Strengths and Weaknesses of the Australian Constitution

The Australian Constitution has many strengths and weaknesses to it. A major strength of the constitution is that the three main institutions of government (legislature, executive and judiciary) were created following the principles of separation of powers. This means that no one institution can obtain dominating power over any other institution within government. This helps to follow theory that ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’.

The constitution outlines the British Monarchy as being the hereditary head of state. The monarchy has served Australia well since federation, despite the recent objection to it that ultimately led to a referendum on the republic issue. They have provided the foundations for stable political leadership within the country.

Federal and state parliaments (except Queensland) are bicameral, meaning they consist of two houses of equal legislative standing which are independent from one another. A main function o

Unlike some counties, the Australian constitution does not outline many human rights. This is most likely because the ‘founding fathers’, who drafted the constitution, were from upper class backgrounds and didn’t like the idea of lower or working class people receiving equal rights.

The strong role of the HCA in the constitution has often been criticised as it can theoretically interpret the wording of the constitution however it pleases. It has been rulings of the HCA that have caused both the balance of power shift towards the commonwealth and for cooperative federalism to deteriorate. The judges of the HCA are not directly accountable to anyone, which means they can do what they like as long as they are not found to be acting negligently.

The apparent lack of cooperative federalism is a definite weakness in the constitution. The constitution outlines the six original states and the federal government, but there is little cooperation between any of the seven governments. It is not uncommon for relations between that state themselves and the states and the commonwealth to be reasonably tense - particularly when the governments are from different political parties. Each state also has different laws to one another and the commonwealth often over powers all the states and makes laws that no one agrees with.

There are strong arguments for both the strengths and weaknesses of the constitution but it is obvious that there are some improvements that could have been made. However, it has allowed for stable governing of Australia since federation in 1901 so one shou

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