Act of the Parliament of Australia, currently registered as C2015A00023
This article is about the Australian Commonwealth law passed in 2015. For the similarly-named United Kingdom law, see Succession to the Crown Act 2013.
As the Statute of Westminster ended the ability of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to legislate on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Australia Acts eliminated the remaining possibilities for the UK to legislate with effect to the Australian states, Australia had the most challenging legal environment of the Commonwealth realms, as each of the six state governments and the federal government has a separate direct relationship with the monarch.
It was brought into effect simultaneously with the similar laws enacted by the other Commonwealth realms after the Governor-General proclaimed the law to commence at "the beginning of 26 March 2015 by United Kingdom time".[2]
Prior to the Act, the succession to the throne of Australia, like all Commonwealth realms, was controlled by a system of male-preference primogeniture,[8] under which succession passed first to the monarch's or nearest dynast's legitimate sons (and to their legitimate issue) in order of birth, and subsequently to their daughters and their legitimate issue, again in order of birth, so that sons always inherit before their sisters, elder children inherit before younger, and descendants inherit before collateral relatives.
The States were careful to include provision that the complex interrelationship[12] between the Sovereign, the Commonwealth and the states was not affected by the Act, as unlike the Canadian provinces, Australian states have relationships with the Crown which are independent of the Commonwealth.[13] For example, a Canadian lieutenant governor is appointed by the Governor General of Canada on the advice of the prime minister and subject to their authority,[14] whereas the governors of the Australian states are appointed by the Sovereign on the direct advice of the premier of the state in question,[15] and are not subject to the authority of the Governor-General.
By convention, the State Governors are issued a dormant commission to assume the position of Administrator of the Commonwealth should the Governor-General die, resign or be absent from Australia when they are appointed Governor. This commission can be revoked by the King on the advice of the Commonwealth Prime Minister, as occurred when Sir Colin Hannah, Governor of Queensland, had his dormant commission revoked for making partisan political comments shortly before the 1975 constitutional crisis.
The Parliament of the Northern Territory also passed its own legislation, the Succession to the Crown (Request) (National Uniform Legislation) Act 2013 (NT) however, this was not constitutionally required, as the Commonwealth Parliament retains the right to legislate for the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory legislation received royal assent from the Administrator on 8 November 2013.[22]
Unlike the states, the relationship between Australia's self-governing territories and the sovereign is mediated by the Federal Government, similar to the situation in Canada.
The Act
Gender
Males born after 28 October 2011 no longer precede their elder sisters in the line of succession.[23] The first in the line of succession to be affected by this on the date the changes came into effect were the children of Lady Davina Lewis, her son Tāne (born 2012) and her daughter Senna (born 2010), who were reversed in the order of succession, becoming 29th and 28th in line respectively.[24]
Marriage to Roman Catholics
Marrying a Roman Catholic no longer disqualifies a person from succeeding to the Crown.[23] The explanation published when the bill had been introduced mentioned that those who had lost their places in the line of succession by marrying a Roman Catholic would regain their places, but that those "with a realistic prospect of succeeding to the Throne" would not be affected. The first in the line of succession to be affected by this change on the date the changes came into effect was George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews, who had married a Catholic in 1988, and was restored to the line of succession in 34th place, after the Duke of Kent.[24] The provision of the Act of Settlement requiring the monarch to be a Protestant continues.
Sovereign's consent to royal marriages
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 was repealed. This law required the consent of the Sovereign for any descendant of King George II to marry; hundreds of years after the death of George II, the number of people to whom the act applied was quite large, and almost none of them had any realistic chance of succeeding to the Crown.
For example, the male-line descendants of Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover, the fifth son of King George III, lost their crown in 1866 and their British titles in 1919, but are male-line descendants of George II. As such, they continued to be required to seek permission for their marriages from the British monarch, so that their marriages would be legal in the United Kingdom, where the family had a large amount of property.
Since the Succession to the Crown Act came into force, only the first six persons in line to the throne require the sovereign's approval to marry. Marriage without the sovereign's consent would disqualify the person and the person's descendants from the marriage from succeeding to the Crown. However, the marriage would still be legally valid.[23]
Marriages legally void under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 will be treated as never having been void, except for purposes relating to the[25] succession to the Crown, provided all the following conditions are met:
Neither party to the marriage was one of the six persons next in the line of succession to the Crown at the time of the marriage.
No consent was sought under section 1 of that Act, or notice given under section 2 of that act, in respect of the marriage.
In all the circumstances it was reasonable for the person concerned not to have been aware at the time of the marriage that the Act applied to it.
No person acted before the coming into force of the 2015 Act on the basis that the marriage was void.
