Recently a writer stated that the Australian Constitution had become "fossilized" and that changes were urgently required to modernize it. Briefly outline some of the changes that would assist this modernisation process.
The Australian Constitution's sole purpose is to set out a framework of Government. It does this by establishing the institutions of Government - the legislature, executive and judiciary - dividing powers between the Commonwealth and States and setting limits on these powers, specifying the relations between the two and finally, outlining the methods of altering the Constitution itself. The Constitution took a decade to draft, and was passed as an Act by British Parliament in July 1900. Since then, it has undergone very little changes and in recent decades many people have argued that a document written over one hundred years ago must be updated if it is to remain relevant to society today. .
The changes suggested are wide and varied. The fact that the Constitution is an Act of British Parliament, despite the fact that the Australia Acts (1986) severed all legal ties with Britain, has been a large factor in the call for a Republic, along with suggestions of removing references to the Crown from the Constitution. Furthermore, when the draft of the Constitution was voted upon in a referendum, franchise was not universal and many Australians were not eligible to vote at all (Aitken 2002).
Another issue of growing concern is Australia's increasing multiculturalism and awareness of indigenous rights. Much debate has occurred over the wording and appropriateness of s51 (xxvi), which states the Government has the power to legislate over "the people of any race, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws" (s51 [xxvi]). Thus far the Government has exercised this power only for legislation of benefit to such people, but it can still be argued that a rewording of the section to guarantee this would be appropriate.
