Constitution of Australia

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Constitution of Australia

Created 1898-1900
Ratified 9 July 1900
Location National Archives of
Australia, Canberra,
Australia
Authors Sir Samuel Walker
Griffith, Andrew Inglis
Clark, (et al.)
Signers Queen Victoria
Purpose To unify the Australian
colonies as a single
nation, and create the
law under which the
Australian
Commonwealth
Government operates
Australia

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The Constitution of Australia is the supreme law under which the Australian
Commonwealth Government operates. It consists of several documents. The most important is
the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution was approved in
referendums held over 1898–1900 by the people of the Australian colonies, and the approved
draft was enacted as a section of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900
(Imp), an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The Commission of Assent was signed by Queen Victoria on 9 July 1900, upon which
the Constitution became law. The Constitution came into force on 1 January 1901. Even though
the Constitution was originally given legal force by an Act of the United Kingdom parliament,
the Australia Acts removed the power of the United Kingdom parliament to change the
Constitution, and only the Australian people can amend it (by referendum).

Other pieces of legislation have constitutional significance for Australia. These are the
Statute of Westminster, as adopted by the Commonwealth in the Statute of Westminster
Adoption Act 1942, and the Australia Act 1986, which was passed in equivalent forms by the
Parliaments of every Australian state, the United Kingdom, and the Australian Federal
Parliament. Together, these Acts had the effect of severing all constitutional links between
Australia and the United Kingdom. Even though the same person, Queen Elizabeth II, is the
monarch of both countries, she acts in a distinct capacity as monarch of each.

Under Australia's common law system, the High Court of Australia and the Federal Court of
Australia have the authority to interpret constitutional provisions.[1] Their decisions determine the
interpretation and application of the constitution.

Contents
• 1 History
o 1.1 Federation
o 1.2 The Statute of Westminster and the Australia Acts
• 2 Articles
o 2.1 The Parliament
o 2.2 The Executive Government
o 2.3 The Judicature
o 2.4 Finance and Trade
o 2.5 The States
o 2.6 New States
o 2.7 Miscellaneous
o 2.8 Alteration of the Constitution
• 3 Amendments
• 4 The role of conventions
• 5 Interpretation
• 6 Criticism
o 6.1 Protection of rights
o 6.2 Preamble
o 6.3 Republic proposals
• 7 Commemoration
• 8 See also
• 9 Notes
• 10 References

• 11 External links

History
Main article: Constitutional history of Australia

The history of the Constitution of Australia began with moves towards federation in the 19th
century, which culminated in the federation of the Australian colonies to form the
Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. However, the Constitution has continued to develop since
then, with two laws having particularly significant impact on the constitutional status of the
nation.

Federation

Main article: Federation of Australia

In the mid-19th century, a desire to facilitate cooperation on matters of mutual interest,

especially intercolonial tariffs, led to proposals to unite the separate British colonies in Australia
under a single federation. However, impetus mostly came from Britain and there was only
lackluster local support.[2] The smaller colonies feared domination by the larger ones; Victoria
and New South Wales disagreed over the ideology of protectionism; the then-recent American
Civil War also hampered the case for federalism. These difficulties led to the failure of several
attempts to bring about federation in the 1850s and 1860s.

By the 1880s, fear of the growing presence of the Germans and the French in the Pacific,
coupled with a growing Australian identity, created the opportunity for establishing the first
inter-colonial body, the Federal Council of Australasia, established in 1885. The Federal Council
could legislate on certain subjects, but did not have a permanent secretariat, an executive, or
independent source of revenue. The absence of New South Wales, the largest colony, also
diminished its representative value.

Henry Parkes, the Premier of New South Wales, was instrumental in pushing for a series of
conferences in the 1890s to discuss federalism – one in Melbourne in 1890, and another (the
National Australasian Convention) in Sydney in 1891, attended by colonial leaders. By the 1891
conference, significant momentum had been built for the federalist cause, and discussion turned
to the proper system of government for a federal state. Under the guidance of Sir Samuel
Griffith, a draft constitution was drawn up. However, these meetings lacked popular support.
Furthermore, the draft constitution side-stepped certain important issues, such as tariff policy.
The draft of 1891 was submitted to colonial parliaments but lapsed in New South Wales, after
which the other colonies were unwilling to proceed.

