C2004C00704
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AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
Compilation Information
Australia Act 1986
Act No. 142 of 1985
This compilation was prepared on 31 March 2003
Prepared by the Office of Legislative Drafting,
Attorney-General's
Department, Canberra
Long Title
An Act to bring constitutional arrangements affecting the
Commonwealth and the States into conformity with the status of the Commonwealth
of Australia as a sovereign, independent and federal nation
WHEREAS the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth and the Premiers of the
States at conferences held in Canberra on 24 and 25 June 1982 and
21 June 1984 agreed on the taking of certain measures to bring
constitutional arrangements affecting the Commonwealth and the States into
conformity with the status of the Commonwealth of Australia as a sovereign,
independent and federal nation:
AND WHEREAS in pursuance of paragraph 51 (xxxviii) of the Constitution the
Parliaments of all the States have requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth
to enact an Act in the terms of this Act:
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and the House of
Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 1
Termination of power of Parliament of United Kingdom to legislate
for Australia
No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after the commencement
of this Act shall extend, or be deemed to extend, to the Commonwealth, to a
State or to a Territory as part of the law of the Commonwealth, of the State or
of the Territory.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 2
Legislative powers of Parliaments of States
- (1)
- It is hereby declared and enacted that the legislative powers of the
Parliament of each State include full power to make laws for the peace, order
and good government of that State that have extra-territorial operation.
- (2)
- It is hereby further declared and enacted that the legislative powers of
the Parliament of each State include all legislative powers that the Parliament
of the United Kingdom might have exercised before the commencement of this Act
for the peace, order and good government of that State but nothing in this
subsection confers on a State any capacity that the State did not have
immediately before the commencement of this Act to engage in relations with
countries outside Australia.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 3
Termination of restrictions on legislative powers of Parliaments of
States
- (1)
- The Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Colonial Laws
Validity Act 1865 shall not apply to any law made after the commencement of
this Act by the Parliament of a State.
- (2)
- No law and no provision of any law made after the commencement of this Act
by the Parliament of a State shall be void or inoperative on the ground that it
is repugnant to the law of England, or to the provisions of any existing or
future Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or to any order, rule or
regulation made under any such Act, and the powers of the Parliament of a State
shall include the power to repeal or amend any such Act, order, rule or
regulation in so far as it is part of the law of the State.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 4
Powers of State Parliaments in relation to merchant
shipping
Sections 735 and 736 of the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
known as the Merchant Shipping Act 1894, in so far as they are part of the law
of a State, are hereby repealed.
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AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 5
Commonwealth Constitution, Constitution Act and Statute of
Westminster not affected
Sections 2 and 3(2) above:
(a) are subject to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act and to
the Constitution of the Commonwealth; and
(b) do not operate so as to give any force or effect to a provision of an Act
of the Parliament of a State that would repeal, amend or be repugnant to this
Act, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, the Constitution of the
Commonwealth or the Statute of Westminster 1931 as amended and in force from
time to time.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 6
Manner and form of making certain State laws
Notwithstanding sections 2 and 3(2) above, a law made after the
commencement of this Act by the Parliament of a State respecting the
constitution, powers or procedure of the Parliament of the State shall be of no
force or effect unless it is made in such manner and form as may from time to
time be required by a law made by that Parliament, whether made before or after
the commencement of this Act.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 7
Powers and functions of Her Majesty and Governors in respect of
States
- (1)
- Her Majesty's representative in each State shall be the Governor.
- (2)
- Subject to subsections (3) and (4) below, all powers and functions of
Her Majesty in respect of a State are exercisable only by the Governor of the
State.
- (3)
- Subsection (2) above does not apply in relation to the power to
appoint, and the power to terminate the appointment of, the Governor of a
State.
- (4)
- While Her Majesty is personally present in a State, Her Majesty is not
precluded from exercising any of Her powers and functions in respect of the
State that are the subject of subsection (2) above.
