unless there is no member of that
party available to be chosen or appointed, be a member of that
party.
(3) Where -
(a) in accordance with the last preceding paragraph, a member of a
particular political party is chosen or appointed to hold the
place of a senator whose place had become vacant; and
(b) before taking his seat he ceases to be a member of that party
(otherwise than by reason of the party having ceased to exist), he
shall he deemed not to have been so chosen or appointed and the
vacancy shall be again notified in accordance with Section 21
of this Constitution.
(4) The name of any senator chosen or appointed under this
section shall be certified by the Governor of the State to the
Governor-General.
(5) If the place of a senator chosen by the people of a State at
the election of senators last held before the commencement of the
Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual] Vacancies) 1977 became
vacant before that commencement and, at the commencement, no
person chosen by the House or Houses of Parliament of the State,
or appointed by the Governor of the State, in consequence of that
vacancy or in consequence of that vacancy and a subsequent vacancy
or vacancies, held office, this section applies as if the place of
the senator chosen by the people of the State had become vacant
after that commencement.
(6) A senator holding office at the commencement of the
Constitution Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977, being a
senator appointed by the Governor of a State in consequence of a
vacancy that had at any time occurred in the place of a senator
chosen by the people of the State, shall be deemed to have been
appointed to hold the place until the expiration of fourteen days
after the beginning of the next session of the Parliament of the
State that commenced or commences after he was appointed and
further action under this section shall be taken as if the vacancy
in the place of the senator chosen by the people of the State had
occurred after that commencement.
(7) Subject to the next succeeding paragraph, a senator holding
office at the commencement of the Constitution Alteration (Senate
Casual Vacancies) 1977 who was chosen by the House or Houses of
Parliament of a State in consequence of vacancy that had at any
time occurred in the place of a senator chosen by the people of
the State shall he deemed to have been chosen to hold office until
the expiration of the term of service of the senator elected by
the people of the State.
(8) If, at or before the commencement of the Constitution
Alteration (Senate Casual Vacancies) 1977, a law to alter the
Constitution entitled "Constitution Alteration (Simultaneous
Elections) 1977" came into operation, a senator holding office at
the commencement of that law who was chosen by the House or Houses
of Parliament of a State in consequence of a vacancy that had at
any time occurred in the place of a Senator chosen by the people
of the State shall be deemed to have been chosen to hold office -
(a) if the senator elected by the people of the State had a term
of service expiring on the thirtieth day of June, One thousand
nine hundred and seventy-eight - until the expiration or
dissolution of the first House of Representatives to expire or be
dissolved after that law came into operation; or
(b) if the senator elected by the people of the State had a term
of service expiring on the thirtieth day of June, One thousand
nine hundred and eighty-one - until the expiration or dissolution
of the second House of Representatives to expire or be dissolved
after that law came into operation or, if there is an earlier
dissolution of the Senate, until that dissolution.
Section 16 [Qualification of Senators]
The qualifications of a senator shall be the same as those of a
member of the House of Representatives.
Section 17 [President of the Senate]
(1) The Senate shall, before proceeding to the despatch of any
other business, choose a senator to be the President of the
Senate; and as often as the office of President becomes vacant the
Senate shall again choose a senator to be the President.
(2) The President shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to
be a senator. He may be removed from office by a vote of the
Senate, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing
addressed to the Governor-General.
Section 18 [Vice-President]
Before or during any absence of the President, the Senate may
choose a senator to perform his duties in his absence.
Section 19 [Resignation of Senators]
A senator may, by writing addressed to the President or to the
Governor-General if there is no President or if the President is
absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon
shall become vacant.
Section 20 [Mandatory Attendance of Senators]
The place of a senator shall become vacant if for two consecutive
months of any session of the Parliament he, without the permission
of the Senate, fails to attend the Senate.
Section 21 [Notification to the State]
Whenever a vacancy happens in the Senate, the President, or if
there is no President or if the President is absent from the
Commonwealth the Governor-General, shall notify the same to the
Governor of the State in the representation of which the vacancy
has happened.
Section 22 [Constitutive Presence of Senators]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of at least
one-third of the whole number of the senators shall be necessary
to constitute a meeting of the Senate for the exercise of its
powers.
Section 23 [Majority of Senators]
Questions arising in the Senate shall be determined by a majority
of votes, and each senator shall have one vote. The President
shall in all cases be entitled to a vote; and when the votes are
equal the question shall pass in the negative.
Section 24 [Number of Representatives]
(1) The House of Representatives shall be composed of members
directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth, and the number
of such members shall be, as nearly as practicable, twice the
number of the senators.
(2) The number of members chosen in the several States shall be
in proportion to the respective numbers of their people, and
shall, until the Parliament otherwise provides, be determined,
whenever necessary, in the following manner:
(i) A quota shall be ascertained by dividing the number of the
people of the Commonwealth, as shown by the latest statistics of
the Commonwealth, by twice the number the senators:
(ii) The number of members to be chosen in each State shall be
determined by dividing the number of the people of the State, as
shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, by the quota;
and if on such division there is a remainder greater than one-half
of the quota, one more member shall be chosen in the State.
(3) But notwithstanding anything in this section, five members at
least shall be chosen in each Original State.
Section 25 [Disqualification by Race]
For the purposes of the last section, if by the law of any State
all persons of any race are disqualified from voting at elections
for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the State, then,
in reckoning the number of the people of the State or of the
Commonwealth, persons of that race resident in that State shall
not be counted.
Section 26 [First Election]
(1) Notwithstanding anything in Section 24, the number of
members to be chosen in each State at the first election shall he
as follows:
New South Wales: 23
Victoria: 20
Queensland: 9
South Australia: 6
Tasmania: 5.
(2) Provided that if Western Australia is an Original State, the
numbers shall be as follows:
New South Wales: 26
Victoria: 23
Queensland: 9
South Australia: 7
Western Australia: 5
Tasmania: 5.