In 1895, the six premiers of the Australian colonies agreed to establish a new Convention by
popular vote. The Convention met over the course of a year from 1897 to 1898. The meetings
produced a new draft which contained substantially the same principles of government as the
1891 draft, but with added provisions for responsible government. To ensure popular support, the
draft was presented to the electors of each colony. After one failed attempt, an amended draft
was submitted to the electors of each colony except Western Australia. After ratification by the
five colonies, the Bill was presented to the Westminster Parliament with an Address requesting
the Queen to enact the Bill.
Before the Bill was passed, however, one final change was made by the imperial government,
upon lobbying by the Chief Justices of the colonies, so that the right to appeal from the High
Court to the Privy Council on constitutional matters concerning the limits of the powers of the
Commonwealth or States could not be curtailed by parliament. Finally, the Commonwealth of
Australia Constitution Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1900. Western Australia
finally agreed to join the Commonwealth in time for it to be an original member of the
Commonwealth of Australia, which was officially established on 1 January 1901.

In 1990, the original copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 from the
Public Records Office in London was lent to Australia, and the Australian government requested
permission to keep the copy. The British parliament agreed by passing the Australian
Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990.

The Statute of Westminster and the Australia Acts

Although Federation is often regarded as the moment of "independence" of Australia from

Britain, legally the Commonwealth was a creation of the British Imperial Parliament, through the
Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), which applied to Australia by
paramount force. As a result, there was continued uncertainty as to the applicability of British
Imperial laws to the Commonwealth. This was resolved by the Statute of Westminster 1931,
adopted by the Commonwealth via the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942. The Statute of
Westminster freed the Dominions, including the Commonwealth, from Imperial restrictions.[3]
Legally, this is often regarded as the moment of Australia's national independence.

However, Imperial laws continued to be paramount in Australian states. This was resolved by the
Australia Act 1986, which was passed in substantially the same form by the parliaments of
Australia, the United Kingdom, and each of the states. In addition to ending the British
Parliament's power to legislate over Australian states, the Australia Acts also cut the last avenues
of appeal from the Australian courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. As a symbol
of the significance of this legislation, Queen Elizabeth II travelled to Australia to personally sign
the proclamation of the law.

One result of these two laws is that Australia is now a fully independent country, and the text of
the Constitution is now regarded as fully separated from the text in the original Act, since only
the Australian people can amend the Constitution, by referendum[citation needed]. However, the Act
remains on the UK's law book with a citiation noting "The Constitution is not necessarily in the
form in which it is in force in Australia". Even if the United Kingdom Parliament were to repeal
the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, it would have no effect on Australia[citation
needed]
.

Articles
The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp) contains a Preamble, and nine
sections. Sections 1 – 8 cover clauses outlining the legal procedures for the establishment of the
Commonwealth. Section 9, beginning with the words "The Constitution of the Commonwealth
shall be as follows ...", contains the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. The
Constitution itself is divided into eight chapters, containing 128 sections.

The Parliament

Chapter I sets up the legislative branch of government, the Parliament of Australia, which
consists of three constituent parts: The Sovereign (King or Queen) of Australia, who is
represented by the Governor-General of Australia; the House of Representatives; and the Senate.
Section 1 provides that legislative power is vested in this Parliament, which has paramount
power of governance.

Part II of this chapter deals with the Senate. Senators are to be "directly chosen by the people of
the State", voting as a single electorate. Each State is to have the same number of senators.
Currently, there are 12 senators for each State, and 2 each for the mainland territories, the
Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

Part III deals with the House of Representatives. As nearly as practicable, Section 24 requires the
House to be composed of twice as many members as the Senate, each elected by a single
electorate. This is the so-called 'Nexus', which is designed to prevent swamping of the senate's
power in the case of a joint sitting (see Section 57 below). The number of electorates in a State is
to be (roughly) proportional to its share of the national population.

Part IV ("Both Houses of the Parliament") deals with eligibility for voting and election to the
parliament, parliamentary allowances, parliamentary rules and related matters.

