Monarchy of Australia#The Crown and the Australian Defence Force

{{Further|Commonwealth realm#Relationship of the realms}}

File:2024 Royal Visit Sydney (1).jpg and Camilla, 2024]]

The monarch of Australia is the same person as the monarch of the 14 other Commonwealth realms within the 56-member Commonwealth of Nations. However, each realm is independent of the others, the monarchy in each being distinct from the rest.{{cite journal| last=Trepanier| first=Peter| title=Some Visual Aspects of the Monarchical Tradition| journal=Canadian Parliamentary Review| volume=27| issue=2| page=28| publisher=Commonwealth Parliamentary Association| location=Ottawa| year=2004| url=http://www.revparl.ca/27/2/27n2_04e_trepanier.pdf| access-date=21 July 2020}}{{cite AustLII|HCA|30|1999|litigants=Sue v Hill|parallelcite=(1999) 199 CLR 462|pinpoint=para 57}}. Effective with the Australia Act 1986, the British government cannot advise the monarch on any matters pertinent to Australia; on all matters of the Australian Commonwealth, the monarch is advised solely by Australian federal ministers of state.{{Cite book |last=Republic Advisory Committee |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1827287358 |title=An Australian Republic: The Options |publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service |year=1993 |isbn=0-644-32590-9 |series=Parliamentary Papers No. 168 |pages=28–30 |via=Trove, National Library of Australia}} Likewise, on all matters relating to any Australian state, the monarch is advised by the ministers of that state, tendered via the premier.

File:2024 Royal Visit Sydney (4).jpg, 2024]]

Courts and academics have proposed several dates on which the Crown of Australia separated from the Crown of the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Twomey|2010|pp=457–461}} These include 1926, when at an Imperial Conference it was announced that governors-general would no longer represent the government of the United Kingdom or 1930, when at another Imperial Conference it was clarified that the monarch would be advised directly by dominion ministers. Anne Twomey argues for this later date at the latest.{{sfn|Twomey|2010|p=459}} Others have suggested the Crowns separated once Australia became fully independent, with dates suggested including 1931 (when the UK Statute of Westminster was passed), 1939 or 1942 (due to Statute of Westminster Adoption Act, passed in 1942 with retrospective effect to 1939) or 1986 (when the Australia Acts severed the last possibilities of UK institutions changing Australian laws).{{sfn|Twomey|2010|pp=459–461}} However, members of the High Court have indicated that the separation of the Crowns was complete by at least 1948, as seen by the creation of Australian citizenship laws.{{Cite AustLII|litigants=Shaw v Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs|source=HCA|num=72|year=2003|pinpoint=para [28]|parallelcite=(2003) 218 CLR 28}}

It is unclear however whether for each state there is also a distinct Crown, separate from the Crown of Australia. In other words, the monarch may also be king of Victoria, etc. for each of the states. Prior to the passage of the Australia Act, the monarch acted as sovereign of the United Kingdom at the state level. With that Act's passage, either independent Crowns emerged for each of the states or the Crown of Australia transformed into a federal Crown in which the monarch receives advice from both state and commonwealth ministers in exercising their respective powers. Such a distinction may be relevant if either Australia or an individual state wished to become a republic, as with separate crowns, a federal republic would not necessarily abolish the Crown at a state level.{{sfn|Twomey|2010|pp=456–479}}

{{Further|List of titles and honours of Charles III|Commonwealth realm#Titles}}

The formal title of the current monarch is King{{Efn|The word "King" is included in the official proclamation of the monarch's title. However, it has been noted that the inclusion of the word "King" before "Charles" in this proclamation of the King's title is inconsistent with that of Queen Elizabeth II and the King's title in other realms.{{Cite news |last=Bramston |first=Troy |date=2024-10-15 |title=Confusion reigns over king's legal title |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/confusion-reigns-over-legal-status-of-king-charles-australian-title/news-story/5bd1dc1392f2ee5ad9fe9d1c1c5a061b |url-access=subscription |work=The Australian |pages=1, 3}} }} Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-11 |title=Proclamation of King Charles the Third |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/proclamation-King-Charles-III-with-seal.pdf |website=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet}}{{cite web |title=What is The King's title in Australia? |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/coronation/frequently-asked-questions#what-is-the-king-s-title-in-australia |access-date=13 November 2024 |publisher=Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet}}{{cite web |date=11 October 2024 |title=Australia's Head of State |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/head-of-state |access-date=13 November 2024 |publisher=Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet}}

Prior to 1953, the title of the Australian monarch had simply been the same as that in the United Kingdom. A change in the title resulted from occasional discussion among Commonwealth prime ministers and an eventual meeting in London in December 1952, at which Australia's officials stated their preference for a format for Queen Elizabeth II's title that would name all the realms. However, they stated they would also accept Elizabeth II (by the Grace of God) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, [name of realm], and all of her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth (Defender of the Faith).{{sfn|Twomey|2006|pp=106–107}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/department/history/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefId=3498|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040916215907/http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/department/history/dcer/details-en.asp?intRefId=3498|url-status=dead|title=Documents on Canadian External Relations; Volume No. 18 – 2; Chapter 1, Part 2, Royal Style and Titles|archivedate=16 September 2004}} The latter composition was adopted, despite some objections from the South African and Canadian governments. The sovereign's title in all her realms thus kept mention of the United Kingdom, but, for the first time, also separately mentioned Australia and the other Commonwealth realms. The passage of the Royal Style and Titles Act 1953 by the Parliament of Australia put these recommendations into law.{{cite Legislation AU|Cth|num_act|rsata1953321953285|Royal Style and Titles Act 1953}}.

