Shift of Federal System in Australia: An Analysis of Australian Constitution

Australian
Constitution

Tables of contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Main body 1
3. Conclusion 4
4. References 5

Introduction:
The constitution of Australia is the supreme document of the country which governs the
country and its citizens. The Australian constitution provides for the provisions of federal
structure of government at state and central level. The parliament is at the central level which is
called the Commonwealth. It further describes the powers of the state and the central
government. It also explains about the functions and the powers of the high courts of the country.
The Australian constitution came into effect from 1st January 1901(Drummond, . (2007))
. Moreover, it also provides abouts the rights and duties of the citizens of Australia. The
constitution also laid provisions for the backward classes of the society. In this essay, we will
discuss the shift of the federal system in Australia. Earlier, when the constitution was framed,
there were many powers to the state government due to its federal structure. But, as the time
passed the central government took over the various powers of the state government.
Main body:
The federation of Australia is made up of six states. It has two self governing territories.
The constitution earlier provided the power to the state government to make different laws for its
state. But, as the time passed by, the commonwealth government obtained power. This made the
state less powerful and the present situation is that the state government has very less power
which was earlier assured in the constitution of Australia. The state government was earlier
responsible for making the laws for the state(Galligan , & Larking, (2009)). But now the state
government is bound by the central government to take the decision on any policy matters. The
state government has to consider the advice of the central government while formulating any
policy for the state. It also prohibits the state from making any decisions related to education and
health for the state. Firstly, the state government has to take permission and assent of the central
government for any decision that has a long term impact on the state.
The aim of the constitution earlier was to make the country federal in any form. The
English parliament has passed the constitution of Australia that is federal. This means that the
state government is authorized to make the decision for its state. The British parliament has
given royal assent to the constitution of Australia. The commonwealth government is now
responsible for making the decisions related to education, defense, etc for the country. The
commonwealth is the supreme power of the country(Stone , & Barry, (2014)). It has established
various powers related to the constitution of the country. This would impact the whole country.
This is because it is necessary for the whole country. Now, there is the need for an amendment in
the constitution that would change this dominance of the commonwealth.