Cases
Landmark constitutional decisions
NZYQ
Indefinite immigration detention is unconstitutional; overturned Al-Kateb v Godwin
Palmer v WA
COVID-19 border closures upheld under s 92; reunified the trade/commerce and intercourse limbs and applied structured proportionality to s 92
Love v Commonwealth
Held that Aboriginal Australians recognised under traditional law and custom as belonging to a community cannot be considered 'aliens' under s 51(xix) and therefore cannot be deported
Clubb v Edwards
Confirmed and refined the structured proportionality test; abortion clinic safe-zone laws upheld as valid
Brown v Tasmania
Anti-protest legislation held invalid as an impermissible burden on the implied freedom of political communication; protest is constitutionally protected
McCloy
Introduced structured proportionality testing (suitability, necessity, adequacy in balance) into the implied freedom of political communication
Unions NSW
NSW electoral donation restrictions held to impermissibly burden the implied freedom of political communication
Williams v Commonwealth
Held that the Commonwealth executive power does not extend to entering into contracts and spending money on any subject; Commonwealth funding of the National School Chaplaincy Programme required legislative authorisation under a head of power
Kirk
State Supreme Courts possess a constitutionally entrenched minimum jurisdiction to review jurisdictional errors of inferior courts and tribunals
Rowe
The Constitution embeds a right to vote; early closure of electoral rolls after writs are issued was invalid
Pape v Commissioner of Taxation
Recognised the Commonwealth's executive power under s 61 as an independent source of spending power in circumstances of national emergency, upholding the stimulus payments during the Global Financial Crisis
Wurridjal
The just terms guarantee in s 51(xxxi) applies to acquisitions of property under the territories power (s 122)
Roach v Electoral Commissioner
Held that the constitutional requirement that members of Parliament be 'directly chosen by the people' implies a constitutionally protected right to vote that cannot be restricted by a blanket ban on prisoner voting
Work Choices Case
Broadly interpreted the corporations power (s 51(xx)) to uphold the Work Choices industrial relations legislation, overturning the narrow reading from Huddart Parker
Al-Kateb
Indefinite detention of a stateless person held constitutionally valid where removal from Australia was not reasonably practicable
Plaintiff S157
Upheld the constitutional entrenchment of judicial review under s 75(v), holding that privative clauses cannot oust the High Court's jurisdiction to review jurisdictional error
Re Wakim
State Parliaments cannot confer State jurisdiction on federal courts; the cooperative cross-vesting scheme was partially invalid
Sue v Hill
The United Kingdom is a foreign power for the purposes of s 44(i); dual citizens with the UK are disqualified from sitting in Parliament
Ha v New South Wales
Broadly interpreted s 90 to prevent States from imposing duties of excise; redefined excise as a tax on goods at any point before consumption
Lange v ABC
Reformulated and clarified the implied freedom of political communication, establishing the two-step test for determining whether a law infringes the implied freedom
Kable v DPP
Held that State legislation cannot confer functions on State courts that are incompatible with their role as repositories of federal judicial power under Chapter III
Australian Capital Television v Commonwealth
Established the implied freedom of political communication derived from the system of representative and responsible government in the Constitution
Nationwide News v Wills
Recognised the implied freedom of political communication; struck down a provision criminalising criticism of the Industrial Relations Commission
Mabo (No 2)
Recognised native title in Australian common law, rejecting the doctrine of terra nullius; has constitutional significance regarding the races power and the relationship between Commonwealth and State laws on Indigenous matters
Lim
Executive detention of aliens must be non-punitive; punitive detention is exclusively a judicial function under Chapter III
Sykes v Cleary
Leading case on s 44 disqualification — defined requirements for renouncing foreign citizenship and the scope of office of profit under the Crown
Street v Queensland Bar Association
Interpreted s 117 (rights of residents in States) as prohibiting discrimination on the basis of State residence, striking down Queensland Bar rules that discriminated against interstate barristers
Cole v Whitfield
Reinterpreted s 92 (freedom of interstate trade and commerce) as a guarantee against discriminatory and protectionist burdens on interstate trade, abandoning the individual rights-based 'free trade' interpretation
Tasmanian Dam Case
Broadly interpreted the external affairs power to uphold Commonwealth legislation preventing the construction of a dam in Tasmania, based on World Heritage Convention obligations
Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen
Upheld the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 as a valid exercise of the external affairs power, confirming that implementation of international treaties falls within s 51(xxix)
Concrete Pipes Case
Broadened the corporations power (s 51(xx)) by overruling Huddart Parker, allowing Commonwealth regulation of the activities of trading corporations
Second Uniform Tax Case
Confirmed the validity of the uniform taxation scheme in peacetime, upholding the Commonwealth's continued dominance of the income tax field
Boilermakers' Case
Established the strict separation of judicial power doctrine under Chapter III of the Constitution, preventing federal courts from exercising non-judicial power and non-judicial bodies from exercising judicial power
Communist Party Case
Struck down the Communist Party Dissolution Act 1950, holding that the Commonwealth cannot simply declare facts to bring legislation within a head of power; Parliament cannot expand its own powers by legislative recital
Bank Nationalisation Case
Struck down the Banking Act 1947 provisions for nationalisation of private banks, partly on the basis of s 92 freedom of interstate trade
Melbourne Corporation Case
Established the implied limitation on Commonwealth legislative power that prevents the Commonwealth from discriminating against States or impairing their capacity to function as governments
First Uniform Tax Case
Upheld the Commonwealth's wartime scheme to impose uniform income taxation, effectively excluding the States from the income tax field
Engineers' Case
Rejected the doctrine of implied intergovernmental immunities and reserved State powers; established that Commonwealth powers should be interpreted according to their natural meaning
Huddart Parker v Moorehead
Early interpretation of the corporations power (s 51(xx)) held it did not extend to regulating the conduct of trading corporations, only their incorporation
D'Emden v Pedder
Established the doctrine of intergovernmental immunities, holding that Commonwealth instrumentalities were immune from State laws