Section 27 [Changing Number of Representatives]
Subject to this Constitution, the Parliament may make laws for
increasing or diminishing the number of the members of the House
of Representatives.
Section 28 [Term]
Every House of Representatives shall continue for three years from
the first meeting of the House, and no longer, but may be sooner
dissolved by the Governor-General.
Section 29 [Eligibility, Electorate]
(1) Until the Parliament of the Commonwealth otherwise provides,
the Parliament of any State may make laws for determining the
divisions in each State for which members of the House of
Representatives may be chosen, and the number of members to be
chosen for each division. A division shall not be formed out of
parts of different States.
(2) In the absence of other provision, each State shall be one
electorate.
Section 30 [General Qualification of Representatives]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualification of
electors of members of the House of Representatives shall be in
each State that which is prescribed by the law of the State as the
qualification of electors of the more numerous House of Parliament
of the State; but in the choosing of members each elector shall
vote only once.
Section 31 [Electoral Method]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to this
Constitution, the laws in force in each State for the time being
relating to elections for the more numerous House of the
Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as practicable, apply to
elections in the State of members of the House of Representatives.
Section 32 [Writs for General Elections]
(1) The Governor-General in Council may cause writs to be issued
for general elections of members of the House of Representatives.
(2) After the first general election, the writs shall be issued
within ten days from the expiry of a House of Representatives or
from the proclamation of a dissolution thereof.
Section 33 [Writs for Vacancies]
Whenever a vacancy happens in the House of Representatives, the
Speaker shall issue his writ for the election of a new member, or
if there is no Speaker or if he is absent from the Commonwealth
the Governor-General in Council may issue the writ.
Section 34 [Special Qualifications of Representatives]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the qualifications of a
member of the House of Representatives shall be as follows:
(i) He must be of the full age of 21 years, and must be an elector
entitled to vote at the election of members of the House of
Representatives, or a person qualified to become such elector, and
must have been for three years at the least a resident within the
limits of the Commonwealth as existing at the time when he is
chosen:
(ii) He must be a subject of the Queen, either natural-born or for
at least five years naturalized under a law of the United Kingdom,
or of a Colony which has become or becomes a State, or of the
Commonwealth, or of a State.
Section 35 [Speaker]
(1) The House of Representatives shall, before proceeding to the
despatch of any other business, choose a member to be the Speaker
of the House, and as often as the office of Speaker becomes vacant
the House shall again choose a member to be the Speaker.
(2) The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be
a member. He may be removed from office by a vote of the House,
or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to
the Governor-General.
Section 36 [Vice-Speaker]
Before or during any absence of the Speaker, the House of
Representatives may choose a member to perform his duties in his
absence.
Section 37 [Resignation of Speaker]
A member may by writing addressed to the Speaker, or to the
Governor-General if there is no Speaker or if the Speaker is
absent from the Commonwealth, resign his place, which thereupon
shall become vacant.
Section 38 [Mandatory Attendance of Representatives]
The place of a member shall become vacant if for two consecutive
months of any session of the Parliament he, without the permission
of the House, fails to attend the House.
Section 39 [Constitutive Presence of Representatives]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the presence of at least
one-third of the whole number of the members of the House of
Representatives shall be necessary to constitute a meeting of the
House for the exercise of its powers.
Section 40 [Majority of Representatives]
Questions arising in the House of Representatives shall be
determined by a majority of votes other than that of the Speaker.
The Speaker shall not vote unless the numbers are equal; and then
he shall have a casting vote.
Section 41 [Eligibility]
No adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at elections
for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall,
while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the
Commonwealth from voting at elections for either House of the
Parliament of the Commonwealth.
Section 42 [Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance]
Every senator and every member of the House of Representatives
shall before taking his seat make and subscribe before the
Governor-General, or some person authorized by him, an oath or
affirmation of allegiance in the form set forth in the schedule to
this Constitution.
Section 43 [Vertical Incompatibility]
A member of either House of the Parliament shall be incapable of
being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House.
Section 44 [Exclusion from Eligibility]
(1) Any person who -
(i) Is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or
adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or
entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of
a foreign power; or
(ii) Is attained of treason, or has been convicted and is under
sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable
under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment
for one year or longer; or
(iii) Is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or
(iv) Holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension
payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the
revenues of the Commonwealth; or
(v) Has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement
with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a
member and in common with the other members of an incorporated
company consisting of more than twenty-five persons:
shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a
member of the House of Representatives.
(2) But Sub-section iv does not apply to the office of any of the
Queen's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth, or of any of the
Queen's Ministers for a State, or to the receipt of pay, half pay,
or a pension, by any person as an officer or member of the Queen's
navy or army, or to the receipt of pay as an officer or member of
the naval or military forces of the Commonwealth by any person
whose services are not wholly employed by the Commonwealth.
Section 45 [Exclusion]
If a senator or member of the House of Representatives -
(i) Becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in the
last preceding section: or
(ii) Takes the benefit, whether by assignment, composition, or
otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors:
or
(iii) Directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee or
honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth, or for
services rendered in the Parliament to any person or State:
his place shall thereupon become vacant.
Section 46 [Punishment]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any person declared by
this Constitution to be incapable of sitting as a senator or as a
member of the House of Representatives shall, for every day on
which he so sits, be liable to pay the sum of one hundred pound to
any person who sues for it in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Section 47 [Scrutiny of Qualification and Elections]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, any question respecting
the qualification of a senator or of a member of the House of
Representatives or respecting a vacancy in either House of the
Parliament, and any question of a disputed election to either
House, shall be determined by the House in which the question
arises.
Section 48 [Allowance of Senators and Representatives]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, each senator and each
member of the House of Representatives shall receive an allowance
of four hundred pounds a year, to be reckoned from the day on
which he takes his seat.
Section 49 [Powers, Privileges, Immunities]
The powers, privileges, and immunities of the Senate and of the
House of Representatives, and of the members and the committees of
each House, shall be such as are declared by the Parliament, and
until declared shall be those of the Commons House of Parliament
of the United Kingdom, and of its members and committees, at the
establishment of the Commonwealth.
