Australia's Democratic Rights

Abstract

This article considers the democratic rights under the Australian Constitution. The Australian Constitution was founded on democratic principles. However, some have argued that this statement overstates what was the situation at the time of the drafting of the Constitution in the 1890s. Evidence that the Australian Constitution is founded on and operates under democratic principles is to be found by reflecting that by the standards of the day this was a great advance. Australians debated, elected their delegates to drafting conventions in the 1890s and ultimately voted for the resultant Constitutions.