Section 122 of the

Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (or Australian Constitution) is a written constitution, constitutional document that is Constitution, supreme law in Australia. It establishes Australia as a Federation of Australia, federation under a constitutio ...

deals with matters relating to the governance of Australian territories. It gives the Commonwealth Parliament complete legislative power over the territories. This power is called the ''territories power''. The extent and terms of the representation of the territories in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

are also stated as being at the discretion of the Commonwealth Parliament. The precise text of the section is:

The Parliament may make laws for the government of any territory surrendered by any State to and accepted by the Commonwealth, or of any territory placed by the Queen under the authority of and accepted by the Commonwealth, or otherwise acquired by the Commonwealth, and may allow the representation of such territory in either House of the Parliament to the extent and on the terms which it thinks fit.

Relationship with other provisions

A court created for a Territory under the territories power is not a "court created by Parliament" for the purposes of Chapter III of the Constitution, even if the law constituting the court was passed by the Federal Parliament.''R v Bernasconi'
(1915) 19 CLR 629
HCA 13] (High Court of Australia). This means that the protections of judicial tenure or the mandatory retirement found in Section 72 of the Constitution of Australia, section 72 do not apply to judges of Territory courts. Territory criminal offences do not have to be heard before a jury as section 80 requires of an indictable Commonwealth offence. The "just terms" compensation requirement that applies when the Commonwealth compulsorily acquires property under

section 51(xxxi) Section 51(xxxi) is a subclause of section 51 of the Constitution of Australia. Legislative powers of the Parliament. It empowers the Commonwealth to make laws regarding the acquisition of property, but stipulates that such acquisitions must ...

also does not apply in the territories. That said, the ''Self-Government Acts'' of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory include similar "just terms" clauses restricting the powers of those Territories' parliaments.'' Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978'' s 50(1).

Reference list

{{Constitution of Australia Australian constitutional law