Section 50 [Rules of Proceeding]
Each House of the Parliament may make rules and orders with
respect to -
(i) The mode in which its powers, privileges, and immunities may
be exercised and upheld:
(ii) The order and conduct of its business and proceedings either
separately or jointly with the other House.
Section 51 [Legislative Competencies]
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to
make laws
(i) Trade and commerce with other countries, and among the States;
(ii) Taxation
(iii) Bounties on the production or export of goods, but so that
such bounties shall be uniform throughout the Commonwealth;
(iv) Borrowing money on the public credit of the Commonwealth;
(v) Postal, telegraphic, telephonic, and other like services;
(vi) The naval and military defence of the Commonwealth and of the
several States, and the control of the forces to execute and
maintain the laws of the Commonwealth;
(vii) Lighthouses, lightships, beacons and buoys;
(viii) Astronomical and meteorological observations;
(ix) Quarantine;
(x) Fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits;
(xi) Census and statistics;
(xii) Currency, coinage, and legal tender;
(xiii) Banking, other than State banking; also State banking
extending beyond the limits of the State concerned, the
incorporation of banks, and the issue of paper money;
(xiv) Insurance, other than State insurance; also State insurance
extending beyond the limits of the State concerned;
(xv) Weights and measures;
(xvi) Bills of exchange and promissory notes;
(xvii) Bankruptcy and insolvency;
(xviii) Copyrights, patents of inventions and designs, and trade
marks;
(xiv) Naturalization and aliens;
(xx) Foreign corporations, and trading or financial corporations
formed within the limits of the Commonwealth;
(xxi) Marriage;
(xxii) Divorce and matrimonial causes; and in relation thereto,
parental rights, and the custody and guardianship of infants;
(xviii) Invalid and old-age pensions;
(xxiiiA) The provision of maternity allowances, widows' pensions,
child endowment, unemployment, pharmaceutical, sickness and
hospital benefits, medical and dental services (but not so as to
authorize any form of civil conscription), benefits to students
and family allowances;
(xxiv) The service and execution throughout the Commonwealth of
the civil and criminal process and the judgments of the courts of
the States;
(xxv) The recognition throughout the Commonwealth of the laws, the
public Acts and records, and the judicial proceedings of the
States;
(xxvi) The people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to
make special laws;
(xxvii) Immigration and emigration;
(xxviii) The influx of criminals;
(xxix) External affairs;
(xxx) The relations of the Commonwealth with the islands of the
Pacific;
(xxxi) The acquisition of property on just terms from any State or
person for any purpose in respect of which the Parliament has
power to make laws;
(xxxii) The control of railways with respect to transport for the
naval and military purposes of the Commonwealth;
(xxxiii) The acquisition, with the consent of a State, of any
railways of the State on terms arranged between the Commonwealth
and the State;
(xxxiv) Railway construction and extension in any State with the
consent of that State;
(xxxv) Conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and
settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of
any one State;
(xxxvi) Matters in respect of which this Constitution makes
provision until the Parliament otherwise provides;
(xxxvii) Matters referred to the Parliament of the Commonwealth by
the Parliament or Parliaments of any State or States, but so that
the law shall extend only to States by whose Parliaments the
matter is referred, or which afterwards adopt the law;
(xxxviii) The exercise within the Commonwealth, at the request or
with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all the States directly
concerned, of any power which can at the establishment of this
Constitution be exercised only by the Parliament of the United
Kingdom or by the Federal Council of Australasia;
(xxxix) Matters incidental to the execution of any power vested by
this Constitution in the Parliament or in either House thereof, or
in the Government of the Commonwealth, or in the Federal
judicature, or in any department or officer of the Commonwealth.
Section 52 [Exclusive Powers]
The Parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have exclusive
power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of
the Commonwealth with respect to -
(i) The seat of government of the Commonwealth, and all places
acquired by the Commonwealth for public purposes:
(ii) Matters relating to any department of the public service the
control of which is by this constitution transferred to the
Executive Government of the Commonwealth:
(iii) Other matters declared by this Constitution to be within the
exclusive power of the Parliament.
Section 53 [Tax Laws]
(1) Proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys, or imposing
taxation, shall not originate in the Senate. But a proposed law
shall not be taken to appropriate revenue or moneys, or to impose
taxation, by reason only of its containing provisions for the
imposition or appropriation of fines or other pecuniary penalties,
or for the demand or payment or appropriation of fees for
licenses, or fees for services under the proposed law.
(2) The Senate may not amend proposed laws imposing taxation, or
proposed laws appropriating revenue or moneys for the ordinary
annual services of the Government.
(3) The Senate may not amend any proposed law so as to increase
any proposed charge or burden on the people.
(4) The Senate may at any stage return to the House of
Representatives any proposed law which the Senate may not amend,
requesting, by message, the omission or amendment of any items or
provisions therein. And the House of Representatives may, if it
thinks fit, make any of such omissions or amendments, with or
without modifications.
(5) Except as provided in this section, the Senate shall have
equal power with the House of Representatives in respect of all
proposed laws.
Section 54 [Revenues for Services Laws]
The proposed law which appropriates revenue or moneys for the
ordinary annual services of the Government shall deal only with
such appropriation.
Section 55 [Exclusive Content of Revenue Laws]
(1) Laws imposing taxation shall deal only with the imposition of
taxation, and any provision therein dealing with any other matter
shall be of no effect.
(2) Laws imposing taxation, except laws imposing duties of
customs or of excise, shall deal with one subject of taxation
only; but laws imposing duties of customs shall deal with duties
of customs only, and laws imposing duties of excise shall deal
with duties of excise only.
Section 56 [Governor's Recommendation]
A vote, resolution, or proposed law for the appropriation of
revenue or moneys shall not be passed unless the purpose of the
appropriation has in the same session been recommended by message
of the Governor-General to the House in which the proposal
originated.
