Legal Studies Unit 4: The Australian Constitution and Parliamentary Role

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the role of the Crown, the separation of powers, bicameral structure, express rights, and significant High Court constitutional interpretations.

Royal Assent

The process whereby the Queen’s representative signs the Bill and in doing so gives approval on behalf of the Queen for a Bill to become law, as established in section 58 of the Australian Constitution.

Governor-General

The Queen’s representative in Australia who grants Royal Assent at the federal level, appoints the Executive Council, and has the power to dissolve parliament.

Governor

The Queen’s representative in the Victorian state parliament who grants Royal Assent to Bills passed through the state houses of parliament.

Separation of Powers

A concept that divides the institutions of government into three branches—the legislative, executive, and judicial—to ensure no one branch can exercise the powers of the others and to minimize corruption.

Legislative power

The power to make law, which is held by the parliament.

Executive power

The power to administer the law, held by the Governor-General who acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and senior ministers.

Judicial power

The power to apply and interpret the law, held by the courts and tribunals.

Bicameral

A parliamentary structure featuring two houses (the House of Representatives and the Senate) that share the power of law-making, as well as the Crown.

Representative government

A principle where people elect members of parliament to act on behalf of and represent the beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives of their constituents.

House of Representatives

The lower house of the Commonwealth parliament, comprising up to 150 members who represent different geographical areas throughout Australia.

Senate

The upper house of the Commonwealth parliament consisting of 76 senators, with 12 elected from each state and two from each territory, intended to act as a 'state's house'.

Sections 7 and 24

Structural protections in the Australian Constitution requiring that members of both houses of parliament be 'directly chosen by the people'.

Express right

A right entrenched in the wording of the Australian Constitution that can only be removed or altered through a referendum, such as the right to a trial by jury for an indictable Commonwealth offence.

Section 128

The section of the Australian Constitution that outlines the process of a referendum required to remove or alter an express right.

Locus standi

A legal standing requirement where a plaintiff must be directly involved in, or impacted by, a law to initiate a challenge in the High Court.

Roach case

A 2007 High Court case where Vickie Lee Roach challenged the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Measures) Act 2006 (Cwlth), which banned all prisoners from voting.

Double majority

A referendum requirement where a proposal is only successful if a majority of electors nationally vote ‘yes’ and a majority of voters in at least four of the six states also vote ‘yes’.

1967 referendum

A successful referendum that allowed the Commonwealth to create special laws for Aboriginal people and include them in the census.

Section 51 'external affairs'

A constitutional provision that allows the Commonwealth parliament to make laws regarding international matters, the interpretation of which can increase Commonwealth power while limiting state power, as seen in the TAS DAMs case.