Consequential amendments
Other changes to Australia's law were making "subject to provisions of" the Australian act the provisions that involve the Crown in the Acts of Union 1707, between England and Scotland, and in the Acts of Union 1800, between Great Britain and Ireland. Also, several sections in the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 involving marriages with "papists" (Catholics) were repealed, and any references to provisions relating to "the succession to, or possession of, the Crown" were made to include, by reference, the provisions of the Australian act.[23]
However, the sections that ban Catholic succession were not repealed. Catholics are still officially termed as being "naturally dead and deemed to be dead" in terms of succession. This discrimination was first legislated in the Bill of Rights 1689.[26]
As the monarch's eldest son will no longer automatically be heir apparent, the Treason Act 1351 was also amended, so that encompassing the death of the monarch's eldest son and heir is now extended to murdering the heir of whatever gender. Another amendment to the Treason Act is that, whereas it had been treason to "violate" the monarch's eldest son's wife, it is now only treason if the eldest son is also the heir to the throne.
The Act of Settlement is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, became disqualified to inherit the throne. This had the effect of deposing the remaining descendants of Charles I, other than his Protestant granddaughter Anne, as the next Protestant in line to the throne was Sophia of Hanover. Born into the House of Wittelsbach, she was a granddaughter of James VI and I from his most junior surviving line, with the crowns descending only to her non-Catholic heirs. Sophia died less than two months before Queen Anne, and Sophia's son succeeded to the throne as King George I, starting the Hanoverian dynasty in Britain.
The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets the basis for the relationship between the Dominions and the Crown.
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British Constitution. The term may also refer to the role of the royal family within the UK's broader political structure. The current monarch is King Charles III, who ascended the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II, his mother.
A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state within the Commonwealth that has Charles III as its monarch and ceremonial head of state. All the realms are independent of the others, though one person, resident in the United Kingdom, acts as monarch of each. The phrase Commonwealth realm is an informal description not used in any law.
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribed the conditions under which members of the British royal family could contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages that could diminish the status of the royal house. The right of veto vested in the sovereign by this Act provoked severe adverse criticism at the time of its passage.
Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex, legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible.
The Regency Acts are Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed at various times, to provide a regent in the event of the reigning monarch being incapacitated or a minor. Prior to 1937, Regency Acts were passed only when necessary to deal with a specific situation. In 1937, the Regency Act 1937 made general provision for a regent, and established the office of Counsellor of State, a number of whom would act on the monarch's behalf when the monarch was temporarily absent from the realm or experiencing an illness that did not amount to legal incapacity. This Act, as modified by the Regency Acts of 1943 and 1953, forms the main law relating to regency in the United Kingdom today.
This is about the planned bill introduced in 2004. For other proposed bills of the same name, see Succession to the Crown Bill
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The monarchy of Australia is a key component of Australia's form of government, by which a hereditary monarch serves as the country’s sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional one, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while incorporating features unique to the constitution of Australia.
The monarchy of The Bahamas is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The current Bahamian monarch and head of state since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Bahamian Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of The Bahamas and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of the Bahamian state. However, the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
The monarchy of Papua New Guinea is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Papua New Guinea. The current Papua New Guinean monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Papua New Guinean Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Papua New Guinea and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Papua New Guinea. However, the King is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.
The monarchy of Saint Lucia is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Saint Lucia. The current monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Saint Lucian Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Saint Lucia and, in this capacity, he and other members of the Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of the Saint Lucian state. However, the King is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.
The monarchy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The current Vincentian monarch and head of state, since 8 September 2022, is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Vincentian Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. However, the King is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.
The monarchy of Tuvalu is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Tuvalu. The current Tuvaluan monarch and head of state since 8 September 2022 is King Charles III. As sovereign, he is the personal embodiment of the Tuvaluan Crown. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result, the current monarch is officially titled King of Tuvalu and, in this capacity, he and other members of the royal family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of the Tuvaluan state. However, the King is the only member of the royal family with any constitutional role.
The Perth Agreement was made in Australia in 2011 by the prime ministers of what were then the sixteen states known as Commonwealth realms, all recognising Elizabeth II as their head of state. The document agreed that the governments of the realms would amend their laws concerning the succession to their shared throne and related matters. The changes, in summary, comprised:
The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the laws of succession to the British throne in accordance with the 2011 Perth Agreement. The Act replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for those in the line of succession born after 28 October 2011, which means the eldest child, regardless of gender, precedes any siblings. The Act also repealed the Royal Marriages Act 1772, ended disqualification of a person who married a Roman Catholic from succession, and removed the requirement for those outside the first six persons in line to the throne to seek the Sovereign's approval to marry. It came into force on 26 March 2015, at the same time as the other Commonwealth realms implemented the Perth Agreement in their own laws.
Royal Succession bills and acts are laws or pieces of proposed legislation to determine the legal line of succession to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom.
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The Royal Succession Act is an act of the New Zealand Parliament to alter the laws of succession to the New Zealand throne.
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