Section 57 [Legislative Conflicts]
(1) If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and
the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with
amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree,
and if after an interval of three months the House of
Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the
proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made,
suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or
fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House
of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General may
dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives
simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within
six months before the date of the expiry of the House of
Representatives by effluxion of time.
(2) If after such dissolution the House of Representatives again
passes the proposed law, with or without any amendments which have
been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate
rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which
the House of Representatives will not agree, the Governor-General
may convene a joint sitting of the members of the Senate and of
the House of Representatives.
(3) The members present at the joint sitting may deliberate and
shall vote together upon the proposed law as last proposed by the
House of Representatives, and upon amendments, if any, which have
been made therein by one House and not agreed to by the other, and
any such amendments which are affirmed by an absolute majority of
the total number of the members of the Senate and House of
Representatives shall be taken to have been carried, and if the
proposed law, with the amendments, if any, so carried is affirmed
by an absolute majority of the total number of the members of the
Senate and House of Representatives, it shall be taken to have
been duly passed by both Houses of the Parliament, and shall be
presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent.
Section 58 [Governor's Assent, Reservation, or Veto]
(1) When a proposed law passed by both Houses of the Parliament
is presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent, he
shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to this
Constitution, that he assents in the Queen's name or that he
withholds assent, or that he reserves the law for the Queen's
pleasure.
(2) The Governor-General may return to the house in which it
originated any proposed law so presented to him, and may transmit
therewith any amendments which he may recommend, and the Houses
may deal with the recommendation.
Section 59 [Queen's Disallowance]
The Queen may disallow any law within one year from the
Governor-General's assent, and such disallowance on being made
known by the Governor-General by speech or message to each of the
Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, shall annul the law
from the day when the disallowance is so made known.
Section 60 [Queen's Assent]
A proposed law reserved for the Queen's pleasure shall not have
any force unless and until within two years from the day on which
it was presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent
the Governor-General makes known, by speech or message to each of
the Houses of the Parliament, or by Proclamation, that it has
received the Queen's assent.
Section 61 [Head of Government]
The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and
is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's
representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of
this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth.
Section 62 [Federal Executive Council]
There shall be a Federal Executive Council to advise the
Governor-General in the government of the Commonwealth, and the
members of the Council shall be chosen and summoned by the
Governor-General and sworn as Executive Councillors, and shall
hold office during his pleasure.
Section 63 [Advisory Powers]
The provisions of this Constitution referring to the
Governor-General in council shall be construed as referring to the
Governor-General acting with the advice of the Federal Executive
Council.
Section 64 [Ministers of State]
(1) The Governor-General may appoint officers to administer such
departments of State of the Commonwealth as the Governor-General
in Council may establish.
(2) Such officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the
Governor-General. They shall be members of the Federal Executive
Council, and shall be the Queen's Ministers of State for the
Commonwealth.
(3) After the first general election, no Minister of State shall
hold office for a longer period than three months unless he is or
becomes a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.
Section 65 [Number of Ministers]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the Ministers of State
shall not exceed seven in number, and shall hold such offices as
the Parliament prescribes, or, in the absence of provision, as the
Governor-General directs.
Section 66 [Salaries of Ministers]
There shall be payable to the Queen, out of the Consolidated
Revenue Fund of the Commonwealth, for the salaries of the
Ministers of State, an annual sum which, until the Parliament
otherwise provides, shall not exceed twelve thousand pounds a
year.
Section 67 [Appointment and Removal of Officers]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the appointment and
removal of all other officers of the Executive Government of the
Commonwealth shall be vested in the Governor-General in Council,
unless the appointment is delegated by the Governor-General in
Council or by a law of the Commonwealth to some other authority.
Section 68 [Command in Chief of Armed Forces]
The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the
Commonwealth
Section 69 [Departments of Public Service]
(1) On a date or dates to be proclaimed by the Governor-General
after the establishment of the Commonwealth the following
departments of the public service in each state shall become
transferred to the Commonwealth:
- Posts, telegraphs, and telephones:
- Naval and military defence:
- Lighthouses, lightships beacons and buoys:
- Quarantine.
(2) But the departments of customs and of excise in each State
shall become transferred to the Commonwealth on its establishment.
Section 70 [Transfer of Old Powers]
In respect of matters which, under this Constitution, pass to the
Executive Government of the Commonwealth, all powers and functions
which at the establishment of the Commonwealth are vested in the
Governor of a Colony, or in the Governor of a Colony with the
advice of his Executive Council, or in any authority of a Colony,
shall vest in the Governor-General, or in the Governor-General in
Council, or in the authority exercising similar powers under the
Commonwealth, as the case requires.
Section 71 [High Court]
The judicial power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a
Federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of Australia
Section 72 [Appointment, Removal, and Term of Justices]
(1) The Justices of the High Court and of the other courts created
by the Parliament -
(i) Shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council:
(ii) Shall not be removed except by the Governor-General in
Council, on an address from both Houses of the Parliament in the
same session, praying for such removal on the ground of proved
misbehavior or incapacity:
(iii) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament may fix;
but the remuneration shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
(2) The appointment of a Justice of the High Court shall be for a
term expiring upon his attaining the age of seventy years and a
person shall not be appointed as a Justice of the High Court if he
has attained that age.
(3) The appointment of a Justice of a court created by the
Parliament shall be for a term expiring upon his attaining the age
that is, at the time of his appointment, the maximum age for
Justices of that court and a person shall not be appointed as a
Justice of such court if he has attained the age that is for the
time being the maximum age for Justices of that Court.
(4) Subject to this section, the maximum age for Justices of any
court created by the Parliament is seventy years.
(5) The Parliament may make a law fixing an age that is less than
seventy years as the maximum age for Justices of a court created
by the Parliament and may at any time repeal or amend such a law,
but any such repeal or amendment does not affect the term of
office of a Justice under an appointment made before the repeal or
amendment.
(6) A Justice of the High Court or of a court created by the
Parliament may resign his office by writing under his hand
delivered to the Governor-General.
