501693cccc6b1789ea3e1318624304e8bb4668a0385711
Open/Close Toolbox
Item Type: Series
Linked To
CreatorPreceding SeriesRelated Series
- [UMA-SR-000000862] ACC 7 Standing Committee Files
- [UMA-SR-000000864] ACC 9 Structure of Government Sub-Committee Files
- [UMA-SR-000000874] ACC 19 Printed Proceedings, Reports and Papers
- [UMA-SR-000000884] ACC 29 Papers on Agenda Items
- [UMA-SR-000000887] ACC 32 Referendum Material
- [UMA-SR-000000890] ACC 35 Papers re the Origins, Organisation and Achi
Map
no geotags or polygons yet
Menu
[UMA-SR-000000868] ACC 13 Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee Files
Description
IdentifierUMA-SR-000000868Extent11 filesScope and ContentThe Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee was established by the Standing Committee in June 1983. Senator Michael Tate was elected Chairman. This Sub-Committee considered and reported on a number of issues. These included several matters referred to the Standing Committee by the 1983 Adelaide Convention and passed on to the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee, plus matters referred from the Standing Committee and the Structure of Government Sub-Committee at later dates.
Most of the matters referred to the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee were discussed in its Report to Standing Committee, June 1984, which was printed with the Proceedings of the 1985 Brisbane Convention. Other matters seem to have been covered in separate communications to the Standing Committee.
Below is an introduction to the Sub-Committee's references.
Composition of the Australian Constitutional Convention
Resolution 16 of the 1983 Convention was referred to the Sub-Committee:
That this Convention recommends that the composition of the Australian Constitutional Convention be altered to provide that there shall be one full voting delegate from local government for each State and that the composition of delegations appointed by the Parliament of the Commonwealth and the Parliaments of the States be referred to the Standing Committee for consideration and report to the next plenary session of the Convention.
Organisation of the Australian Constitutional Convention: Secretariat
This was the subject of Resolution 17 (2) of the 1983 Convention:
That the Standing Committee consider the establishment of a small secretariat on a full-time basis for organisational and administrative purposes, and to co-ordinate research.
In December 1983 the Sub-Committee suggested to the Standing Committee that the existing Secretariat should not be expanded but that its functions should be expanded to include the production of a regular newsletter.
Implementation of Convention Resolutions
Agenda Item A.21 at Adelaide was referred by the 1983 Convention to the Standing Committee for consideration and report (Resolution 18):
That this Convention requests the Commonwealth to undertake to initiate referendums as soon as practicable in respect of any proposal for constitutional alteration passed by a two-thirds majority of the Convention.
States Initiation of Referendums
The proposals in Agenda Item A.22 were referred to the Standing Committee by the 1983 Convention (Resolution 19):
That this Convention recommends that the Constitution be altered by adding to it a new section to make provision for an additional method of effecting alteration to it in future, in terms substantially to the following effect:
(1) The Constitution may also be altered in the manner following initiated by laws enacted by the Parliaments of the States.
(2) If during any period of three calendar years the Parliaments of each of the States pass a law proposing an alteration to the Constitution, the alteration proposed by each such law being in identical terms, the Commonwealth shall submit the proposed alteration to a referendum within twelve months of the date of the last passage of the law proposing such alteration by a State Parliament.
(3) If the proposed alteration is approved at such referendum -
(i) by a majority of the electors voting in each of not less than the number of States required
under section 128 to return a majority in favour of an alteration proposal in order that it be carried; and
(ii) by a majority of all the electors voting at the referendum to which it has been submitted in
accord with paragraph (2) above the proposed alteration shall, by force of this provision, become operative and of full force and effect as an alteration of the Constitution.
(4) The repeal of any such Act by the Parliament of any State shall not operate to prevent the alteration of the Constitution contained in it becoming effective if the law is approved by the majorities of electors prescribed in this section.
Popular Initiative
This was the subject of Agenda Item A.23, referred to the Standing Committee by the 1983 Convention (Resolution 20):
That this Convention recommends that the Constitution be altered to provide that a proposed amendment to the Constitution may be initiated by petition to a House of the Parliament signed within the period of six months immediately preceding presentation of the petition by not less than two hundred and fifty thousand electors qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Representatives.
Any such proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors in each State and Territory at the same time as the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.
If a majority of all the electors voting approve the proposed amendment and in a majority of the States a majority of the electors voting also approve the proposed amendment such amendment will be presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's Assent.