- (5)
- The advice to Her Majesty in relation to the exercise of the powers and
functions of Her Majesty in respect of a State shall be tendered by the Premier
of the State.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 8
State laws not subject to disallowance or suspension of
operation
An Act of the Parliament of a State that has been assented to by the Governor
of the State shall not, after the commencement of this Act, be subject to
disallowance by Her Majesty, nor shall its operation be suspended pending the
signification of Her Majesty's pleasure thereon.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 9
State laws not subject to withholding of assent or
reservation
- (1)
- No law or instrument shall be of any force or effect in so far as it
purports to require the Governor of a State to withhold assent from any Bill
for an Act of the State that has been passed in such manner and form as may
from time to time be required by a law made by the Parliament of the State.
- (2)
- No law or instrument shall be of any force or effect in so far as it
purports to require the reservation of any Bill for an Act of a State for the
signification of Her Majesty's pleasure thereon.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 10
Termination of responsibility of United Kingdom Government in
relation to State matters
After the commencement of this Act Her Majesty's Government in the United
Kingdom shall have no responsibility for the government of any State.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 11
Termination of appeals to Her Majesty in Council
- (1)
- Subject to subsection (4) below, no appeal to Her Majesty in Council
lies or shall be brought, whether by leave or special leave of any court or of
Her Majesty in Council or otherwise, and whether by virtue of any Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Royal Prerogative or otherwise, from or
in respect of any decision of an Australian court.
- (2)
- Subject to subsection (4) below:
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(a) the enactments specified in subsection (3) below and any orders,
rules, regulations or other instruments made under, or for the purposes of,
those enactments; and
(b) any other provisions of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in
force immediately before the commencement of this Act that make provisions for
or in relation to appeals to Her Majesty in Council from or in respect of
decisions of courts, and any orders, rules, regulations or other instruments
made under, or for the purposes of, any such provisions;
in so far as they are part of the law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of
a Territory, are hereby repealed.
- (3)
- The enactments referred to in subsection (2) (a) above are the
following Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or provisions of such
Acts:
The Australian Courts Act 1828, section 15
The Judicial Committee Act 1833
The Judicial Committee Act 1844
The Australian Constitutions Act 1850, section 28
The Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act 1890, section 6.
- (4)
- Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section:
(a) affects an appeal instituted before the commencement of this Act to Her
Majesty in Council from or in respect of a decision of an Australian court;
or
(b) precludes the institution after that commencement of an appeal to Her
Majesty in Council from or in respect of such a decision where the appeal is
instituted:
(i) pursuant to leave granted by an Australian court on an application made
before that commencement; or
(ii) pursuant to special leave granted by Her Majesty in Council on a petition
presented before that commencement;
but this subsection shall not be construed as permitting or enabling an
appeal to Her Majesty in Council to be instituted or continued that could not
have been instituted or continued if this section had not been enacted.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 12
Amendment of Statute of Westminster
Sections 4, 9(2) and (3) and 10(2) of the Statute of Westminster 1931,
in so far as they are part of the law of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a
Territory, are hereby repealed.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 13
Amendment of Constitution Act of Queensland
- (1)
- The Constitution Act 1867-1978 of the State of Queensland is in this
section referred to as the Principal Act.
- (2)
- Section 11A of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (3):
(a) by omitting from paragraph (a):
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii) "constituted under Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United
Kingdom"; and
(b) by omitting from paragraph (b):
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii) "whenever and so long as the office of Governor is vacant or the Governor
is incapable of discharging the duties of administration or has departed from
Queensland".
- (3)
- Section 11B of the Principal Act is amended:
(a) by omitting "Governor to conform to instructions" and substituting
"Definition of Royal Sign Manual";
(b) by omitting subsection (1); and
(c) by omitting from subsection (2):
(i) "(2)";
(ii) "this section and in"; and
(iii) "and the expression `Signet' means the seal commonly used for the sign
manual of the Sovereign or the seal with which documents are sealed by the
Secretary of State in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Sovereign".
- (4)
- Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (2) by
omitting ", subject to his performing his duty prescribed by section 11B,".
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AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 14
Amendment of Constitution Act of Western Australia
- (1)
- The Constitution Act 1889 of the State of Western Australia is in this
section referred to as the Principal Act.