(7) Nothing in the provisions added to this section by the
Constitution Alteration (Retirement of Judges) 1977 affects the
continuance of a person in office as a Justice of a court under an
appointment made before the commencement of those provisions.
(8) A reverence in this section to the appointment of a Justice
of the High Court or of a court created by the Parliament shall be
read as including a reference to the appointment of a person who
holds office as a Justice of the High court or of a court created
by the Parliament to another office of Justice of the same court
having a different status or designation.
Section 73 [Jurisdiction of the High Court]
(1) The High Court shall have jurisdiction, with such exceptions
and subject to such regulations as the Parliament prescribes, to
hear and determine appeals from all judgments, decrees, orders,
and sentences -
(i) Of any Justice or Justices exercising the original
jurisdiction of the High Court:
(ii) Of any other federal court, or court exercising federal
jurisdiction; or of the Supreme Court of any State, or of any
other court of any State from which at the establishment of the
Commonwealth an appeal lies to the Queen in Council:
(iii) Of the Inter-State Commission, but as to questions of law
only:
and the judgment of the High Court in all such cases shall be
final and conclusive.
(2) But no exception or regulation prescribed by the Parliament
shall prevent the High Court from hearing and determining any
appeal from the Supreme Court of a State in any matter in which at
the establishment of the Commonwealth an appeal lies from such
Supreme Court to the Queen in Council.
(3) Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the conditions of
and restrictions on appeals to the Queen in Council from the
Supreme Courts of the several States shall be applicable to
appeals from them to the High Court.
Section 74 [Supreme Jurisdiction of the High Court]
(1) No appeal shall be permitted to the Queen in Council from a
decision of the High Court upon any question, howsoever arising,
as to the limits inter se of the Constitutional powers of the
Commonwealth and those of any State or States, or as to the limits
inter se of the Constitutional powers of any two or more States,
unless the High Court shall certify that the question is one which
ought to be determined by Her Majesty in Council.
(2) The High Court may so certify if satisfied that for any
special reason the certificate should be granted, and thereupon an
appeal shall lie to Her Majesty in Council on the question without
further leave.
(3) Except as provided in this section, this Constitution shall
not impair any right which the Queen may be pleased to exercise by
virtue of Her Royal prerogative to grant special leave of appeal
from the High Court to Her Majesty in Council. The Parliament may
make laws limiting the matters in which such leave may be asked,
but proposed laws containing any such limitation shall be reserved
by the Governor-General for Her Majesty's pleasure.
Section 75 [Original Jurisdiction of the High Court]
In all matters -
(i) Arising under any treaty:
(ii) Affecting consuls or other representatives of other
countries:
(iii) In which the Commonwealth, or a person suing or being sued
on behalf of the Commonwealth, is a party:
(iv) Between States, or between residents of different States, or
between a State and a resident of another State:
(v) In which a writ of Mandamus or prohibition or an injunction is
sought against an officer of the Commonwealth:
the High Court shall have original jurisdiction.
Section 76 [Conferred Original Jurisdiction]
The Parliament may make laws conferring original jurisdiction on
the High Court in any matter -
(i) Arising under this Constitution, or involving its
interpretation:
(ii) Arising under any laws made by the Parliament:
(iii) Of Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction:
(il ) Relating to the same subject-matter claimed under the laws
of different States.
Section 77 [Jurisdiction of Federal Courts]
With respect to any of the matters mentioned in the last two
sections the Parliament may make laws -
(i) Defining the jurisdiction of any federal court other than the
High Court:
(ii) Defining the extent to which the jurisdiction of any federal
court shall be exclusive of that which belongs to or is invested
in the courts of the States:
(iii) Investing any court of a State with federal jurisdiction.
Section 78 [Recourse Against State Acts]
The Parliament may make laws conferring rights to proceed against
the Commonwealth or a State in respect of matters within the
limits of the judicial power.
Section 79 [Number of Judges]
The federal jurisdiction of any court may be exercised by such
number of judges as the Parliament prescribes.
Section 80 [Trial by Jury]
The trial on indictment of any offence against any law of the
Commonwealth shall be by jury, and every such trial shall be held
in the State where the offence was committed, and if the offence
was not committed within any State the trial shall be held at such
place or places as the Parliament prescribes.
Section 81 [Consolidated Revenue Fund]
All revenues or moneys raised or received by the Executive
Government of the Commonwealth shall form one Consolidated Revenue
Fund, to be appropriated for the purposes of the Commonwealth in
the manner and subject to the charges and liabilities imposed by
this Constitution.
Section 82 [Deduction of Administrative Expenses]
The costs, charges, and expenses incident to the collection,
management, and receipt of the Consolidated Revenue Fund shall
form the first charge thereon; and the revenue of the Commonwealth
shall in the first instance be applied to the payment of the
expenditure of the Commonwealth.
Section 83 [Rule of Law for Expenditure]
(1) No money shall be drawn from the Treasury of the Commonwealth
except under appropriation made by law.
(2) But until the expiration of one month after the first meeting
of the Parliament the Governor-General in Council may draw from
the Treasury and expend such moneys as may be necessary for the
maintenance of any department transferred to the Commonwealth and
for the holding of the first elections for the Parliament.
Section 84 [Transfer of Officers]
(1) When any department of the public service of a State becomes
transferred to the Commonwealth, all officers of the department
shall become subject to the control of the Executive Government of
the Commonwealth.
(2) Any such officer who is not retained in the service of the
Commonwealth shall, unless he is appointed to some other office of
equal emolument in the public service of the State, be entitled to
receive from the State any pension, gratuity, or other
compensation, payable under the law of the State on the abolition
of his office.
(3) Any such officer who is retained in the service of the
Commonwealth shall preserve all his existing and accruing rights,
and shall be entitled to retire from office at the time, and on
the pension or retiring allowance, which would be permitted by the
law of the State if his service with the Commonwealth were a
continuation of his service with the State. Such pension or
retiring allowance shall be paid to him by the Commonwealth; but
the State shall pay to the Commonwealth a part thereof, to be
calculated on the proportion which his term of service with the
State bears to his whole term of service, and for the purpose of
the calculation his salary shall be taken to be that paid to him
by the State at the time of the transfer.