Amendments to section 128
The following proposals contained in Agenda Item A.24 were referred by the 1983 Convention to the Standing Committee (Resolution 21):
That this Convention recommends that section 128 of the Constitution be altered - (a)Clarification of 'fails to pass'
to clarify the course to be followed in the case of disagreement between the two Houses upon
a law to alter the Constitution by making provision along the following lines, in lieu of the second substantive paragraph of section 128:
'If one House passes by an absolute majority of the total number of members a proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution and transmits it to the other House and the other House has not passed the proposed law within fifteen sitting days after the date on which the proposed law is received by it without amendment or with such amendments only as were agreed to by the first-mentioned House and the session has not ended; and if the first-mentioned House in the same or next session passes by an absolute majority of the total number of members the proposed law with or without any amendments made by or agreed to by the first- mentioned House and transmits it to the other House and the other House has not passed the proposed law within fifteen sitting days after the date on which the proposed law is received by it and the session has not ended, the Governor-General may submit the proposed law as last proposed by the first-mentioned House, and either with or without any amendments, subsequently agreed to by both Houses, to the electors in each State and Territory qualified to vote for the election of the House of Representatives.'
(b) Further entrench penultimate paragraph of section 128
to provide specifically that an amendment to the penultimate paragraph of section 128 must
be approved by a majority of electors voting upon the proposed alteration in each State.
(c) Clarify categories of constitutional alterations to which penultimate paragraph applies
to make it clear that the words in section 128 'the provisions of the Constitution in relation thereto' in the penultimate paragraph apply to the three matters referred to in the penultimate paragraph.
(d) Extend section 128 to alteration of the covering clauses
to make it clear that the procedure for amendment of the Constitution under section 128 extends to altering the covering clauses of the Constitution.
Agreement of States to Referendum Proposals
At a meeting of the Standing Committee on 13 July 1983, the following motion was referred to the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee. The Attorney-General of Queensland, Mr Doumany, had originally requested that this matter be listed for discussion at the Standing Committee meeting:
That the Commonwealth Constitution be amended to provide that when a matter is to be put to the people by a referendum the question to be put to the people and the arguments both for and against such proposition shall have been agreed to by the Government of the Commonwealth and the governments of a majority of the States and that this matter be referred to the Constitutional Amendment sub-committee.
In December 1983, the Sub-Committee recommended to the Standing Committee that the proposal as it stood was impracticable and that it was not appropriate as a matter for constitutional amendment, although Queensland should feel free to bring forward a more detailed proposal on this matter.
Submission of Proposals to Referendum ('Practice 31')
At its meeting on 25 November 1983, the Structure of Government Sub-Committee agreed to seek the opinions of the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee on Practice 31. Practice 31 was among a number of practices listed by the 1983 Convention for further consideration and subsequently referred to the Structure of Government Sub-Committee:
The Governor-General exercises on ministerial advice his power to submit to referendum Bills to alter the Constitution that have passed both Houses in accordance with section
128. He may, in accordance with such advice, refrain from so submitting a Bill, whether it originated in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.
Public Funding of Referendum Proposals
The Standing Committee passed the following motion at its meeting on 19 December 1983:
That the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee examine:-
(a) the funding and nature of separate advertising and promotional campaigns for referendum proposals both for and against;
(b) the supervision of expenditure for referendum proposals campaigns;
(c) whether there should be any distinction between referendums supported by the Constitutional Conventions and those initiated by the Commonwealth; and
(d) how any public funding pursuant to (a) should be apportioned.
Democratic Elections
In response to a letter from the Commonwealth Attorney-General Gareth Evans, the Standing Committee on 23 May 1984 referred the proposal contained in the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill to the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee for consideration and report. Peter Ford, Secretary to the Constitutional Amendment Sub- Committee, prepared an issues paper on the Bill, and the Sub-Committee also received correspondence on the Bill from the Attorney-General of Western Australia. The Sub- Committee considered the Bill at its final meeting on 19 June 1984 and wrote to the Standing Committee drawing attention to certain matters and concluding that it was up to the Standing Committee to decide whether the proposal should be placed on the Agenda for the 1985 Convention in Brisbane.
The files in series ACC 13 include the following kinds of material:
Agendas, Minutes and Correspondence: Agendas, minutes and papers relevant to meetings, together with correspondence of the Sub-Committee, all arranged in roughly chronological order. The correspondence includes letters to/from the Chief Executive Officer, the Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer, and the Secretary of the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee.
Papers: Research and discussion papers, background material, notes, etc.