Part V deals with the powers of the parliament. Section 51 deals with powers of the
Commonwealth parliament and are called "specific powers". These contain "concurrent powers",
in the sense that both the Commonwealth and States can legislate on these subjects, although
federal law prevails in the case of inconsistency (Section 109). Of the thirty-nine elements of
section 51, a few have become critical in determining the scope of Commonwealth government
action, including the Trade and Commerce Power, the Corporations Power and the External
Affairs Power. Section 52 deals with powers exclusively vested in the Commonwealth
parliament. States cannot legislate on these subjects.

The Executive Government

Chapter II sets up the executive branch of government. Executive power is to be exercised by

the Governor-General, advised by the Federal Executive Council. Under this Chapter, the
Governor-General is the commander in chief, and may appoint and dismiss the members of the
Executive Council, ministers of state, and all officers of the executive government. These
powers, along with the powers to dissolve (or refuse to dissolve) parliament (Section 5, Section
57), are termed "reserve powers", and their use is dictated by convention. Generally, the
Governor-General acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister. There has been only one
instance of the Governor-General acting outside the advice of the Prime Minister of the day,
when Governor-General Sir John Kerr, acting on his own authority, dismissed Prime Minister
Gough Whitlam in the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.

Reserve powers in all Westminster nations are only extremely rarely exercised outside of the
understood conventions. However, in contrast with the constitutions of other Commonwealth
Realms such as Canada which formally grant extensive reserve powers to the Monarch, even the
formal powers of the Queen of Australia are extremely limited, and most powers are only
exercisable by the Governor-General.

Section 68 states that the Command in chief of Australia's naval and military forces as being:
"The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the
Governor General as the Queen's representative". The Commander in chief of the Australian
Defence Force is therefore currently Her Excellency Quentin Bryce as the Governor General of
Australia whilst the Queen of Australia is not in command of the military.

The Judicature

Chapter III sets up the judicial branch of government. Section 71 vests judicial power in a
"Federal Supreme Court" to be called the High Court of Australia, and such other federal courts
as Parliament creates, and in such other courts as Parliament invests with federal jurisdiction.
Such courts are called "Chapter III Courts" are the only courts that can exercise federal judicial
power. Sections 73 and 75-78 outline the original and appellate jurisdiction of the High Court.
Section 74 provides for the circumstances in which an appeal can be made to the Queen in
Council. Section 79 allows Parliament to prescribe the number of judges able to exercise federal
jurisdiction and section 80 guarantees trial by jury for indictable offences against the
Commonwealth.

Finance and Trade

Chapter IV deals with finance and trade in the federal system. Section 81 prescribes that all
Commonwealth revenue shall form the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Parliament can make laws
as to the appropriations of money (Section 53). Unlike most other powers of the parliament, laws
made under the appropriations power are not ordinarily susceptible to effective legal challenge.
Section 90 gives the Commonwealth exclusive power over duties of custom and excise.

Section 92 provides that "trade, commerce, and intercourse among the States shall be absolutely
free". The precise meaning of this phrase is the subject of a considerable body of law.

Section 96 gives the Commonwealth power to make grants to States "on such terms and
conditions as the Parliament thinks fit". This power has been held to be unconstrained by any
other provision, such as Section 99 which forbids giving preference to one State or part thereof
over another State or part thereof. It is subject only to Section 116, freedom of religion, and
possibly other such freedoms. This power, although evidently envisaged as a temporary measure
("during a period of ten years ... and thereafter until the Parliament otherwise provides"), has
been used by the Commonwealth to encourage cooperation by the States to various extents over
the years.

Section 101 sets up an Inter-State Commission, a body which is now defunct, but which was
originally envisaged to have a significant role in the federal structure.

The States

Chapter V contains provisions dealing with the States and their role under the federal system.
Sections 106-108 preserves the Constitution, powers of the Parliament, and the laws in force of
each of the States.

Section 109 provides that, where a State law is inconsistent with a federal law, the federal law
prevails (to the extent of the inconsistency).

Section 111 provides that a State can surrender any part of the State to the Commonwealth. This
has occurred on several occasions, most notably the surrender by South Australia to the
Commonwealth of the Northern Territory.