(4) Any officer who is, at the establishment of the Commonwealth,
in the public service of a State, and who is, by consent of the
Governor of the State with the advice of the Executive Council
thereof, transferred to the public service of the Commonwealth,
shall have the same rights as if he had been an officer of a
department transferred to the Commonwealth and were retained in
the service of the Commonwealth.
Section 85 [Transfer of Property]
When any department of the public service of a State is
transferred to the Commonwealth -
(i) All property of the State of any kind, used exclusively in
connection with the department, shall become vested in the
Commonwealth; but, in the case of the departments controlling
customs and excise and bounties, for such time only as the
Governor-General in Council may declare to be necessary:
(ii) The Commonwealth may acquire any property of the State, of
any kind used, but not exclusively used in connection with the
department; the value thereof shall, if no agreement can be made,
be ascertained in, as nearly as may be, the manner in which the
value of land, or of an interest in land, taken by the State for
public purposes is ascertained under the law of the State in force
at the establishment of the Commonwealth:
(iii) The Commonwealth shall compensate the State for the value of
any property passing to the Commonwealth under this section; if no
agreement can be made as to the mode of compensation, it shall be
determined under laws to be made by the Parliament:
(iv) The Commonwealth shall, at the date of the transfer, assume
the current obligations of the State in respect of the department
transferred.
Section 86 [Collection of Revenue]
On the establishment of the Commonwealth, the collection and
control of duties of customs and of excise, and the control of the
payment of bounties, shall pass to the Executive Government of the
Commonwealth.
Section 87 [Sharing of Revenue]
(1) During a period of ten years after the establishment of the
Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise
provides, of the net revenue of the Commonwealth from duties of
customs and of excise not more than one-fourth shall be applied
annually by the Commonwealth towards its expenditure.
(2) The balance shall, in accordance with this Constitution, be
paid to the several States, or applied towards the payment of
interest on debts of the several States taken over by the
Commonwealth.
Section 88 [Uniform Duties of Customs]
Uniform duties of customs shall be imposed within two years after
the establishment of the Commonwealth.
Section 89 [Exclusive Revenue of States]
Until the imposition of uniform duties of customs -
(i) The Commonwealth shall credit to each State the revenues
collected therein by the Commonwealth.
(ii) The Commonwealth shall debit to each State -
(a) The expenditure therein of the Commonwealth incurred solely
for the maintenance or continuance, as at the time of transfer, of
any department transferred from the State to the Commonwealth;
(b) The proportion of the State, according to the number of its
people in the other expenditure of the Commonwealth.
(iii) The Commonwealth shall pay to each State month by month the
balance (if any) in favor of the State.
Section 90 [Exclusive Power to Impose Duties of Customs]
(1) On the imposition of uniform duties of customs the power of
the Parliament to impose duties of customs and of excise, and to
grant bounties on the production or export of goods, shall become
exclusive.
(2) On the imposition of uniform duties of customs all laws of
the several States imposing duties of customs or of excise, or
offering bounties on the production or export of goods, shall
cease to have effect, but any grant of or agreement for any such
bounty lawfully made by or under the authority of the Government
of any State shall be taken to be good if made before the
thirtieth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and
ninety-eight, and not otherwise.
Section 91 [Aid or Bounties of the States]
Nothing in this Constitution prohibits a State from granting any
aid to or bounty on mining for gold, silver, or other metals, nor
from granting, with the consent of both Houses of the Parliament
of the Commonwealth expressed by resolution any aid to or bounty
on the production or export of goods.
Section 92 [No Internal Borders]
(1) On the imposition of uniform duties of customs, trade,
commerce, and intercourse among the states, whether by means of
internal carriage or ocean navigation, shall be absolutely free.
(2) But notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, goods
imported before the imposition of uniform duties of customs into
any State, or into any Colony which, whilst the goods remain
therein, becomes a State, shall, on thence passing into another
State within two years after the imposition of such duties, be
liable to any duty chargeable on the importation of such goods
into the Commonwealth, less any duty paid in respect of the goods
on their importation.
Section 93 [Transitional Customs Provisions]
During the first five years after the imposition of uniform duties
of customs, and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise
provides -
(i) The duties of customs chargeable on goods imported into a
State and afterwards passing into another State for consumption,
and the duties of excise paid on goods produced or manufactured in
a State and afterwards passing into another State for consumption,
shall be taken to have been collected not in the former but in the
latter State:
(ii) Subject to the last subsection, the Commonwealth shall credit
revenue, debit expenditure, and pay balances to the several States
as prescribed for the period preceding the imposition of uniform
duties of customs.
Section 94 [Payment of Surplus Revenue]
After five years from the imposition of uniform duties of customs,
the Parliament may provide, on such basis as it deems fair, for
the monthly payment to the several States of all surplus revenue
of the Commonwealth.
Section 95 [Western Australia Customs]
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the Parliament
of the State of Western Australia, if that State be an Original
State, may, during the first five years after the imposition of
uniform duties of customs, impose duties of customs on goods
passing into that State and not originally imported from beyond
the limits of the Commonwealth; and such duties shall be collected
by the Commonwealth.
(2) But any duty so imposed on any goods shall not exceed during
the first of such years the duty chargeable on the goods under the
law of Western Australia in force at the imposition of uniform
duties and shall not exceed during the second, third, fourth, and
fifth of such years respectively, four-fifths, three-fifths,
two-fifths, and one-fifth of such latter duty, and all duties
imposed under this section shall cease at the expiration of the
fifth year after the imposition of uniform duties.
(3) If at any time during the five years the duty on any goods
under this section is higher than the duty imposed by the
Commonwealth on the importation of the like goods, then such
higher duty shall be collected on the goods when imported into
Western Australia from beyond the limits of the Commonwealth.