Report: Drafts and proofs of the Sub-Committee's final report, and associated notes, correspondence and papers.Access StatusOpen for public accessRequest Access to RecordsRequest records from this Series
Most of the matters referred to the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee were discussed in its Report to Standing Committee, June 1984, which was printed with the Proceedings of the 1985 Brisbane Convention. Other matters seem to have been covered in separate communications to the Standing Committee.
Below is an introduction to the Sub-Committee's references.
Composition of the Australian Constitutional Convention
Resolution 16 of the 1983 Convention was referred to the Sub-Committee:
That this Convention recommends that the composition of the Australian Constitutional Convention be altered to provide that there shall be one full voting delegate from local government for each State and that the composition of delegations appointed by the Parliament of the Commonwealth and the Parliaments of the States be referred to the Standing Committee for consideration and report to the next plenary session of the Convention.
Organisation of the Australian Constitutional Convention: Secretariat
This was the subject of Resolution 17 (2) of the 1983 Convention:
That the Standing Committee consider the establishment of a small secretariat on a full-time basis for organisational and administrative purposes, and to co-ordinate research.
In December 1983 the Sub-Committee suggested to the Standing Committee that the existing Secretariat should not be expanded but that its functions should be expanded to include the production of a regular newsletter.
Implementation of Convention Resolutions
Agenda Item A.21 at Adelaide was referred by the 1983 Convention to the Standing Committee for consideration and report (Resolution 18):
That this Convention requests the Commonwealth to undertake to initiate referendums as soon as practicable in respect of any proposal for constitutional alteration passed by a two-thirds majority of the Convention.
States Initiation of Referendums
The proposals in Agenda Item A.22 were referred to the Standing Committee by the 1983 Convention (Resolution 19):
That this Convention recommends that the Constitution be altered by adding to it a new section to make provision for an additional method of effecting alteration to it in future, in terms substantially to the following effect:
(1) The Constitution may also be altered in the manner following initiated by laws enacted by the Parliaments of the States.
(2) If during any period of three calendar years the Parliaments of each of the States pass a law proposing an alteration to the Constitution, the alteration proposed by each such law being in identical terms, the Commonwealth shall submit the proposed alteration to a referendum within twelve months of the date of the last passage of the law proposing such alteration by a State Parliament.
(3) If the proposed alteration is approved at such referendum -
(i) by a majority of the electors voting in each of not less than the number of States required
under section 128 to return a majority in favour of an alteration proposal in order that it be carried; and
(ii) by a majority of all the electors voting at the referendum to which it has been submitted in
accord with paragraph (2) above the proposed alteration shall, by force of this provision, become operative and of full force and effect as an alteration of the Constitution.
(4) The repeal of any such Act by the Parliament of any State shall not operate to prevent the alteration of the Constitution contained in it becoming effective if the law is approved by the majorities of electors prescribed in this section.
Popular Initiative
This was the subject of Agenda Item A.23, referred to the Standing Committee by the 1983 Convention (Resolution 20):
That this Convention recommends that the Constitution be altered to provide that a proposed amendment to the Constitution may be initiated by petition to a House of the Parliament signed within the period of six months immediately preceding presentation of the petition by not less than two hundred and fifty thousand electors qualified to vote for the election of members of the House of Representatives.
Any such proposed amendment shall be submitted to the electors in each State and Territory at the same time as the next election for the House of Representatives or the Senate.
If a majority of all the electors voting approve the proposed amendment and in a majority of the States a majority of the electors voting also approve the proposed amendment such amendment will be presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's Assent.
Amendments to section 128
The following proposals contained in Agenda Item A.24 were referred by the 1983 Convention to the Standing Committee (Resolution 21):
That this Convention recommends that section 128 of the Constitution be altered - (a)Clarification of 'fails to pass'
to clarify the course to be followed in the case of disagreement between the two Houses upon
a law to alter the Constitution by making provision along the following lines, in lieu of the second substantive paragraph of section 128:
'If one House passes by an absolute majority of the total number of members a proposed law for the alteration of the Constitution and transmits it to the other House and the other House has not passed the proposed law within fifteen sitting days after the date on which the proposed law is received by it without amendment or with such amendments only as were agreed to by the first-mentioned House and the session has not ended; and if the first-mentioned House in the same or next session passes by an absolute majority of the total number of members the proposed law with or without any amendments made by or agreed to by the first- mentioned House and transmits it to the other House and the other House has not passed the proposed law within fifteen sitting days after the date on which the proposed law is received by it and the session has not ended, the Governor-General may submit the proposed law as last proposed by the first-mentioned House, and either with or without any amendments, subsequently agreed to by both Houses, to the electors in each State and Territory qualified to vote for the election of the House of Representatives.'