In 1973 the Whitlam government replaced the 1953 royal styles Act, with Whitlam arguing that the inclusion and position of Elizabeth's title in the UK made the title not "sufficiently distinctively Australian" and that the phrase "Defender of the Faith" had "no historical or constitutional relevance in Australia".{{Cite web |last=Whitlam |first=Gough |date=1 May 1973 |title=Parliamentary Statement by Whitlam |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/historical-documents/volume-27/Pages/461-parliamentary-statement-by-whitlam |website=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |id=NAA: Al209, 1973/6398}} A new Royal Titles and Styles Bill that removed these references was passed by the federal Parliament.{{efn|A proposal to remove "the second" and "by the grace of God" was dropped after Elizabeth indicated her preference that those phrases remain.{{sfn|Twomey|2010|p=451}}{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=David |author-link=David Smith (public servant) |date=March 1996 |title=An Australian Head of State: An Historical and Contemporary Perspective |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/pops/pop27/c05 |website=Parliament of Australia |series=Papers on Parliament No. 27: Reinventing Political Institutions |issn=1031-976X |quote=What Whitlam did was remove the words ‘United Kingdom’ and ‘Defender of the Faith’ from the 1953 style ... He had wanted also to remove the words ‘by the Grace of God’, but the Queen would not hear of it.}}{{Cite web |date=22 April 1973 |title=457 File Note by Bunting |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/historical-documents/volume-27/Pages/457-file-note-by-bunting |website=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |id=NAA: A1209, 1973/6398}}}} The governor-general, Sir Paul Hasluck, reserved royal assent for the monarch, as governor-general Sir William McKell had done with the 1953 Royal Titles and Styles Bill to allow Elizabeth to give her assent in person, which she did at Government House in Canberra on 19 October 1973.{{cite web| url=http://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-28.html |title=Royal Style and Titles Act 1973 (Cth)| publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy| access-date=3 November 2015}}

At the state level, Western Australia and South Australia have independently legislated the monarch's title to be the same as the Commonwealth title.{{Cite Legislation AU|WA|act|rsata1947258|Royal Style and Titles Act 1947}}{{Cite Legislation AU|SA|act|rsata1973258|Royal Styles and Titles Act 1973}} There is limited reference to the monarch's title in the other states, however parliamentarians have used expressions such as "Queen of [state]" and "Queen in right of [state]" during parliamentary debates.{{sfn|Twomey|2011|pp=453–5, 475–6}} In 1973, Queensland sought to pass legislation to include Queensland specifically in the monarch's title.{{Refn|The full title was to be "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of the United Kingdom, Australia, Queensland and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth"}} The Queensland parliament passed legislation seeking an advisory opinion from the Privy Council as to whether they had the legislative power to do, however this legislation was declared unconstitutional by the High Court.{{Cite AustLII|litigants=Commonwealth v Queensland|source=HCA|num=43|year=1975|parallelcite=(1975) 134 CLR 298}}. In seeking this title, the Queensland government's motivation was to dissuade the British from accepting the Whitlam government's advice that all of the British government's then authority over the states should be transferred to the federal government. The dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975 removed the impetus for the title change and no further steps were taken in the matter.{{sfn|Twomey|2006|pp=146–60}}

