Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

Australian states The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing p ...

Australian Constitution 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 ...

Perth Agreement The Perth Agreement was made in Australia in 2011 by the prime ministers of the sixteen states known as Commonwealth realms, which at the time all recognised Elizabeth II as their head of state. The document agreed that the governments of the re ...

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...

line of succession An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility. as was the case at the time of the

Statute of Westminster 1931 The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Commonwealth realms and the Crown. Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute increased the sovereignty of the ...

. As the Statute of Westminster ended the ability 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 suprem ...

to legislate on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the

Australia Acts The Australia Act 1986 is the short title of each of a pair of separate but related pieces of legislation: one an Act of the Commonwealth (i.e. federal) Parliament of Australia, the other an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. I ...

eliminated the remaining possibilities for the UK to legislate with effect to the Australian states, Australia had the most challenging legal environment of the Commonwealth realms, as each of the six state governments and the federal government has a separate direct relationship with the monarch. It was brought into effect simultaneously with the similar laws enacted by the other Commonwealth realms after the Governor-General proclaimed the law to commence at "the beginning of 26 March 2015 by United Kingdom time".

Background

Prior to the Act, the succession to the throne of Australia, like all Commonwealth realms, was controlled by a system of

male-preference primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

, under which succession passed first to the monarch's or nearest dynast's legitimate sons (and to their legitimate issue) in order of birth, and subsequently to their daughters and their legitimate issue, again in order of birth, so that sons always inherit before their sisters, elder children inherit before younger, and descendants inherit before collateral relatives. Succession is governed by the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the t ...

, which restates the provisions of the

Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, be ...

, and the

Bill of Rights 1689 The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Royal ...

. These laws originally restricted the succession to legitimate descendants of

Sophia, Electress of Hanover Sophia of Hanover (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; 14 October 1630 – 8 June 1714) was the Electress of Hanover by marriage to Elector Ernest Augustus and later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and Scotland (later Gre ...

(the mother of

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

), and bar those who are

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

s or who have married Roman Catholics. The descendants of those who are debarred for being or marrying Roman Catholics, however, may still be eligible to succeed. By convention iterated in the preamble to the

Statute of Westminster 1931 The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Commonwealth realms and the Crown. Passed on 11 December 1931, the statute increased the sovereignty of the ...

, the line of succession cannot be altered in any realm without the assent of the parliaments of the other 15 realms, leading to the adoption of the Perth Agreement at the 22nd

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM; or) is a biennial summit meeting of the governmental leaders from all Commonwealth nations. Despite the name, the head of state may be present in the meeting instead of the head of ...

in October 2011.

State legislation

The

Council of Australian Governments The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) was the primary intergovernmental forum in Australia from 1992 to 2020. Comprising the federal government, the governments of the six states and two mainland territories and the Australian Local G ...

agreed that the best way to meet Australia's obligations under the Perth Agreement was to use section 51(xxxviii) of the Constitution of Australia to allow the Commonwealth Parliament to alter the

Treason Act 1351 The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. No new offences were created by the statute. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has b ...

,

Bill of Rights 1689 The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Royal ...

,

Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, be ...

,

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the t ...

,

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ir ...

, and to repeal the

Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo 3 c. 11) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages t ...

, in as far as they are a part of the law of the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian states, and Territories of Australia. The States were careful to include provision that the complex interrelationship between the Sovereign, the Commonwealth and the states was not affected by the Act, as unlike the

Canadian provinces Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nort ...

, Australian states have relationships with the Crown which are independent of the Commonwealth. For example, a Canadian lieutenant governor is appointed by the

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm ...

on the advice of the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and subject to their authority, whereas the

governors of the Australian states The governors of the Australian states are the representatives of Australia's monarch in each of Australia's six states. The governors are the nominal chief executives of the states, performing the same constitutional and ceremonial function ...

are appointed by the Sovereign on the direct advice of the

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

of the state in question, and are not subject to the authority of the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. The governors hold a

dormant commission A dormant commission is a commission in a Commonwealth realm that lies dormant or sleeping until it is triggered by a particular event. Historically, a dormant commission was given in relation to a military command. During the Crimean War, Sir ...

to assume the position of Administrator of the Commonwealth should the Governor-General die, resign or be absent from Australia. A dormant commission can be revoked by the Commonwealth, such as when the dormant commission of Sir

Colin Hannah Air Marshal Sir Colin Thomas Hannah, (22 December 1914 – 22 May 1978) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and a Governor of Queensland. Born in Western Australia, he was a member of the Militia before joining the ...

,

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial func ...

, was revoked for making partisan political comments shortly before the 1975 constitutional crisis. The

Parliament of the Northern Territory The Parliament of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. It consists of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and the Administrator of the Northern Territory, who represents the Govern ...

also passed its own legislation, the ''Succession to the Crown (Request) (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2013'' (NT) however, this was not constitutionally required, as the Commonwealth Parliament retains the right to legislate for the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory legislation received royal assent from the

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

on 8 November 2013. Unlike the states, the relationship between Australia's self-governing territories and the sovereign is mediated by the Federal Government, similar to the situation in Canada.