Section 114 forbids any State from raising a military force, and also forbids the State or the
Commonwealth from taxing each other's property.

Section 116 establishes what is often called "freedom of religion", by forbidding the
Commonwealth from making any law for the establishment of a religion, imposing any religious
observance, or prohibiting the exercise of a religion, or religious discrimination for public office.

New States

Chapter VI allows for the establishment or admission of new states. Section 122 allows the
Parliament to provide for the representation in Parliament of any territory surrendered by the
States, or placed by the Queen in the authority of the Commonwealth. Section 123 requires that
changing the boundaries of a State requires the consent of the Parliament of that State and
approval by referendum in that State.

No new states have been admitted to the Commonwealth since federation.

Miscellaneous

Chapter VII provides that the seat of government of the Commonwealth (now Canberra) shall
be located within New South Wales but no less than one hundred miles from Sydney, and that
the Governor-General may appoint deputies. Section 127 previously provided that Aborigines
cannot be counted in any Commonwealth or State census. This section was repealed in 1967.

Alteration of the Constitution

Main article: Chapter VIII of the Australian Constitution

Chapter VIII specifies the procedures for amending the Constitution. Section 128 provides that
constitutional amendments must be approved by a referendum. Successful amendment requires:

• an absolute majority in both houses of the federal parliament; and

• the approval in a referendum of the proposed amendment by a majority of electors
nationwide, and a majority in a majority of states.

The referendum bill must be put to the people by the Governor-General between two and six
months after passing parliament. After the constitutional amendment bill has passed both the
parliamentary stage and the referendum, it then receives Royal Assent from the Governor-
General. When proclaimed, it will be in effect, and the wording of the Constitution will be
changed.

An exception to this process is if the amendment bill is rejected by one house of Federal
Parliament. If the bill passes the first house and is rejected by the second, then after three months
the first house may pass it again. If the bill is still rejected by the second house, then the
Governor-General may choose to still put the bill to the people's vote.

Amendments
Main article: Referendums in Australia

As mentioned above, successful amendment of the Constitution requires a referendum in which

the "Yes" vote achieves a majority nationally, as well as majorities in a majority of states.

Forty-four proposals to amend the Constitution have been voted on at referendums, of which
eight have been approved. The following is a list of amendments which have been approved. For
a complete list of all referendums and plebiscites held, see Referendums in Australia –
Referendums and plebiscites by year.

• 1906 – Senate Elections – amended Section 13 to slightly alter the length and dates of
Senators' terms of office.
• 1910 – State Debts – amended Section 105 to extend the power of the Commonwealth to
take over pre-existing state debts to debts incurred by a state at any time.
• 1928 – State Debts – inserted Section 105A to ensure the constitutional validity of the
Financial Agreement reached between the Commonwealth and State governments in
1927.
• 1946 – Social Services – inserted Section 51 (xxiiiA) to extend the power of the
Commonwealth government over a range of social services.
• 1967 – Aborigines – amended Section 51 (xxvi) to extend the power of the
Commonwealth government to legislate for people of any race to Aborigines; repealed
Section 127 which stated that "In reckoning the numbers of the people of the
Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall
not be counted."
• 1977
 o Senate Casual Vacancies – part of the political fallout of the constitutional crisis
of 1975; formalised the convention, broken in 1975, that when a casual vacancy
arises in the Senate, the state parliament concerned, if it chooses to fill the
vacancy, must choose the replacement from the same party as the departing
Senator if that party still exists.
o Referendums – amended Section 128 to allow residents of the Territories to vote
in referendums, and be counted towards the national total.
o Retirement of Judges – amended Section 72 to create a retirement age of 70 for
judges in federal courts.

The role of conventions

Alongside the text of the Constitution, and Letters Patent issued by the Crown, conventions are
an important aspect of the Constitution, which have evolved over the decades and define how
various constitutional mechanisms operate in practice.

Conventions play a powerful role in the operation of the Australian constitution because of its
set-up and operation as a Westminster system of responsible government. Some notable
conventions include:

• While the constitution does not formally create the office of Prime Minister of Australia,
such an office developed a de facto existence as head of the cabinet. The Prime Minister
is seen as the head of government.
• While there are few constitutional restrictions on the power of the Governor-General, by
convention the Governor-General acts on the advice of the Prime Minister.

