Constitutional Questions and Answers
Do you have a question about the Constitution? Send it to the Centre for Comparative Constitutional Studies. Our e-mail address is cccs@law.unimelb.edu.au. You will get an answer.
These pages contain previous questions and answers about:
- Constitutional Form and Values
- Head of State
- Representative Democracy
- Rights
- Citizenship
- Federalism
- Courts
- Indigenous People
- Constitutional Review and Change
Constitutional Forms and Values
Q: Does the Constitution have a preamble?
A: No. But the Australian Constitution was originally passed by the British Parliament, because Australia was a colony at the time. This means that the Australian Constitution is part of a British Act of Parliament. There is a preamble to the British Act. You can find it at the beginning of most copies of the Constitution.
Q: What is a preamble?
A: A preamble is an introduction to a Constitution. A preamble often sets out the main purposes of the Constitution, or says something about its history. If there is disagreement about the meaning of other parts of the Constitution, the preamble can be used to help to decide what the correct meaning is.
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Q: Who is the Australian Head of State?
A: Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor-General and the State Governors represent her in Australia however. They now act as Head of State for most purposes.
Q: Does the Constitution give Australian citizens a right to vote?
A: There is no express right to vote in the Constitution. The Constitution does say, however, that the Commonwealth Parliament must be "chosen directly by the people". If the issue arose, the High Court might well say that this implies that citizens have a right to vote.
Q: Can State Constitutions be changed without asking the voters directly?
A: A referendum is necessary in order to change parts of some State Constitutions. As a general rule, however, State Constitutions can be changed by State Parliaments. This is quite different to the Australian Constitution, which can only be changed by referendum.
Q: Can someone who is a citizen of another country as well as Australia stand for election to the Commonwealth Parliament?
A: Generally not. The Constitution says that people who are citizens of a "foreign power" cannot stand for election. Any other country is a "foreign power" for this purpose. Some countries do not allow their nationals to give up citizenship, however. To deal with this, the High Court has said that a person who has taken "reasonable" steps to renounce another citizenship will be able to stand for Parliament here.
Q: Is the Northern Territory a State?
A: No. The Territory is "self-governing", which means that it has its own government and Parliament. It does not have the same independence under the Constitution as the six States have, however.
Q: How are judges chosen?
A: The Commonwealth and each State has its own courts. The relevant government decides who will be appointed as judges to those courts. The actual appointment is made by the Governor-General or the State Governor, acting on the government's advice.
Q: Is the Constitution relevant to the process of reconciliation?
A: It could be. If we reached the stage where we agreed on a treaty or some other instrument of reconciliation, it could be recognised in the Constitution. The idea of making an appropriate reference to the indigenous people in the preamble is relevant to reconciliation too.
Constitutional Review and Change
Q: Can State Constitutions be changed without asking the voters directly?
A: A referendum is necessary in order to change parts of some State Constitutions. As a general rule, however, State Constitutions can be changed by State Parliaments. This is quite different to the Australian Constitution, which can only be changed by referendum.