Legal Studies Podcasts: Recent Episodes
Mae Louise McGuinness
Australia is a constitutional monarchy. A constitution is a set of rules setting out the nature, functions and limits of government. The role of the Constitution is to determine the powers and duties of the government. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) (the Constitution) is the most important legal and political document affecting the lives of Australians. It is referred to as the Commonwealth Constitution. Its role is to facilitate the division of law making powers, provide a legal framework for the creation of the Commonwealth Parliament and outline the structure of the Commonwealth Parliament, provide for direct election of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate and give the the High Court the power to interpret the Constitution.
The United States of America consists of 50 states with limited autonomy in which federal law takes precedence over state law. In general matters that lie entirely within state borders are the exclusive concern of state governments. These include internal communications, regulations relating to property, industry, business and public utilities and state criminal codes. In recent years the federal government has assumed broader responsibility in such matters as health, education, welfare, transportation, housing and urban development. The US federal government consists of three branches. These are the executive branch (headed by the president), the legislative branch (Congress consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate) and the judicial branch (headed by the Supreme Court) The US Constitution contains a bill of rights in the amendments to the Constitution. The first ten amendments (usually referred to as the Bill of Rights) were accepted in 1791. Since then 16 more amendments have been added, the last in 1971 gave the vote to 18 year olds.
The Commonwealth Constitution clearly sets out five express rights. These express rights are entrenched in the Constitution. This means that they can only be removed from the Constitution by amending the Constitution using the referendum procedure established by S128. Rights that exist in common law and rights created by legislation can be abolished at any time by the Commonwealth Parliament legislating to override them.
Australia is the only western nation that does not have a national bill of rights. In Australia rights are protected by a legislation and common law approach. The structure and text of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) provides mechanisms for the indirect protection of the rights of Australians in their dealings with the Commonwealth Parliament by preventing the abuse of power. These mechanisms are known as the structural protection of rights.
Students should be able to explain the structure and role of parliament, including its processes and effectiveness as a law making body, describe why legal change is needed and the means by which such change can be influenced. The key knowledge areas covered are:- the principles of the Australian parliamentary system including representative government, responsible government and the separation of powers and the structure of the Victorian and Commonwealth Parliament and the roles played by the Crown and the houses of parliament in law making.
These podcasts are provided for students to assist to revise and prepare for Legal Studies classes. Classes are designed to be interactive where students apply their knowledge creating concept maps, answers to questions posed, discussion of issues raised and teacher assisted activities. Students should use these podcasts to gather and process the course content. Some students may like to use these podcasts to take short notes (even noting down the key words covered), some may like to listen to them whilst walking or traveling to school. Your peers will think that you are listening to your favourite music .....and will be none the wiser!