On the accession of King Charles III, all the states apart from Victoria proclaimed the King's title to be the same as that proclaimed at the federal level.{{Cite journal |date=12 September 2022 |title=Proclamation |url=https://gazette.nsw.gov.au/gazette/2022/9/2022-424.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |volume= |issue= |at=Number 424–Other |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241021032425/https://gazette.nsw.gov.au/gazette/2022/9/2022-424.pdf |archive-date=21 October 2024}}{{cite web |date=16 September 2022 |title=Friday 16 September 2022 Volume 391 Gazette No. 9-14 Pages 65-90 |url=https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/5d828009-f347-45be-8037-e8405a87c15e/resource/0ca08bf0-b958-453e-a662-f3ec04562d00/download/16.09.22-combined-b.pdf |access-date=16 September 2022 |work=Queensland Government Gazette}}{{cite news |date=11 September 2022 |title=Proclamation of the King |url=https://govhouse.wa.gov.au/proclamation-of-the-king/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914012237/https://govhouse.wa.gov.au/proclamation-of-the-king/ |archive-date=14 September 2022 |access-date=13 September 2022 |publisher=Government House, Western Australia}}{{cite web |date=12 September 2022 |title=No. 64 (Supplementary), Sunday, 11 September 2022, pp. 5941-5942 |url=https://governmentgazette.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/gazette/2022/September/2022_064.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912115403/https://governmentgazette.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/public/documents/gazette/2022/September/2022_064.pdf |archive-date=12 September 2022 |access-date=13 September 2022 |work=South Australian Government Gazette}}{{cite web |date=12 September 2022 |title=Special Gazette 22233 - 12 September 2022 |url=https://www.gazette.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/226457/22233_-_12_September_2022.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912115407/https://www.gazette.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/226457/22233_-_12_September_2022.pdf |archive-date=12 September 2022 |access-date=13 September 2022 |work=Tasmanian Government Gazette}} Victoria declared the monarch's title to be His Majesty King Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.{{cite news |date=12 September 2022 |title=Special Gazette Number S472 Dated 12 September 2022 |url=http://www.gazette.vic.gov.au/gazette/Gazettes2022/GG2022S472.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220912115403/http://www.gazette.vic.gov.au/gazette/Gazettes2022/GG2022S472.pdf |archive-date=12 September 2022 |access-date=13 September 2022 |work=Victoria Government Gazette}} However, subsequent Victorian government documents have used the title Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.{{Cite web |date=4 April 2023 |title=Amendment to Yoorrook's Letters Patent |url=https://yoorrookjusticecommission.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/04042023092515-0001.pdf |website=Yoorrook Justice Commission}}{{Cite journal |date=31 January 2024 |title=Special Gazette |url=https://www.gazette.vic.gov.au/gazette/Gazettes2024/GG2024S032.pdf |journal=Victoria Government Gazette |at=No. S 32}}

{{further information|Succession to the British throne}}

File:Queensland State Archives 4856 Proclamation Ceremony Parliament House c 1952 (cropped).png to the Australian throne being read at Queensland's Government House by Governor Sir John Lavarack, 1952]]

Royal succession is determined by a mix of common law, British law that continues to apply in Australia, and more recent Australian federal and state statutes. These entail that succession follows the eldest non-adopted child of the current monarch (primogeniture), with the restriction that an heir must be in communion with the Church of England and not a Roman Catholic to ascend the throne.

These rules have evolved over centuries. The British statutes, the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 first limited succession to legitimate descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover and imposed religious requirements in the context of the Glorious Revolution. These laws were received alongside all other British laws to Australia when Australia was settled. Considering the colonial status of the individual colonies and later the federated Australia, it was accepted at the time that these laws could only be changed by the UK Parliament.{{Cite web |last=Twomy |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Twomey (academic) |date=2012-12-06 |title=The law of succession to the Australian throne |url=https://conreform.sydney.edu.au/2012/12/the-law-of-succession-to-the-australian-throne/ |website=Constitutional Critique |publisher=University of Sydney |language=en-AU}}

Later, Australia and the other dominions gained greater legislative independence with the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931 (adopted by Australia in 1942).{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|sowaa1942379|Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942}} s 3, sch 1 While this allowed the dominions to pass laws that conflicted with UK laws, to ensure that succession laws remained consistent, the preamble noted that it would be in keeping with each Commonwealth realm's constitutional practice that any succession changes would require the consent of the parliaments of each realm.

As Australia had not yet adopted the Statute of Westminster by the time of the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, the UK Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 applied automatically without the need for Australia's consent. However, the Australian federal Parliament did pass a resolution of assent to the changes as a matter of courtesy.{{Cite journal |last=Twomey |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Twomey (academic) |date=13 October 2011 |title=Changing the Rules of Succession to the Throne |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1943287 |journal=Sydney Law School Research Paper |issue=11/71|ssrn=1943287 }}

The most recent reforms to the succession occurred following the Perth Agreement in 2011, in which all the Commonwealth realms agreed to changes including the removal of a preference towards male heirs and the repeal of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 (which amongst other things prevented the monarch from marrying a Roman Catholic). As the Australian federal Parliament does not have a head of power over succession, it required a referral legislation from each of the states.{{Cite news |date=2014-02-27 |title=Australia holds up changes to royal succession laws |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/australia-holds-up-royal-succession-laws |access-date=2023-11-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |agency=Agence France-Presse}}{{cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Constitution|51}}(xxxviii) The Northern Territory also added its request and concurrence, although this was not constitutionally required.{{Cite web |title=Northern Territory Second Reading Speeches: Succession To The Crown (Request) (National Uniform Legislation) Bill 2013 |url=http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/bill_srs/sttculb2013656/srs.html |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Austlii |quote=The Northern Territory’s constitutional position means that it is not constitutionally necessary for the Territory to request or consent to the Commonwealth enactment, however the government considers it desirable to ensure so far as possible, that arrangements in place in the Northern Territory mirror those in place between the Commonwealth and the states.}} The federal legislation finally become law on 24 March 2015{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|num_act|sttca2015269|Succession to the Crown Act 2015}}[http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2015L00337 Succession to the Crown Commencement Proclamation 2015 (Cth)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202204705/http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2015L00337|date=2 February 2016}}, ComLaw and as Australia was the last realm to the make the required changes, the act took effect on 26 March 2015 (BST), parallel to other realms' laws.{{Cite web |title=Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament |url=http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-03-26/HCWS490/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705020637/http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2015-03-26/HCWS490/ |archivedate=5 July 2016}}

