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Fact Sheets in alphabetical order A Day in Parliament A Day in the Life of an MP Adjournment Debate Amendments Bills and Acts Budget Cabinet Clerk Coalition Coat of Arms Constitution Crossing the Floor Despatch Box Double Dissolution Elections Estimates Federation Frontbenchers & Backbenchers Functions of Parliament Governor-General Hansard House of Representatives Independents Inside Parliament House Joint Sitting of Parliament Leader of the Opposition Mace Main Committee Media Members of Parliament Ministers Ministers & Shadow Ministers Parliament House Facts Parliamentary Committees Party Leadership Party Meetings Party Whip Passing a Bill Petitions Political Party Preparing a Bill for Parliament President of the Senate Prime Minister Private Members & Senators Prorogation & Dissolution Question Time Senate Senators Separation of Powers Serjeant-at-Arms Speaker Speaker's Chair Standing Orders Three Levels of Government Usher of the Black Rod Where Bills Come From Fact Sheets in numerical order 01 The Coat of Arms 02 Despatch Box 03 The Speaker's Chair 04 The Usher of the Black Rod 05 Adjournment Debate 06 Amendments 07 Party Leadership 08 Main Committee 09 Party Meetings 10 The Serjeant-at-Arms 11 The Mace 12 Coalition 13 Prorogation & Dissolution 14 Independents 15 Leader of the Opposition 16 President of the Senate 17 The Governor-General 18 House of Representatives 19 Cabinet 20 Members of Parliament 21 Ministers & Shadow Ministers 22 Political Party 23 The Prime Minister 24 The Media 25 The Senate 26 The Party Whip 27 A Day in Parliament 28 Bills & Acts 29 Functions of Parliament 30 The Speaker 31 The Consitution 32 Senators 33 Double Dissolution 34 Federation 35 Separation of Powers 36 Passing a Bill 37 Frontbenchers & Backbenchers 38 Crossing the Floor 39 Question Time 40 A Day in the Life of an MP 41 Elections 42 Estimates 43 Parliament House Facts 44 Hansard 45 Inside Parliament House 46 Joint Sitting of Parliament 47 Private Members & Senators 48 Ministers 49 Parliamentary Committees 50 Petitions 51 Preparing a Bill for Parliament 52 Standing Orders 53 The Budget 54 The Clerk 55 Three Levels of Government 56 Where Bills Come From

31 The Constitution

The Australian Constitution is the set of legal principles by which Australia is governed. It describes how the Parliament is composed, how Parliament works, lists the powers of the Parliament, defines how federal and state Parliaments share power, refers to the role of the High Court and many other things.

Before 1901, Australia consisted of six separate colonies ruled by the British parliament and government. Many Australian colonists wanted their colonies to unite into one federation. During the 1890s, a series of public meetings, called conventions, were organised throughout the six colonies to decide the shape of a new federal Constitution. Some of the people who ran these meetings wrote a Constitution which was voted on by citizens in each colony.

After the colonial citizens had voted in favour of the new Constitution, it was passed as a British Act of Parliament in 1900 and came into force on 1 January 1901.

The Constitution is divided into 128 Sections. Although many sections appear to be simple, they have lead to different interpretations and legal arguments over the last century. Section 51 has turned out to be particularly significant because it lists the areas in which the Commonwealth Parliament can make laws. These areas include taxes, defence, trade and commerce with other countries, marriage and divorce, immigration, postal services, invalid and old-age pensions, among other things. Another important Section is 109, which states that if the Commonwealth and a state Parliament both pass laws on the same subject, the Commonwealth law over-rules the state law.

Surprisingly, the Constitution does not mention the Prime Minister or the Cabinet, both of which are central to the working of government and the Parliament. For these and other reasons, some people say that the Constitution is out of date and that constitutional reform is needed.

The Constitution may only be changed by a referendum. In a referendum, each eligible Australian over the age of 18 votes on a specified change to the Constitution. A referendum is only passed if it is approved by a majority of voters in a majority of states, and by a majority of voters across the nation as a whole. Since 1901, of 44 proposed changes to the Constitution only eight have been passed.

All Acts of Parliament must conform to the requirements of the Constitution. If citizens believe that an Act of Parliament is unconstitutional, they can take the Australian government to the High Court of Australia, which is responsible for making legal judgments about any matter relating to the Constitution.

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