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related:
Australian
Law
|
the territories
This page considers constitutional aspects of the Australian
Territories, bodies that have some measure of self-government
but lesser autonomy than the six states.
It covers -
introduction
Australia comprises the States, discussed in the preceding
page of this profile) and several Territories - often
referred to as internal (ie mainland) Territories and
external (offshore) Territories.
The Territories are -
- the
Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which includes the
national capital
- the
Northern Territory
- Norfolk
Island, north-east of NSW
- Ashmore
and Cartier Islands, to the north of the NT
-
Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean
-
Cocos (Keeling) Islands, 27 islands with a total land
area of approximately 14 square kilometres located in
the Indian Ocean to the west of Christmas Island
-
Coral Sea Islands, located offshore from the Great Barrier
Reef
-
Jervis Bay Territory, an enclave in NSW that was originally
intended as a special port for the ACT
- Heard
Island and McDonald Islands, located in the Southern
Ocean some 4000 kilometres south-west of the Australian
mainland
The
Commonwealth has the power to legislate for the Territories
under s
122 of the Constitution.
profiles
What is now the Australian Capital Territory was ceded
by NSW to the Commonwealth in 1911 under the Seat
of Government Acceptance Act 1909 (here)
and gained self-government under the Australian Capital
Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (here).
The Northern Territory, ceded from South Australia in
1911 under the Northern Territory Acceptance Act 1910
(here),
gained self-government under the Northern Territory
(Self-Government) Act 1978 (here).
The two Self-Government Acts function as the equivalent
of State Constitutions, authorising the Territory legislature
to pass laws for the "peace, order and good government"
of that Territory except for matters over which direct
legislative authority is retained by the Commonwealth.
Both the ACT and NT have their own popularly-elected unicameral
legislature, courts and bureaucracy. In the NT the Administrator,
appointed by the Governor-General, is broadly equivalent
to a state Governor; there is no counterpart in the ACT.
Norfolk Island became an an Australian Territory in 1914
and is administered under the Norfolk Island Act 1979
(here),
which provides for an Administrator as nominal head of
the Norfolk Island Government, a Norfolk Island Legislative
Assembly and a Norfolk Island Supreme Court oversighting
the Island's legal system (derived from NSW and the UK).
The Island's constitutional status is similar to that
of the mainland Territories; the major difference is that
the Island Government and Legislative Assembly have greater
powers and responsibilities, including scope for enacting
laws on matters that elsewhere are the preserve of the
Federal Government (such as customs, quarantine and immigration).
Norfolk has the dot-nf ccTLD.
Responsibility for the Ashmore and Cartier islands was
accepted from Britain in 1933, with administration being
transferred from the Northern Territory to the Commonwealth
in 1978 as part of the latter's achievement of self-government.
Administration occurs under the Ashmore & Cartier
Islands Acceptance Act 1933 (here).
Christmas Island - with the dot-cx ccTLD - was a separate
Crown colony under the jurisdiction of colonial Singapore
prior to transfer to Australia in 1958 (with Singapore
receiving £2.9 million compensation). Governance
is provided by the Christmas Island Act 1958
(here),
amended by the Territories Law Reform Act 1992,
with overall management by a resident Administrator appointed
by the Governor-General.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, formerly a separate UK entity,
voted in favour of integration with Australia in an Act
of Self Determination supervised by the United Nations
in 1984. It has the dot-cc cc-TLD. It is governed under
the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act 1955 (here),
amended by the Territories Law Reform Act 1992,
with overall management by a resident Administrator appointed
by the Governor-General.
Administration of the Coral Sea Islands occurs under the
Coral Sea Islands Act 1969 (here).
The laws of the Australian Capital Territory (so far as
they are applicable) apply in the Territory and the Supreme
Court of Norfolk Island (which consists of Judges of the
Federal Court) exercises criminal jurisdiction in the
Territory. Commonwealth laws only apply when expressed
as extending to the Territory.
Jervis Bay was acquired by the Commonwealth from New South
Wales in 1915 under the Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance
Act 1915 (here),
with administration under that Act and associated Jervis
Bay Territory Ordinances made by the Governor-General.
Laws of the Australian Capital Territory apply in so far
as they are applicable and are not inconsistent with an
Ordinance.
The Heard Island & McDonald Islands Act 1953
(here)
covers administration of that Territory, uninhabited apart
from rats, birds and the odd scientist. The Territory
is identified by the dot-hn ccTLD. Further south the Australian
Antarctic Territory covers nearly 5.9 million square kilometres
(about 42% of Antarctica), with sovereignty transferred
from the UK to Australia under the Australian Antartic
Territory Acceptance Act 1933 and reflected in the
1959 international Antarctic Treaty.
studies
Major reports include -
- Islands
in the sun: The legal regimes of Australia's external
territories and the Jervis Bay Territory (1991),
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal
& Constitutional Affairs
- Quis
custodiet ipsos custodes?: Inquiry into Governance on
Norfolk Island (2003), Joint Standing Committee
on the National Capital & External Territories |
here
- Current
and future governance arrangements for the Indian Ocean
Territories (2006), Joint Standing Committee on
the National Capital & External Territories | here
major cases
[under development]
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