File:2022 NSW Proclamation Ceremony.jpg, 2022]]

Upon a demise of the Crown (the death or abdication of a sovereign), it is customary for the accession of the new monarch to be publicly proclaimed by the governor-general on behalf of the Federal Executive Council, which meets at Government House after the accession.{{Cite news |last=Evans |first=Jake |date=2022-09-11 |title=Charles III proclaimed King of Australia |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-11/king-charles-proclaimed-australia-monarch/101427102 |access-date=2023-12-10}} Parallel proclamations are made by the governors in each state.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-11 |title=Proclamation of King Charles III |url=https://www.govhouse.qld.gov.au/government-house/office-of-the-governor/news-and-publications/latest-news/proclamation-of-king-charles-iii |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=Government House Queensland |language=en-AU}}{{citation|author=Greg Taylor|title=The Constitution of Victoria|publisher=Federation Press|location=Sydney|page=69|year=2006}} Regardless of any proclamations, the late sovereign's heir immediately and automatically succeeds, without any need for confirmation or further ceremony. Following an appropriate period of mourning, the monarch is also crowned at a coronation ceremony in the United Kingdom; though, this is not necessary for a sovereign to reign, being primarily a symbolic event.{{Cite web |last=Hodge |first=Joel |date=2022-10-12 |title=King Charles III will be crowned in May. The ritual has ancient origins – here's what we can expect |url=http://theconversation.com/king-charles-iii-will-be-crowned-in-may-the-ritual-has-ancient-origins-heres-what-we-can-expect-191262 |access-date=2023-12-10 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}} For example, Edward VIII was never crowned, yet was undoubtedly king during his short time on the throne. After an individual ascends the throne, he or she typically continues to reign until death.

The monarch legally cannot unilaterally abdicate; the only Australian monarch to do so, Edward VIII, did so following the passage of British legislation. While the UK has passed regency acts from 1936 onwards to prepare for a situation when the monarch is incapacitated, the dominions did not agree for these acts to be extended into domestic law as it was felt that governors-general could exercise all the powers a regent would need to exercise.{{Cite web |last=Heard |first=Andrew |date=1990 |title=Canadian Independence |url=https://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/324/Independence.html |website=sfu.ca}}

Australia does not fund the King or wider royal family for any activities taken outside of Australia, either towards personal income or to support royal residences outside of Australia. When monarch visits Australia, their expenses are paid for by the Australian Government.{{cite web |title=Do we pay the King a salary? |url=https://www.nationhood.org.au/do_we_pay_the_king_a_salary |access-date=2 November 2024 |work=Australian Nationhood Foundation}} However, the Australian Government does pay a salary to the governor-general and for the upkeep of the official vice-regal residences in the country.{{cite web |title=The Coronation Oath & The Title of The Queen as Queen of Australia. |url=https://www.nationhood.org.au/the_title_queen_of_australia |access-date=2 November 2024 |work=Australian Nationhood Foundation}}

In 2018, a day-long visit to Vanuatu by Charles (then the Prince of Wales), escorted by Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, in between a tour of Queensland and the Northern Territory, was paid for by the Australian government.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/07/royal-visit-flight-costs-could-top-100000-for-australian-taxpayers|last=Davidson|first=Helen|title=Royal visit flight costs could top $100,000 for Australian taxpayers|work=The Guardian|date=7 April 2018|access-date=9 April 2018}} Charles III's 2024 Australian royal tour cost $640,000, Elizabeth II's 2011 royal tour $2,690,000 and her 2006 tour $1,450,000.{{Cite web |last=Massola |first=James |date=2024-12-29 |title=King Charles' $600,000 tour during cost-of-living crisis |url=https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/king-charles-six-day-600-000-australian-tour-during-cost-of-living-crisis-20241227-p5l0uo.html |access-date= |website=Brisbane Times |language=en}}

File:Prince William, Catherine, Prince George and Peter Cosgrove.jpg at Admiralty House, Sydney, 2014]]

The governor-general has two official residences: Government House in Canberra (commonly known as Yarralumla) and Admiralty House in Sydney.

