Hope you all had a great
holiday… I will see you Friday.
Please go through this
PowerPoint as a class to
complete chapter three.
If you have spare time, go through the answers to the four case
studies together… see you Friday!!
Referral of Law-Making
Powers
0 The States can refer and of their law residual powers
to the Commonwealth. This may occur when the
states find there is an area of law that needs to be
uniformed across the country.
0 States are usually reluctant to do this
0 S51(xxxvii) gives the Commonwealth Parliament
power over any matters referred to it by the states,
but that power can only operate in the states that
have given up their power to the Commonwealth
The Process of Referral of
Powers
1. The states agreeing to hand over an area of power to
the Commonwealth
2. When a decision has been reached, the state
Parliaments pass an act giving their law-making
power to the Commonwealth
3. The Commonwealth passes an act accepting this
power from each state that has referred its power.
Impact of referral of lawmaking powers
0 The impact of the referral of law-making
powers is that there is a change in the
division of powers between state and
the Commonwealth in favour of the
Commonwealth.
Cases of Referral of Power
0 De Facto relationships were not included under s51(xxi)
and s51(xxii), therefore matters relating to de facto
couples could not be heard in the Family Court.
0 This meant that de facto couples were denied access to the
Family Court, which has the expertise to hear family
matters (eg. Propety division)
0 In 2004, the Victorian Parliament referred its power over
property and other financial matters arising out of the
breakdown of de facto relationships to the Commonwealth
Parliament under the Commonwealth Powers (De Facto
Relationships) Act 2004 (Vic.)
0 NSW, NT, QLD, TAS all passed identical legislation.
Cases of Referral of Power
0 The defense power in s51(vi) of the Constitution allows the
Commonwealth to make laws on Military matters.
0 International security is regarded as criminal law and is
the responsibility of the states.
0 With the threat of terrorism, the Commonwealth needed
power to act for the whole of Australia (Particularly after
the September 11 attacks in 2001).
0 In 2003, all states referred a limited power to allow the
enactment of the Criminal Code Amendment (Terrorism) Act
2003. This act now allows the Commonwealth to make
laws regarding terrorist acts inside Australia. The Victorian
act referring these powers was the Terrorism
(Commonwealth Powers) Act 2003.
Other Cases
0 Other cases of referral of law-making powers can be
found on pages 148-150 of your text book.
Strengths and Weaknesses
STRENGTHS
0 The Commonwealth is able
to make laws for the
benefit of the whole
country
0 It is difficult to get the
states to pass uniform laws
on a particular issues.
There are likely to be small
differences. If power has
been referred to the
Commonwealth, then it
can pass one law that
affects the whole country.
WEAKNESSES
0 The states can agree to
pass uniform laws
without losing their lawmaking power
0 Reduces the law-making
power of the states
Question Time
0 Complete Learning Activity 3.10 on Page 154.
0 The first SAC for U3O2 will be WEDNESDAY 24th of
APRIL!
0 It will be on Chapter Three!!
0 Look at the exam questions at the end of chapter
three. Have a shot at breaking down the questions
and determine what the questions are asking you.
Rewrite the questions in ‘layman's’ terms.