Section 96 [Financial Assistance to States]
During a period of ten years after the establishment of the
Commonwealth and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise
provides, the Parliament may grant financial assistance to any
State on such terms and conditions as the Parliament thinks fit.
Section 97 [Transition of Colony Revenue Laws]
Until the Parliament otherwise provides, the laws in force in any
colony which has become or becomes a State with respect to the
receipt of revenue and the expenditure of money on account of the
Government of the Colony, and the review and audit of such receipt
and expenditure, shall apply to the receipt of revenue and the
expenditure of money on account of the Commonwealth in the State
in the same manner as if the Commonwealth, or the Government or an
officer of the Commonwealth, were mentioned whenever the Colony,
or the Government or an officer of the Colony is mentioned.
Section 98 [Navigation, Shipping, Railways]
The power of the Parliament to make laws with respect to trade and
commerce extends to navigation and shipping, and to railways the
property of any State.
Section 99 [Equality of States]
The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade,
commerce or revenue, give preference to one State or any part
thereof over another State or any part thereof.
Section 100 [Rights to Water]
The Commonwealth shall not, by any law or regulation of trade or
commerce, abridge the right of a State or of the residents therein
to the reasonable use of the waters of rivers for conservation or
irrigation.
Section 101 [Inter-State Commission]
There shall be an Inter-State Commission, with such powers of
adjudication and administration as the Parliament deems necessary
for the execution and maintenance, within the Commonwealth, of the
provisions of this Constitution relating to trade and commerce,
and of all laws made thereunder.
Section 102 [No Discrimination Concerning Railways]
The Parliament may by any law with respect to trade or commerce
forbid, as to railways, any preference or discrimination by any
State, or by any authority constituted under a State, if such
preference or discrimination is undue and unreasonable, or unjust
to any State; due regard being had to the financial
responsibilities incurred by any State in connection with the
construction and maintenance of its railways. But no preference
or discrimination shall, within the meaning of this section, be
taken to be undue and unreasonable, or unjust to any State, unless
so adjudged by the Inter-State Commission.
Section 103 [Membership in the Inter-State Commission]
The members of the Inter-State Commission -
(i) Shall be appointed by the Governor-General in Council:
(ii) Shall hold office for seven years, but may be removed within
that time by the Governor-General in Council, on an address from
both Houses of the Parliament in the same session praying for such
removal on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity:
(iii) Shall receive such remuneration as the Parliament may fix;
but such remuneration shall not be diminished during their
continuance in office.
Section 104 [Railway Rates]
Nothing in this Constitution shall render unlawful any rate for
the carriage of goods upon a railway, the property of a State, if
the rate is deemed by the Inter-State Commission to be necessary
for the development of the territory of the State, and if the rate
applies equally to goods within the State and to goods passing
into the State from other States.
Section 105 [Consolidation of State Debts]
The Parliament may take over from the States their public debts,
or a proportion thereof according to the respective numbers of
their people as shown by the latest statistics of the
Commonwealth, and may convert, renew, or consolidate such debts,
or any part thereof; and the States shall indemnify the
Commonwealth in respect of the debts taken over, and thereafter
the interest payable in respect of the debts shall be deducted and
retained from the portions of the surplus revenue of the
Commonwealth payable to the several States, or if such surplus is
insufficient, or if there is no surplus, then the deficiency or
the whole amount shall be paid by the several States.
Section 105a [Consolidation Agreements]
(1) The Commonwealth may make agreements with the States with
respect to the public debts of the States including:
(a) the taking over of such debts by the Commonwealth;
(b) the management of such debts;
(c) the payment of interest and the provision and management of
sinking funds in respect of such debts;
(d) the consolidation, renewal, conversion, and redemption of such
debts;
(e) the indemnification of the Commonwealth by the States in
respect of debts taken over by the Commonwealth; and
(f) the borrowing of money by the States or by the Commonwealth or
by the Commonwealth for the States.
(2) The Parliament may make laws for validating any such
agreement made before the commencement of this section.
(3) The Parliament may make laws for the carrying out by the
parties thereto of any such agreement.
(4) Any such agreement may be varied or rescinded by the parties
thereto.
(5) Every such agreement and any such variation thereof shall be
binding upon the Commonwealth and the States parties thereto
notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution or the
Constitution of the several States or in any law of the Parliament
of the Commonwealth or of any State.
(6) The powers conferred by this section shall not be construed as
being limited in any way by the provisions of Section 105 of
this Constitution.
Section 106 [Continuity of State Government]
The Constitution of each State of the Commonwealth shall, subject
to this Constitution, continue as at the establishment of the
Commonwealth, or as at the admission or establishment of the
State, as the case may be, until altered in accordance with the
Constitution of the State.
Section 107 [Continuity of Colony Government]
Every power of the Parliament of a Colony which has become or
becomes a State, shall, unless it is by this Constitution
exclusively vested in the Parliament of the Commonwealth or
withdrawn from the Parliament of the State, continue as at the
establishment of the Commonwealth, or as at the admission or
establishment of the State, as the case may be.
Section 108 [Continuity of Colony Legislation]
Every law in force in a Colony which has become or becomes a
State, and relating to any matter within the powers of the
Parliament of the Commonwealth, shall, subject to this
Constitution, continue in force in the State; and until provision
is made in that behalf by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, the
Parliament of the State shall have such powers of alteration and
of repeal in respect of any such law as the Parliament of the
Colony had until the Colony became a State.
Section 109 [Priority of Commonwealth Law over State Law]
When a law of a State is inconsistent with a law of the
Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to
the extent of inconsistency, be invalid.
Section 110 [Binding Force on State Governors]
The provisions of this Constitution relating to the Governor of a
State extend and apply to the Governor for the time being of the
State, or other chief executive office or administrator of the
government of the State.
Section 111 [Surrendering Part of a State]
The Parliament of a State may surrender any part of the State to
the Commonwealth; and upon such surrender, and the acceptance
thereof by the Commonwealth, such part of the State shall become
subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Commonwealth.