When HMY Britannia was in Australian waters and in use by the monarch of Australia, it was not available to British officials for meetings or promotions.{{citation| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldTHAQAAQBAJ&dq=%22australian+royal+family%22&pg=PT187| last=Mason| first=John| title=Diplomatic Despatches| page=179| year=1998| publisher=National Library of Australia| location=Canberra| isbn=9780642107978}}

{{Further|The Crown}}

The monarch is the locus of many oaths of allegiance. Various employees of the Crown are required by law to recite this oath before taking their posts, such as all members of the Commonwealth Parliament and of the state and territory parliaments, as well as most magistrates, judges, police officers, and justices of the peace. This is in reciprocation to the sovereign's coronation oath, taken most recently by Charles III who promised "to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [and] your other Realms ... according to their respective laws and customs".{{Cite news |date=2023-05-05 |title=Coronation order of service in full |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65503950 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622043932/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65503950 |archive-date=22 June 2023}}{{cite AustLII|HCA|3|2020|litigants=Love v Commonwealth|link=Love v Commonwealth|pinpoint=[13]|parallelcite=(2020) 270 CLR 152|courtname=auto|juris=auto}}

File:Queensland State Archives 4861 Mr Macrossan administrating oath to Governor Lavarack at the Swearing in ceremony c 1952.png taking the Oath of Allegiance as the governor of Queensland after Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, 1952]]

The prime minister, ministers and parliamentary secretaries also make an oath or affirmation of office on their appointment to a particular ministry, which traditionally included a promise of allegiance to the monarch. However, the wording of this oath or affirmation is not written into law and beginning with swearing in of Paul Keating, all Labor prime ministers have dropped the reference to the sovereign.{{Cite web |date=6 September 2022 |title=What is the Oath or Affirmation for Ministers and how can it be changed? |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice/questions/what-is-the-oath-or-affirmation-for-ministers-and-how-can-it-be-changed/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Parliamentary Education Office |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Chang |first=Charis |date=25 May 2022 |title=Anthony Albanese {{sic|nolink=y|reason=error in source|choses}} secular affirmation of office at his swearing-in ceremony |work=news.com.au |publisher=News Corp Australia |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/anthony-albanese-choses-secular-affirmation-of-office-at-his-swearingin-ceremony/news-story/41d48e7c284e11972e99e4dd3c5e1399}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/OathsAffirmations |title=Oaths and affirmations made by the executive and members of federal Parliament since 1901 |date=3 June 2013 |publisher=Parliament of Australia |access-date=18 September 2013}}

The oath of citizenship similarly contained a statement of allegiance to the reigning monarch until 1994, when a pledge of allegiance to Australia and its values was introduced. However the concept of allegiance to the monarch remains important constitutionally, especially in the context of determining whether a person is an "alien" for the purposes of section 51(xix).{{Cite book |last=Pyke |first=John |title=Government powers under a Federal Constitution |date=2024 |publisher=Thomson Reuters (Pofessional) Australia Limited |isbn=978-0-455-24819-6 |edition=3rd |location=Pyrmont, NSW |pages=492–498}}{{Cite journal |last=Davenport |first=Mischa |date=2021 |title=Love v Commonwealth: The Section 51(xix) Aliens Power and a Constitutional Concept of Community Membership |url=https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/journals/SydLawRw/2021/25.html |journal=Sydney Law Review |volume=43 |issue=4 |via=Austlii}}{{Cite journal |last=Arcioni |first=Elisa |date=2016 |title=The Core of the Australian Constitutional People: 'The People' as 'The Electors' |url=https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agis_archive.20161601 |journal=University of New South Wales Law Journal |volume=39 |issue=1 |url-access=subscription |via=Informit}}

{{See also|Australian head of state dispute}}

File:Queen Elizabeth II and Michael Jeffery, 2007.jpg at Buckingham Palace]]

Key features of Australia's system of government include its basis on a combination of written and unwritten rules, comprising the sovereign, governors, and governor-general.Government and Politics in Australia, 10th edition, by Alan Fenna and others, P.Ed Australia, 2013. Chapter 2, headnote, p.12 and Note 2 p.29. The Constitution does not mention the term head of state.{{efn|Section 2 refers to "the Queen"{{cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Constitution}} s 2 (at the time, Queen Victoria) and covering clause 2 requires that to be interpreted as referring to her "heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom".}} According to the Parliament of Australia website, Australia's head of state is the monarch and its head of government is the prime minister, with powers limited by both law and convention for government to be carried on democratically.{{Cite web |date=February 2023 |title=Infosheet 20 - The Australian system of government |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_20_-_The_Australian_system_of_government |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220003241/http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_20_-_The_Australian_system_of_government |archivedate=20 December 2016 |website=Parliament of Australia}} However, the governor-general's website states that the office holder is in practice Australia's head of state.{{Cite web |title=The role of the Governor-General |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/role-governor-general |access-date=2024-01-15 |website=The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia |quote=The Governor-General of Australia is His Majesty The King’s representative. In practice, they are Australia’s Head of State and have a range of constitutional and ceremonial duties.}} A leading textbook on Australian constitutional law formulates the position thus: "The Queen, as represented in Australia by the governor-general, is Australia's head of state."{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=George |last2=Brennan |first2=Sean |last3=Lynch |first3=Andrew |name-list-style=amp |title=Blackshield and Williams Australian Constitutional Law and Theory |year=2014 |edition=6 |publisher=Federation Press |location=Leichhardt, NSW |isbn=978-1-86287-918-8| page=2}}

