The Role of State Constitutions in Protecting ... - International IDEA

Overview of the Australian federation
Rationale for federation in Australia
Australia became a federation largely for reasons of history and geography. The six
Australian colonies were established by Britain towards the end of the 18th
century and in the first half of the 19th century, around the edge of a very large
land mass and on the island of Tasmania. They were a long way apart from each
other. By the time a movement for union seriously began, each colony had its own
Constitution and its own institutions of government: Parliament, executive
government and courts. The only form of union that was politically acceptable in
these circumstances was federalism. Federalism enabled united action on matters
of mutual benefit, while leaving each of the colonies, now to become States, with
considerable autonomy to govern themselves.
…federation deepens
democracy, in the sense
that it provides two levels
of government at which
people can express their
democratic preferences.
…federation operates as a
check and balance; an
important consideration in a
system that otherwise relies
heavily on majoritarian
parliamentary government
Even now, more than 100 years later, there is a rationale for federalism in
Australia. Most obviously, it has the advantage of being the established system of
government, around which institutions, expectations and interests have been
built. But it meets other purposes as well. It deepens democracy, in the sense that
it provides two levels of government at which people can express their democratic
preferences, one of which is physically more accessible. Federalism also operates
as a check and balance; an important consideration in a system that otherwise
relies heavily on majoritarian parliamentary government, and has resisted
constitutional protection of rights.
How Australia became a federation
The federation movement began in the mid 19th century, but became more
intense in the decade of the 1890s. The principal motivating factors were the
economic advantages of a common tariff policy and a common market and the
need for co-ordination in defense and immigration. The process that was followed
to achieve federation in the later stages involved a Constitutional Convention
with an equal number of delegates from each participating colony. 10 All but one
of the colonies sent delegates directly elected for the purpose by the voters of the
colony. In the case of South Australia, the voters included both men and women,
the latter having been enfranchised in 1894. No woman delegate was elected,
however. Western Australia sent a delegation appointed by the Parliament.
The Australasian Federal Convention began its task by agreeing on a set of
principles on which the draft Constitution would be based. They were limited, by
modern standards; this nevertheless was an important starting point for the
Convention's work. In more recent times, the use of agreed principles as a basis
for writing a Constitution has become considerably more sophisticated. The 34
constitutional principles on which the South African Constitution was based offer
an excellent example of what such principles might look like although, of course,
the principles themselves must reflect the consensus that can be reached on what
is appropriate for the community concerned.
10) One colony, Queensland, was not a participant at the Convention but joined the movement later.
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