Section 112 [Inspection Charges on Customs]
After uniform duties of customs have been imposed, a State may
levy on imports or exports, or on goods passing into or out of the
State, such charges as may be necessary for executing the
inspection laws of the State; but the net produce of all charges
so levied shall be for the use of the Commonwealth; and any such
inspection laws may be annulled by the Parliament of the
Commonwealth.
Section 113 [Liquids Customs]
All fermented, distilled, or other intoxicating liquids passing
into any State or remaining therein for use, consumption, sale, or
storage, shall be subject to the laws of the State as if such
liquids had been produced in the State.
Section 114 [Monopoly on Armed Forces]
A State shall not, without the consent of the Parliament of the
Commonwealth, raise or maintain any naval or military force, or
impose any tax on property of any kind belonging to the
Commonwealth, nor shall the Commonwealth impose any tax on
property of any kind belonging to a State.
Section 115 [Monopoly on Coinage of Money]
A State shall not coin money, nor make anything but gold and
silver coin a legal tender in payment of debts.
Section 116 [Freedom of Religion, Secular State]
The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any
religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for
prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious
test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public
trust under the Commonwealth.
Section 117 [Citizens' Equality]
A subject of the Queen, resident in any State, shall not be
subject in any other State to any disability or discrimination
which would not be equally applicable to him if he were a subject
of the Queen resident in such other State.
Section 118 [Mutual Respect for State Authority]
Full faith and credit shall be given, throughout the Commonwealth
to the laws, the public acts and records, and the judicial
proceedings of every State.
Section 119 [Protection of the States]
The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion and,
on the application of the Executive Government of the State,
against domestic violence.
Section 120 [Prisons]
Every State shall make provision for the detention in its prisons
of persons accused or convicted of offences against the laws of
the Commonwealth, and for the punishment of persons convicted of
such offences, and the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make
laws to give effect to this provision.
Section 121 [Admission or Establishment]
The Parliament may admit to the Commonwealth or establish new
States, and may upon such admission or establishment make or
impose such terms and conditions, including the extent of
representation in either House of the Parliament, as it thinks
fit.
Section 122 [Government of Surrendered Territories]
The Parliament may make laws for the government of any territory
surrendered by any State to and accepted by the Commonwealth, or
of any territory placed by the Queen under the authority of and
accepted by the Commonwealth, or otherwise acquired by the
Commonwealth, and may allow the representation of such territory
in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on the terms
which it thinks fit.
Section 123 [New Delimitation of States]
The Parliament of the Commonwealth may, with the consent of the
Parliament of a State, and the approval of the majority of the
electors of the State voting upon the question, increase,
diminish, or otherwise alter the limits of the State, upon such
terms and conditions as may be agreed on, and may, with the like
consent, make provision respecting the effect and operation of any
increase or diminution or alteration of territory in relation to
any State affected.
Section 124 [Spinning Off of New States]
A new State may be formed by separation of territory from a State,
but only with the consent of the Parliament thereof, and a new
State may be formed by the union of two or more State
or parts of States, but only with the consent of the Parliaments
of the States affected.
Section 125 [Seat of Government]
(1) The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be
determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which
shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and
shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in
the State of New South Wales, and be distant not less than one
hundred miles from Sydney.
(2) Such territory shall contain an area of not less than one
hundred square miles, and such portion thereof as shall consist of
Crown lands shall be granted to the Commonwealth without any
payment therefor.
(3) The Parliament shall sit at Melbourne until it meets at the
seat of Government.
Section 126 [Governor's Deputies]
The Queen may authorize the Governor-General to appoint any
person, or any persons jointly or severally, to be his deputy or
deputies within any part of the Commonwealth, and in that capacity
to exercise during the pleasure of the Governor-General such
powers and functions of the Governor-General as he thinks fit to
assign to such deputy or deputies, subject to any limitations
expressed or directions given by the Queen; but the appointment of
such deputy or deputies shall not affect the exercise by the
Governor-General himself of any power or function.
Section 128 [Method of Constitutional Alteration]
This Constitution shall not be altered except in the following
manner:
(1) The proposed law for the alteration thereof must be passed by
an absolute majority of each House of the Parliament, and not less
than two nor more than six months after its passage through both
Houses the proposed law shall be submitted in each State and
Territory to the electors qualified to vote for the election of
members of the House of Representatives.
(2) But if either House passes any such proposed law by an
absolute majority, and the other House rejects or fails to pass
it, or passes it with any amendment to which the first-mentioned
House will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the
first-mentioned House in the same or the next session again passes
the proposed law by an absolute majority with or without any
amendment which has been made or agreed to by the other House, and
such other House rejects or fails to pass it or passes it with any
amendment to which the first-mentioned House will not agree, the
Governor-General may submit the proposed law as last proposed by
the first-mentioned House, and either with or without any
amendments subsequently agreed to by both Houses, to the electors
in each State and Territory qualified to vote for the election of
the House of Representatives.
(3) When a proposed law is submitted to the electors the vote
shall be taken in such manner as the Parliament prescribes. But
until the qualification of electors of members of the House of
Representatives becomes uniform throughout the Commonwealth, only
one-half the electors voting for and against the proposed law
shall be counted in any State in which adult suffrage prevails.
(4) And if in a majority of the States a majority of the electors
voting approve the proposed law, and if a majority of all the
electors voting also approve the proposed law, it shall be
presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent.
(5) No alteration diminishing the proportionate representation of
any State in either House of the Parliament, or the minimum number
of representatives of a State in the House of Representatives, or
increasing, diminishing, or otherwise altering the limits of the
State, or in any manner affecting the provisions of the
Constitution in relation thereto, shall become law unless the
majority of the electors voting in that State approve the proposed
law.
(6) In this section "Territory" means any territory referred to
in Section 122 of this Constitution in respect of which there
is a law in force allowing its representation in the House of
Representatives.