Additionally, Queensland{{Cite web |title=Role of the Governor |url=https://www.govhouse.qld.gov.au/the-governor-of-queensland/about-the-governor/role-of-the-governor |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Government House Queensland |language=en-AU}} and South Australia{{Cite web |title=Role of the Governor |url=https://www.governor.sa.gov.au/governor-of-south-australia/role-of-the-governor |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Government House Adelaide |language=en}} describe the monarch as the head of state for their particular state. New South Wales{{Cite web |title=Role of the Governor |url=https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/governor/role-of-the-governor/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Governor of New South Wales |language=en-AU}} and Western Australia{{Cite web |title=Role of the Governor |url=https://govhouse.wa.gov.au/the-governor/role-of-the-governor/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Government House Western Australia}} on the other hand describe their governors as their respective heads of state, whilst Tasmania{{Cite web |title=Role of the Governor |url=https://www.govhouse.tas.gov.au/the-governor/role-of-the-governor |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=The Governor of Tasmania}} and Victoria{{Cite web |date=22 August 2023 |title=Governor's role |url=https://www.governor.vic.gov.au/victorias-governor/governors-role |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Governor of Victoria |language=en}} state that the governor "exercises the constitutional power" of the head of state.{{Cite book |last=Kumarasingham |first=H. |title=Viceregalism: The Crown as Head of State in Political Crises in the Postwar Commonwealth |date=2021 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-030-46282-6 |pages=292–3}}

While current official sources use the description head of state for the monarch, in the lead up to the referendum on Australia becoming a republic in 1999, Sir David Smith proposed an alternative explanation that the governor-general is head of state. This view has some support within the group Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.{{cite web |title=Australia's Head Of State |url=http://www.ourconstitution.org/headofstate.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073547/http://www.ourconstitution.org/headofstate.php |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=4 November 2023 |website=Australian's for Constitutional Monarchy: Toowoomba Branch}}

Australia has a written constitution based on the Westminster model of government, implementing a federal system and a distinct separation of powers. It gives Australia a parliamentary system of government, wherein the role of the sovereign and governor-general is both legal and practical. The sovereign of Australia is represented in the federal sphere by the governor-general—appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister of Australia—and in each state by a governor—appointed by the monarch upon the advice of the relevant state premier.

File:Kevin Rudd being sworn in as Prime Minister on 27 June 2013.jpg being sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia by Governor-General Quentin Bryce on 27 June 2013]]Section 61 of the Constitution vests the executive power of the Commonwealth in the King, to be exercisable by the governor-general. The governor-general is appointed by the King on the advice of the prime minister—the only role the monarch must perform personally. The governor-general in turn (usually following elections) appoints the individual with or most likely to obtain the confidence of the House of Representatives to be prime minister.{{cite web |last=Office of the Governor-General of Australia |title=About the Governor-General: Governor-General's role |url=http://www.gg.gov.au/content.php/category/id/1/title/role |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015142053/http://www.gg.gov.au/content.php/category/id/1/title/role |archivedate=15 October 2012 |accessdate=16 March 2011 |publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service |df=dmy-all}} Other ministers are appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister, a subset of which form the cabinet. These ministers then advise the governor-general on the exercise of executive power, either directly or through the Federal Executive Council. Executive power includes powers belonging to the royal prerogative, which includes the power to declare war and enter into treaties.{{Cite journal |last=Stephenson |first=Peta |date=2021 |title=The Relationship Between the Royal Prerogative and Statute in Australia |url=https://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/2021/7.pdf |journal=Melbourne University Law Review |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=1007–1012}}

As the King and governor-general must in general act on advice, their roles are primarily symbolic and cultural, acting as a symbol of the legal authority under which all governments and agencies operate. As an example, members of various executive agencies and judges are formally appointed by the governor-general, not the government of the day. However, the governor-general does also has certain reserve powers, which are powers that they may exercise in the absence of or contrary to advice.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Infosheet 20 - The Australian System of Government |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_20_-_The_Australian_system_of_government |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Parliament of Australia |language=en-AU |quote=}}{{Cite web |last=Downing |first=Susan |date=23 January 1998 |title=The Reserve Powers of the Governor-General |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/IAR30/upload_binary/iar303.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/IAR30%22 |series=Parliamentary Library Research Note |issn=1328-8016 |id=Number 25, 1997–98}}{{Cite book |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2016976825/view |title=Final report of the Constitutional Commission |date=1988 |publisher=Australian Government Pub. Service |isbn=0-644-06897-3 |pages=92–93 |language=en-AU |via=Trove}} Their most prominent use was during the 1975 constitutional crisis when governor-general Sir John Kerr dismissed the government of Gough Whitlam on the basis that his government had failed to secure the passage of supply.{{Cite web |last=Twomey |first=Anne |date=2017-04-19 |title=Australian politics explainer: Gough Whitlam's dismissal as prime minister |url=http://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-gough-whitlams-dismissal-as-prime-minister-74148 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}