However, because conventions are not textually based, their existence and practice are open to
debate. Real or alleged violation of convention has often led to political controversy. The most
extreme case was the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, in which the operation of
conventions was seriously tested. The ensuing constitutional crisis was resolved dramatically
when the Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam,
appointing Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister pending the 1975 general election. A
number of conventions were said to be broken during this episode. These include:

• The convention that, when the Senator from a particular State vacates his or her position
during the term of office, the State government concerned would nominate a replacement
from the same political party as the departing Senator. This convention was allegedly
broken by first the Lewis government of New South Wales and then by the Bjelke-
Petersen government of Queensland who both filled Labor vacancies with an independent
and a Labor member opposed to the Whitlam government respectively.[4]

Note: The convention was codified into the Constitution via the national referendum of
1977. The amendment requires the new Senator to be from the same party as the old one
and would have prevented the appointment by Lewis, but not that by Bjelke-Petersen.
However, the amendment states of the appointee that if "before taking his seat he ceases
to be a member of that party...he shall be deemed not to have been so chosen or
 appointed". Bjelke-Petersen appointee Albert Patrick Field was expelled from the Labor
Party before taking his seat and would therefore have been ineligible under the new
constitutional amendment.[5]

• The convention that, when the Senate is controlled by a party which does not
simultaneously control the House of Representatives, the Senate would not vote against
money supply to the government. This convention was allegedly broken by the Senate
controlled by the Liberal-Country party coalition in 1975.[4]

Interpretation
Main article: Australian constitutional law

In line with the common law tradition in Australia, the law on the interpretation and application
of the Constitution has developed largely through judgments by the High Court of Australia in
various cases. In a number of seminal cases, the High Court has developed several doctrines
which underlie the interpretation of the Australian Constitution. Some examples include:

• Separation of powers – The three separate chapters dealing with the three branches of
government implies a separation of powers, similar to that of the United States, but
unusual for a government within the Westminster system. Thus, for example, the
legislature cannot purport to predetermine the legal outcome, or to change the direction or
outcome, of a court case.
• Division of powers – Powers of government are divided between the Commonwealth
and the State governments, with certain powers being exclusive to the Commonwealth,
others being concurrently exercised, and the remainder being exclusively held by the
States.
• Intergovernmental immunities – Although the Engineers' Case held that there was no
general immunity between State and Commonwealth governments from each other's
laws, the Commonwealth cannot enact taxation laws that discriminated between the
States or parts of the States (Section 51(ii)), nor enact laws that discriminated against the
States, or such as to prevent a State from continuing to exist and function as a state
(Melbourne Corporation v Commonwealth).

The vast majority of constitutional cases before the High Court deal with characterisation:
whether new laws fall within a permissible head of power granted to the Commonwealth
government by the Constitution.
Criticism
Protection of rights

See also Australian constitutional law – Protection of rights

The Australian Constitution does not include a Bill of Rights. Some delegates to the 1898
Constitutional Convention favoured a section similar to the Bill of Rights of the United States
Constitution, but the majority felt that the traditional rights and freedoms of British subjects were
sufficiently guaranteed by the Parliamentary system and independent judiciary which the
Constitution would create. As a result, the Australian Constitution has often been criticised for its
scant protection of rights and freedoms.

Some express rights were, however, included:

