The Australia Acts 1986 were passed in parallel by the Commonwealth Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom, coming into effect on 3 March 1986. They severed the remaining constitutional links between Australia and the United Kingdom by terminating the ability of the UK Parliament to legislate for Australia and abolishing appeals from Australian courts to the Privy Council. The Acts also gave the States full legislative power, free from the constraints of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, and confirmed that the laws of the United Kingdom would no longer apply to any State.