Apart from the appointment of the governor-general, the monarch has also been personally involved in issuing letters-patent for the creation of Australian honours.[http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/our_honours/creation.cfm Australian Government: It's an Honour: Official Creation of Awards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224055110/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/our_honours/creation.cfm|date=24 December 2016}}. Itsanhonour.gov.au (16 May 2011).[http://www.ag.gov.au/portal/govgazonline.nsf/0/2f2ce4c9762f3521ca257011001c9fd4/$FILE/S%2086.pdf Commonwealth of Australia Gazette; No. S 86, Monday, 30 May 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221143821/http://www.ag.gov.au/portal/govgazonline.nsf/0/2f2ce4c9762f3521ca257011001c9fd4/%24FILE/S%2086.pdf|date=21 February 2007}} The monarch also has the power to dismiss the governor-general. This power was highlighted during the 1975 constitutional crises. During the crisis there was a concern about a "race to the palace" where the governor-general may have tried to dismiss the prime minister before the prime minister sought to advise the monarch to dismiss the governor-general or vice-versa. Following the dismissal, Whitlam and the speaker of the house each separately contacted the palace to reverse the governor-general's actions, but the palace advised that only the governor-general, not the Queen, had the power to appoint the prime minister.

File:Platinum Jubilee- Parliament House.jpg illuminated in purple to mark Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, 2022. The meeting place for the Parliament of Australia was opened by the Queen in 1988.]]

Parliament consists of the sovereign, the Senate and the House of Representatives.{{cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Constitution}} s 1{{Cite web|url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/introducing-our-parliament/australian-parliament/|title=Australian Parliament|author=Parliamentary Education Office|publisher=Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia|access-date=November 1, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationhood.org.au/the_crown|title=The Crown|author=F. Hugh Eveleigh|publisher=Australian Nationhood Foundation|access-date=November 1, 2023}}{{Cite journal |last=Saunders |first=Cheryl |author-link=Cheryl Saunders |date=2015 |title=The Concept of the Crown |url=https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/1587019/383Saunders4.pdf |journal=Melbourne University Law Review |volume=38 |issue=3 |doi= |issn=0025-8938 |ssrn=2631854}} Their authority in the House of Representatives is represented by the Mace of the House (which also represents the authority of the house itself and its Speaker).{{Cite web |title=Why must the mace be present? Why did the make it a mace? Why not a sword? Is the mace a symbol of power? |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice/ |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Parliamentary Education Office |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=History and role of the Mace |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Serjeant-at-Arms/History_and_role_of_the_Mace |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=Parliament of Australia |language=en-AU}} However, neither the sovereign nor the governor-general participate in the legislative process save for the granting of royal assent. Further, the constitution outlines that the governor-general alone is responsible for summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the federal parliament.{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Australian Constitution}} s [https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/coaca430/xx5.html 5]

All laws in Australia, except those in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), are enacted only with the granting of royal assent, done by the governor-general, relevant state governor, or administrator in the case of the Northern Territory (NT). This is done in the federal context by the governor-general signing two copies of the bill.{{Cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.opc.gov.au/faq#3.4 |access-date=30 October 2023 |website=Office of Parliamentary Counsel |publisher=Australian Government}}{{Cite web |title=1967 Referendum – Royal Assent to Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) |url=https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/first-australians/rights-and-freedoms/1967-referendum-royal-assent-constitution-alteration-aboriginals |access-date=2 November 2023 |website=National Archives of Australia}} If the law is one in which takes effect on proclamation, the governor-general will also make this proclamation to which the Great Seal of Australia is then affixed in authentication of the corresponding letters patent.{{Cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16907168|title=The Great Seal of the Commonwealth|author=Flinders Barr|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald via The National Library of Australia|publication-date=October 1, 1932|access-date=November 1, 2023}}{{cite report |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/executive-council-handbook-2021.pdf |title=Federal Executive Council Handbook |author=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |date=2021 |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |isbn=978-1-925364-53-8 |author-link=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (Australia) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230805104938/https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/resource/download/executive-council-handbook-2021.pdf |archive-date=5 August 2023 |url-status=live |at=paras 164-166}} The governor-general may reserve a bill for the King's (or Queen's) pleasure; that is withhold his consent to the bill and present it to the sovereign for their personal decision. Under the constitution, the sovereign also has the power to disallow a bill within one year of the governor-general having granted royal assent.{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Australian Constitution|59}} The purpose of this section was originally to allow the UK parliament to supervise the workings of the Commonwealth parliament, as this power would only be exercised by the monarch as advised by their British ministers.{{Cite book |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2016976825/view |title=Final report of the Constitutional Commission |year=1988 |isbn=0-644-06897-3 |pages=82–83 |publisher=Australian Government Pub. Service |language=en-AU |via=Trove}} However, the power was never actually used and it is very unlikely that it will be used in the future.