• Right to trial by jury – Section 80 creates a right to trial by jury for indictable offences
against Commonwealth law. There are serious conceptual limitations to this right
however, since the Commonwealth is free to make any offence, no matter how serious
the punishment, triable otherwise than on indictment. As Justice Higgins said in R. v.
Archdall & Roskruge; Ex parte Carrigan and Brown (1928) 41 CLR 128: "if there be an
indictment, there must be a jury, but there is nothing to compel procedure by indictment".
In practice, however, no major issue of abuse of this loophole has been raised.
• Right to just compensation – Paragraph 51(xxxi) creates a right to just compensation
for assets taken by the Commonwealth.
• Right to freedom of religion – Section 116 creates a limited right to freedom of religion,
by prohibiting the Commonwealth (but not the states) from "making any law for
establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the
free exercise of any religion." This section is based on the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution, but is weaker in operation. As the states retain all powers they had as
colonies before federation, except for those explicitly given to the Commonwealth, this
section does not affect the states' powers to legislate on religion, and, in accordance with
High Court interpretations, no Federal legislation on religion, short of establishing an
official religion of Australia, would be limited by it either.
• Right to freedom from discrimination against out-of-State residents -Section 117
prohibits disability or discrimination in one state against the resident of another state.
This is interpreted widely (Street v Queensland Bar Association), but does not prohibit
states from imposing residential requirements where they are required by the State's
autonomy and its responsibility to its people.

In 1992 and 1994, the High Court of Australia found that the Constitution contained an "implied"
right to freedom of political communication, in a series of cases including the Australian
Capital Television case and the Theophanous case. This was seen as a necessary part of the
democratic system created by the Constitution. The application of this "implied right" has,
however, been restricted in later cases, such as Lange v ABC. It is in no way equivalent to a
freedom of speech, and only protects individuals against the government trying to limit their
political communication: it offers no protection against other individuals.
In 2007, the High Court of Australia in Roach v Electoral Commissioner held that sections 7 and
24 of the Constitution, by providing that members of the House of Representatives and the
Senate be "directly chosen by the people", created a limited right to vote. This entailed the
guarantee of a universal franchise in principle, and limited the Federal Parliament's legislative
power to modify that universal franchise. In the case, a legislative amendment to disqualify from
voting all prisoners (as opposed to only those serving sentences of three years or more, as it was
before the amendment) was struck down as contravening that right.

Other attempts to find other "implied rights" in High Court cases have not been successful.

Preamble

Main article: Australian referendum, 1999 (Preamble)

While a pro forma preamble prefaces the Imperial Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act
1900, the Australian Constitution itself does not contain a preamble. There have been some calls
for the insertion of such a section to express the spirit and aspirations embodied in the
constitution. However, there has been fierce opposition, usually on the basis of the content of the
preamble, as well as possible legal ramifications of this text. In 1999, a proposed preamble,
principally authored by John Howard, the then Prime Minister, was defeated in a referendum
held concurrently with the Republic referendum. The "Yes" vote (in favour of the insertion of the
preamble) did not achieve a majority in any of the six states.

Republic proposals

Main article: Republicanism in Australia

At various times since Federation, debates have occurred over whether Australia should become
a republic. On 6 November 1999, Australians rejected a proposal to remove the Queen and
replace the Governor-General with a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the
members of the Commonwealth Parliament. This was despite opinion poll results suggesting that
the majority of Australians are in favour of some form of a republic [6]. Many voters who voted
against the 1999 referendum cited the appointment of the President by a joint action of
Parliament, rather than through direct election, as a fatal flaw in that referendum. In research and
polling following the 1999 referendum, the single greatest concern expressed about the
referendum as written seemed to be that it did not create and respect a meaningful separation of
powers between a Republican President and Parliament and its legislative authority. By being
able to appoint the President, rather than having the President popularly elected from the entire
nation for a fixed term, many felt that too much power was being focused into Parliament's hand
with no check or balance on that power. Support for holding another referendum in the
foreseeable future seems to be growing, and another referendum being held is more possible than
it has been recently. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has stated that while it is not an active priority,
the current structure "no longer reflects either the fundamental democratic principles that
underpin the Australian nation or its diversity", [7] and he has given some indications that a
referendum for an independent, elected President, repairing the main issue of the 1999 vote, is
being considered. He went on to say that "over the next year there would be an "accelerated
public debate" about the monarchy question".[8]

Commemoration
Constitution Day is celebrated on 9 July[9], the date the Constitution became law in 1900. The
date is not a public holiday. Constitution Day was first held on 9 July 2000 to mark the centenary
of the Constitution in the lead up to the Centenary of Federation, although commemorations
were low key and were not widely held after 2001. Constitution Day was revived in 2007 and is
jointly organised by the National Archives of Australia, which holds the original Constitution
documents, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.[10]