- (2)
- Section 50 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (3):
(a) by omitting from paragraph (a):
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii) "constituted under Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United
Kingdom";
(b) by omitting from paragraph (b):
(i) "and Signet"; and
(ii) "whenever and so long as the office of Governor is vacant or the Governor
is incapable of discharging the duties of administration or has departed from
Western Australia"; and
(c) by omitting from paragraph (c):
(i) "under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom"; and
(ii) "during a temporary absence of the Governor for a short period from the
seat of Government or from the State".
- (3)
- Section 51 of the Principal Act is amended:
(a) by omitting subsection (1); and
(b) by omitting from subsection (2):
(i) "(2)";
(ii) "this section and in"; and
(iii) "and the expression `Signet' means the seal commonly used for the sign
manual of the Sovereign or the seal with which documents are sealed by the
Secretary of State in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Sovereign".
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 15
Method of repeal or amendment of this Act or Statute of
Westminster
- (1)
- This Act or the Statute of Westminster 1931, as amended and in force from
time to time, in so far as it is part of the law of the Commonwealth, of a
State or of a Territory, may be repealed or amended by an Act of the Parliament
of the Commonwealth passed at the request or with the concurrence of the
Parliaments of all the States and, subject to subsection (3) below, only
in that manner.
- (2)
- For the purposes of subsection (1) above, an Act of the Parliament of
the Commonwealth that is repugnant to this Act or the Statute of Westminster
1931, as amended and in force from time to time, or to any provision of this
Act or of that Statute as so amended and in force, shall, to the extent of the
repugnancy, be deemed an Act to repeal or amend the Act, Statute or provision
to which it is repugnant.
- (3)
- Nothing in subsection (1) above limits or prevents the exercise by
the Parliament of the Commonwealth of any powers that may be conferred upon
that Parliament by any alteration to the Constitution of the Commonwealth made
in accordance with section 128 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth
after the commencement of this Act.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 16
Interpretation
- (1)
- In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
appeal includes a petition of appeal, and a complaint in the
nature of an appeal.
appeal to Her Majesty in Council includes any appeal to Her
Majesty.
Australian court means a court of a State or any other court of
Australia or of a Territory other than the High Court.
court includes a judge, judicial officer or other person acting
judicially.
decision includes determination, judgment, decree, order or
sentence.
Governor, in relation to a State, includes any person for the
time being administering the government of the State.
State means a State of the Commonwealth and includes a new
State.
the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act means the Act of
the Parliament of the United Kingdom known as the Commonwealth of Australia
Constitution Act.
the Constitution of the Commonwealth means the Constitution of
the Commonwealth set forth in section 9 of the Commonwealth of Australia
Constitution Act, being that Constitution as altered and in force from time to
time.
the Statute of Westminster 1931 means the Act of the Parliament
of the United Kingdom known as the Statute of Westminster 1931.
- (2)
- The expression a law made by that Parliament in
section 6 above and the expression a law made by the
Parliament in section 9 above include, in relation to the State of
Western Australia, the Constitution Act 1889 of that State.
- (3)
- A reference in this Act to the Parliament of a State includes, in relation
to the State of New South Wales, a reference to the legislature of that State
as constituted from time to time in accordance with the Constitution Act, 1902,
or any other Act of that State, whether or not, in relation to any particular
legislative act, the consent of the Legislative Council of that State is
necessary.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
- SECT 17
Short title and commencement [see Note 1]
- (1)
- This Act may be cited as the Australia Act 1986.
- (2)
- This Act shall come into operation on a day and at a time to be fixed by
Proclamation.
AUSTRALIA ACT 1986
Notes to the Australia Act 1986
Note 1
The Australia Act 1986 as shown in this compilation comprises Act
No. 142, 1985 amended as indicated in the Tables below.
Table of Acts
Act
|
Number
and year
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Date
of Assent
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Date
of commencement
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Application,
saving or transitional provisions
|
Australia
Act 1986
|
142,
1985
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4
Dec 1985
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(a)
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(a) Subsection 17(2) of the Australia Act 1986 provides as follows:
(2) This Act shall come into operation on a day and at a time to be fixed
by Proclamation.
This Act came into operation on 3 March 1986 at 5.00 am Greenwich Mean
Time (see Gazette 1986, No. S85).
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