“Comparing and Contrasting the Constitutional

Models of India and Australia”

Submitted by- Shraddha

- B.A. LL.b
- 2nd year
- SRM University, Sonipat, Haryana.

Email id- shraddha8354000010@gmail.com

Contact no.- 9140001824

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to
governmen, neither external nor internal controls on government would be
necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over
men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to
control thegoverned; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
This qoute defines the importance and need of a constitution for a country. Constitution is the
highest law of a country and reflects the fundamental principle on which the system of
government and administration of a country is based. This article is intended to explore and
evaluate the differences and similarities between the the constitution of India and
Commonwealth of Australia. The Constitution of India drew, as did the Australian Constitution
fifty years earlier, upon the lessons and examples from the Constitution of U.S.A. Both Indian
and Australian Constitution have laid down its basic structure on the principle of Federalism
which comprises of the qualities such as a written constitution, supremacy of constition, 2
government, independent judiciary, bicameralism, and many more which will be discussed
further. Australian constitution is counted amongst the oldest continuous democracy regulation
of the world. On the other hand, Indian Constitution is the bulkiest in the world. We would
further be talking about the structure of the government as laid down by both the Constitutions
which is Parliamentary form of government which is further divided into Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha in case of Indian Constitution whereas in Australian Constitution it is divided as
House of representatives and Senate. Despite there are numerous features which distinguish
Indian Constitution from that of Australia, overwhelmingly their governmental and legal
system are similar upto some extent. Whereas the Indian head of the State is called as the
President, he acts, like the sovereign of the UK and Queen and her representatives in Australia,
on the advice of ministers who are accountable in the lower house of the Parliament. The
procedure of constitutional amendments of Australian Constitution is different from that of
India.Special procedure is adopted before their constitution can be changed. It follows a Double
Majority provision and requires referrendum to change it. Further, the scope and extent of
Fundamental rights in India is broader than in Australia. Fundamental rights in Indian
Constitution is considered to be the core and the most delicate part of the constitution which is
above all.

“Don’t interfere with anything in the constitution, that must be maintained,

for it is the only safegaurd of our liberties.”

-Abraham Lincoln

Certain similarities in the constitutional texts, together with the common legal
tradition and judicial assumptions made it natural, that in the earliest days of
Constitution of India by the time when the Highcourt of Australia had completed
fifty years of the judicial interpretation of the Australian Constitution.

Ahead, there would be a detailed version of the comparison of the

the Constitutional models of India and Australia.