The Constitution of New South Wales is composed of both unwritten and written elements that set out the structure of Government in the State of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. While the most important parts are codified in the Constitution Act 1902, major parts of the broader constitution can also be found in: * important constitutional statutes, such as the ''Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912'' or the ''Supreme Court Act 1970'' * the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

* constitutional conventions, * the Australian Constitution, * the Australia Acts, * any remaining applicable British legislation, such as the ''

Bill of Rights 1689 The Bill of Rights 1689 (sometimes known as the Bill of Rights 1688) is an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of England that set out certain basic civil rights and changed the succession to the Monarchy of England, Engl ...

''. The Constitution Act 1902 sets out many of the basic principles of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

, and provides for an

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

and

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

branch. However, unlike the Federal Constitution, the courts have found this does not mean there is a formal

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

at the state level. It can also be amended through ordinary Acts of Parliament, however some sections can only be amended through a referendum of NSW voters.

History

In 1853 the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

, then a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

body, with a hybrid of appointed and elected members, passed the ''New South Wales Constitution Bill'' in 1853, also referred to as 17 Vic. No 41, which was reserved for the Queen's assent, which the Queen did not give. Instead the Imperial Parliament at Westminster passed what is referred to as the ''Constitution Statute'' ''1855'' (Imp) which included a modified bill as schedule. It was this modified bill to which the Queen assented. The 1902 Act repealed all or part of eight previous Acts.

Document structure and text

The Act originally consisted of six parts, to which an additional five parts have since been added. *Part 1 Preliminary. *Part 2 Powers of the Legislature. *Part 2A The Governor, added in 1987. *Part 3 The Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly. *Part 4 The Executive. *Part 4A Parliamentary Secretaries, added in 1975. *Part 5 The Consolidated Fund. *Part 6 Officers and staff. *Part 7 Administrative arrangements, added in 1984. *Part 8 Local government, added in 1986. *Part 9 The judiciary, added in 1992. *Part 10 Public ownership of Sydney Water Corporation and Hunter Water Corporation, added in 2023.

Alterations to the Constitution

By parliament

The '' Constitution Act 1902''Act as made in 1902 was an Act of the New South Wales Parliament. In contrast to the

Constitution of Australia The Constitution of Australia (also known as the Commonwealth Constitution) is the fundamental law that governs the political structure of Australia. It is a written constitution, which establishes the country as a Federation of Australia, ...

it was not approved by a referendum and did not contain any provision requiring a referendum to alter it. In 1929 the parliament passed an amendment to the Constitution Act which inserted section 7A, requiring a referendum before the Legislative Council could be abolished. In 1930 Labor MLCs put forward two bills, one to repeal section 7A, the other to abolish the Council. Believing that a referendum was necessary before the bills could become law, the Legislative Council permitted the bills to pass without a division on 10 December. The validity of section 7A and the inability to repeal the section without a referendum were upheld by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

on 23 December 1930, a majority of the High Court on 16 March 1931, and the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August ...

on 31 May 1932. , the Constitution Act 1902 has been amended through Parliament by the following Acts:

Referendums

There have been 18 referendums in New South Wales, 8 of which concerned proposals to amend the New South Wales Constitution, half of which concerned the Legislative Council. The list does not include referendums that did not involve changes to the NSW constitution, such as the 1898 and 1899 referendums on the proposed constitution of Australia, the 1903 referendum on the number of Members of the Legislative Assembly and the 5 referendums on the sale of alcohol.

Effect of the Constitution of Australia

The Constitution of Australia sets up the Commonwealth of Australia as a

federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, with limited specific powers conferred on the Federal Parliament. The relationship between the states and the Commonwealth are dealt with in chapter V, including section 109 which provides that state laws are invalid to the extent of any inconsistency with federal laws. For the first two decades, the High Court preserved much of the financial and political independence of the states by adopting the reserved state powers and the implied inter-governmental immunities doctrine. These doctrines protected both the Commonwealth and the states from legislative or executive actions which "would fetter, control, or interfere with, the free exercise" of the legislative or executive power of the other.. at p. 534 & 537-8. These doctrines were subsequently rejected by the court in the 1920 '' Engineers' Case''. after the composition of the court changed. The High Court has held that the structure and text of the Constitution of Australia is such that the it protects the independence of the State Supreme Courts and a state parliament cannot assign powers that are incompatible with that independence,. nor prevent State Supreme Courts from issuing prerogative relief for jurisdictional error.

Notes

References

External links

* , original version * The full text o
Constitution Act 1902 No 32
at NSW legislation, current version {{Australia topic, title=

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

s of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, prefix=Constitution of, VI=Victoria, exclude-ext=y, group1=Commonwealth, list1=

, group5={{nowrap, External territories, list5=

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

New South Wales legislation