What does the Australian Constitution do?Īustralia is a federation of states which each have their own constitution, government and laws. The Constitution drawn up at the conventions was included as part of this Act, which declared that ‘The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows:-…’. The purpose of the Act was ‘to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia’.

The new Australian nation was established on 1 January 1901 following the passing of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act by the United Kingdom Parliament. The draft constitution was later approved by a vote of the people in referendums held in each colony. When the colonies decided to join together in a federation, representatives from each colony were elected to attend meetings (called constitutional conventions) to draw up a constitution for the new nation. How was the Australian Constitution created?īefore 1901 the present Australian States were separate colonies of the then British Empire.

The Constitution of Australia has a special status-it cannot be changed in the same way as other laws can be changed and it is a supreme law, that is, it overrides other laws. In some countries laws forming the constitution are ordinary laws which can be changed just like any other law, but in most countries the laws forming the constitution have a special status. Such rules may be based on tradition or may be written down in the form of a law or a number of laws. A national constitution is a set of rules for governing a country.

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