The Act

Gender

Males born after 28 October 2011 no longer precede their elder sisters in the line of succession. The first in the line of succession to be affected by this on the date the changes came into effect were the children of

Lady Davina Lewis Lady Davina Elizabeth Alice Benedikte Windsor (born 19 November 1977), known as Lady Davina Lewis between 2004 and 2018, is the elder daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh. " Burke’s Royal Families of th ...

, her son Tāne (born 2012) and her daughter Senna (born 2010), who were reversed in the order of succession, becoming 29th and 28th in line respectively."What do the new royal succession changes mean?"
at ''Royal Central'' website, 26 March 2015 (retrieved 30 March 2015).

Marriage to Roman Catholics

Marrying a Roman Catholic no longer disqualifies a person from succeeding to the Crown. The explanation published when the bill had been introduced mentioned that those who had lost their places in the line of succession by marrying a Roman Catholic would regain their places, but that those "with a realistic prospect of succeeding to the Throne" would not be affected. The first in the line of succession to be affected by this change on the date the changes came into effect was

George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews George Philip Nicholas Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (born 26 June 1962) is an English philanthropist, former diplomat and relative of the British royal family. He was a member of HM Diplomatic Service in New York and Budapest. St Andrews became ...

, who had married a Catholic in 1988, and was restored to the line of succession in 34th place, after the Duke of Kent. The provision of the

Act of Settlement The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, bec ...

requiring the monarch to be a Protestant continues.

Sovereign's consent to royal marriages

The

Royal Marriages Act 1772 The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (12 Geo 3 c. 11) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages t ...

was repealed. This law required the consent of the Sovereign for any descendant of King George II to marry; hundreds of years after the death of George II, the number of people to whom the act applied was quite large, and almost none of them had any realistic chance of succeeding to the Crown. For example, the male-line descendants of

Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover Ernest Augustus (german: Ernst August; 5 June 177118 November 1851) was King of Hanover from 20 June 1837 until his death in 1851. As the fifth son of King George III of the United Kingdom and Hanover, he initially seemed unlikely to become a ...

, the fifth son of

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

, lost their crown in 1866 and their British titles in 1919, but are male-line descendants of George II. As such, they continued to be required to seek permission for their marriages from the British monarch, so that their marriages would be legal in the United Kingdom, where the family had a large amount of property. Since the Succession to the Crown Act came into force, only the first six persons in line to the throne require the sovereign's approval to marry. Marriage without the sovereign's consent would disqualify the person and the person's descendants from the marriage from succeeding to the Crown. However, the marriage would still be legally valid. Marriages legally void under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 will be treated as never having been void, except for purposes relating to the succession to the Crown, provided all the following conditions are met: # Neither party to the marriage was one of the six persons next in the line of succession to the Crown at the time of the marriage. # No consent was sought under section 1 of that Act, or notice given under section 2 of that act, in respect of the marriage. # In all the circumstances it was reasonable for the person concerned not to have been aware at the time of the marriage that the Act applied to it. # No person acted before the coming into force of the 2015 Act on the basis that the marriage was void.

Consequential amendments

Other changes to Australia's law were making "subject to provisions of" the Australian act the provisions that involve the Crown in the

Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union ( gd, Achd an Aonaidh) were two Acts of Parliament: the Union with Scotland Act 1706 passed by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act 1707 passed by the Parliament of Scotland. They put into effect the t ...

, between England and Scotland, and in the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ir ...

, between Great Britain and Ireland. Also, several sections in the

Bill of Rights 1689 The Bill of Rights 1689 is an Act of the Parliament of England, which sets out certain basic civil rights and clarifies who would be next to inherit the Crown, and is seen as a crucial landmark in English constitutional law. It received Royal ...

and the

Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, be ...

involving marriages with "

papist The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

s" (Catholics) were repealed, and any references to provisions relating to "the succession to, or possession of, the Crown" were made to include, by reference, the provisions of the Australian act. However, the sections that ban Catholic succession were not repealed. Catholics are still officially termed as being "naturally dead and deemed to be dead" in terms of succession. This discrimination was first legislated in the Bill of Rights 1689. As the monarch's eldest son will no longer automatically be

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

, the

Treason Act 1351 The Treason Act 1351 is an Act of the Parliament of England which codified and curtailed the common law offence of treason. No new offences were created by the statute. It is one of the earliest English statutes still in force, although it has b ...

was also amended, so that encompassing the death of the monarch's eldest son and heir is now extended to murdering the heir of whatever gender. Another amendment to the Treason Act is that, whereas it had been treason to "violate" the monarch's eldest son's wife, it is now only treason if the eldest son is also the heir to the throne.

Background

State legislation

The Act

Gender

Marriage to Roman Catholics

Sovereign's consent to royal marriages

Consequential amendments

Notes

See also