The Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, passed in 1990. The purpose of the Act was to allow the

Commonwealth of Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

to retain the original copy of the

Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a constitutional document that is supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a federation under a constitutional monarchy and outlines the structure and powers of the A ...

(Imp), which the British government had loaned for the celebration in 1988 of the bicentenary of British settlement in Australia. The Australian government had made a formal request to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

for the Act to remain in Australia, as part of the nation's history. However, under the UK's

Public Records Act 1958 The Public Records Act 1958 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom forming the main legislation governing public records in the United Kingdom. It established a cohesive regulatory framework for public records at the Public Record Off ...

, the original copy of every Act of Parliament had to remain in the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Thus the British Parliament passed a new Act to exempt this copy from that requirement, so as to allow the copy to remain with Australia as a gift. The copy is now displayed in the Federation Gallery at the National Archives of Australia, in Canberra.

External links

Graeme Powell, "The Quest for the Nation's Title Deeds, 1901-1990"
(2005) 54:1 ''Australian Library Journal'' 55. Retrieved 2011-06-08.

Retrieved 2011-08-20. Australian constitutional law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1990 1990 in Australian law Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Australia {{Australia-gov-stub