It is nine years since the last referendum was held to amend the Australian Constitution, and it is over 30 years since there was a successful referendum to amend Australia’s Constitution. The present decade may be the first since Federation during which there is no referendum held. The lack of reform to the Constitution has...

This research paper surveys the major constitutional issues relating to Northern Territory statehood and gives an indication of the complexities and nuances involved. It discusses the application of Commonwealth legislation to the Territory after statehood and provides background on the Northern Territory’s constitutional development and the statehood timeline. The major constitutional issues relating to statehood...

In the wake of the High Court’s decision on prisoner enfranchisement, Graeme Orr describes the issue of prisoner disenfranchisement as a continuing ‘political football’ in this new paper.

The ability of dissents to pave the way for change in the law is regularly cited as one of their virtues. But this examination of a period of the court’s recent history shows that the direct reversal of a precedent in favour of the minority opinion which accompanied it is actually very rare.

This chronology starts with the addition of the area that would eventually become the Northern Territory to the Colony of New South Wales in 1825 and concludes with the 2007 report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs on statehood matters. It also includes some complementary coverage of relevant electoral...