(b) Further entrench penultimate paragraph of section 128
to provide specifically that an amendment to the penultimate paragraph of section 128 must
be approved by a majority of electors voting upon the proposed alteration in each State.
(c) Clarify categories of constitutional alterations to which penultimate paragraph applies
to make it clear that the words in section 128 'the provisions of the Constitution in relation thereto' in the penultimate paragraph apply to the three matters referred to in the penultimate paragraph.
(d) Extend section 128 to alteration of the covering clauses
to make it clear that the procedure for amendment of the Constitution under section 128 extends to altering the covering clauses of the Constitution.
Agreement of States to Referendum Proposals
At a meeting of the Standing Committee on 13 July 1983, the following motion was referred to the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee. The Attorney-General of Queensland, Mr Doumany, had originally requested that this matter be listed for discussion at the Standing Committee meeting:
That the Commonwealth Constitution be amended to provide that when a matter is to be put to the people by a referendum the question to be put to the people and the arguments both for and against such proposition shall have been agreed to by the Government of the Commonwealth and the governments of a majority of the States and that this matter be referred to the Constitutional Amendment sub-committee.
In December 1983, the Sub-Committee recommended to the Standing Committee that the proposal as it stood was impracticable and that it was not appropriate as a matter for constitutional amendment, although Queensland should feel free to bring forward a more detailed proposal on this matter.
Submission of Proposals to Referendum ('Practice 31')
At its meeting on 25 November 1983, the Structure of Government Sub-Committee agreed to seek the opinions of the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee on Practice 31. Practice 31 was among a number of practices listed by the 1983 Convention for further consideration and subsequently referred to the Structure of Government Sub-Committee:
The Governor-General exercises on ministerial advice his power to submit to referendum Bills to alter the Constitution that have passed both Houses in accordance with section
128. He may, in accordance with such advice, refrain from so submitting a Bill, whether it originated in the House of Representatives or in the Senate.
Public Funding of Referendum Proposals
The Standing Committee passed the following motion at its meeting on 19 December 1983:
That the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee examine:-
(a) the funding and nature of separate advertising and promotional campaigns for referendum proposals both for and against;
(b) the supervision of expenditure for referendum proposals campaigns;
(c) whether there should be any distinction between referendums supported by the Constitutional Conventions and those initiated by the Commonwealth; and
(d) how any public funding pursuant to (a) should be apportioned.
Democratic Elections
In response to a letter from the Commonwealth Attorney-General Gareth Evans, the Standing Committee on 23 May 1984 referred the proposal contained in the Constitution Alteration (Democratic Elections) Bill to the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee for consideration and report. Peter Ford, Secretary to the Constitutional Amendment Sub- Committee, prepared an issues paper on the Bill, and the Sub-Committee also received correspondence on the Bill from the Attorney-General of Western Australia. The Sub- Committee considered the Bill at its final meeting on 19 June 1984 and wrote to the Standing Committee drawing attention to certain matters and concluding that it was up to the Standing Committee to decide whether the proposal should be placed on the Agenda for the 1985 Convention in Brisbane.
The files in series ACC 13 include the following kinds of material:
Agendas, Minutes and Correspondence: Agendas, minutes and papers relevant to meetings, together with correspondence of the Sub-Committee, all arranged in roughly chronological order. The correspondence includes letters to/from the Chief Executive Officer, the Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer, and the Secretary of the Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee.
Papers: Research and discussion papers, background material, notes, etc.
Report: Drafts and proofs of the Sub-Committee's final report, and associated notes, correspondence and papers.Access StatusOpen for public accessRequest Access to RecordsRequest records from this Series
Provenance
CreatorAustralian Constitutional ConventionRoleProvenance
Provenance
CreatorFinemore, JohnRoleProvenance
Dates
Date1918-1985
Relationships
Preceding Series[UMA-SR-000000859] ACC 4 Standing Committee 'B' FilesRelated Series[UMA-SR-000000862] ACC 7 Standing Committee Files[UMA-SR-000000864] ACC 9 Structure of Government Sub-Committee Files[UMA-SR-000000874] ACC 19 Printed Proceedings, Reports and Papers[UMA-SR-000000884] ACC 29 Papers on Agenda Items[UMA-SR-000000887] ACC 32 Referendum Material[UMA-SR-000000890] ACC 35 Papers re the Origins, Organisation and Achi
Finemore, John, [UMA-SR-000000868] ACC 13 Constitutional Amendment Sub-Committee Files (1918-1985), [UMA-SR-000000868]. University of Melbourne Archives, accessed 26/08/2026, https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/501693