File:King Street Court House, Sydney 01.jpg positioned above]]

Traditionally, the monarch is known as the fount of justice.{{Cite web |last=Gibbs |first=Harry |author-link=Harry Gibbs |date=16 October 2003 |title=The Crown and the High Court - Celebrating the 100th birthday of the High Court of Australia |url=http://www.norepublic.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181&Itemid=24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427073954/http://www.norepublic.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=181&Itemid=24 |archive-date=27 April 2016 |access-date= |website=Australians for Constitutional Monarchy}}

{{cite AustLII|litigants=Mann v O'Neill|source=HCA|num=28|year=1997|pinpoint=footnote 260|parallelcite=(1997) 191 CLR 204, 268|courtname=auto|juris=auto}} However, he does not personally rule in judicial cases, meaning that judicial functions are normally performed only in the monarch's name. In most jurisdictions, criminal offences are legally deemed to be offences against the sovereign and proceedings for indictable offences are brought in the sovereign's name in the form of The King [or Queen] against [Name] (typically shortened to R v [Name] standing for {{lang|la|Rex}} for King or {{lang|la|Regina}} for Queen).{{Cite news |last=Zemek |first=Steve |date=9 September 2022 |title=Queen's Counsel to become King's Counsel after death of Elizabeth II |url=https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/surprising-shake-up-for-australias-top-lawyers-following-queens-death/news-story/b53d48a67ee1a52bf5268e768602d31a |work=news.com.au}} However, offences in Western Australia and Tasmania are brought in the name of the particular state.{{cite AustLII|litigants=Tasmania v Lee|source=TASSC|num=117|year=2005|parallelcite=(2005) 15 Tas R 213|courtname=auto|juris=auto}}{{cite AustLII|litigants=AJ v Western Australia|source=WASCA|num=228|year=2007|parallelcite=(2007) 177 A Crim R 247|courtname=auto|juris=auto}} Civil lawsuits against the Crown in its public capacity (that is, lawsuits against the government) are permitted due to statute.{{Cite Legislation AU|WA|act|csa1947172|Crown Suits Act 1947|5}}{{Cite journal |last=Lord Somervell of Harrow |date=27 August 1959 |title=The State as Defendant |url=https://anzlaw.thomsonreuters.com/Document/I3ed120259c4c11ea89ea91c88091df40/View/FullText.html |journal=Australian Law Journal |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=154 |url-access=subscription |via=Westlaw}} In international cases, as a sovereign and under established principles of international law, the monarch of Australia is not subject to suit in foreign courts without his express consent. The prerogative of mercy lies with the monarch, and is exercised in the state jurisdictions by the governors.{{Cite web |title=Appeals |url=https://www.ag.gov.au/crime/federal-offenders/appeals |access-date=2023-11-25 |website=Attorney-General's Department}}Section 475(1) Crimes Act 1900 (ACT); ss 474B and 474C Crimes Act 1900 and s 26 Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW); s 433A Criminal Code (Northern Territory); ss 669A, 672A Criminal Code 1899 (Queensland); s 369 Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (South Australia); ss 398, 419 Criminal Code (Tasmania); s 584 Crimes Act 1958 (Victoria); s 21 Criminal Code and Part 19 Sentencing Act 1995 (Western Australia)

{{further|Governors of the Australian states}}

File:Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of NSW Parliament - Royal Visit, 1954 (12108501385).jpg, 1954]]

In accordance with the Australia Act 1986, the sovereign has the power to appoint, on advice tendered by the relevant state premier, a governor in each of the Australian states, who themselves appoint executive bodies, as well as people to fill casual Senate vacancies, if the relevant state parliament is not in session. The state governors continue to serve as the direct representatives of the monarch, in no way subordinate to the governor-general, and they carry out on his behalf all of the monarch's constitutional and ceremonial duties in respect of their respective state. The Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are constitutionally subordinate to the federal government, with an administrator appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the federal minister for Territories taking the place of a state governor in the Northern Territory. Like their governor counterparts, they largely are required to act on the advice of the Northern Territory government. The Australian Capital Territory has no equivalent position, with legislative and executive power devolved directly from the federal government to the ACT Legislative Assembly and the ACT Executive.

The monarch or the governor also forms part of state parliaments as per respective state constitutions. However, in case of South Australia, neither the monarch nor the governor forms part of parliament, which only consists of two elected houses. However, bills passed by the Parliament of South Australia and all other state parliaments must be assented to by the governor in the name and on the behalf of the monarch.{{citation|page=164|title=Modern Statutory Interpretation: Framework, Principles and Practice|year=2023|isbn=9781108816021|publisher=Cambridge University Press|author=Jeffrey Barnes, Jacinta Dharmananda, Eamonn Moran}}

All the powers and functions of the monarch in relation to the making of an act by a state parliament are exercisable only by the governor of that state. However, if the monarch is present in a state in person, he or she can exercise any of those powers and functions.

{{Further|Royal visits to Australia|List of Commonwealth visits made by Queen Elizabeth II}}

File:Investiture, Royal visit of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, February 1963, Government House, Sydney - photographer Australian Photographic Agency (7300133560).jpg

The sovereign and their family have participated in events such as various centennials and bicentennials; Australia Day; the openings of Olympic and other games; award ceremonies; D-Day commemorations; anniversaries of the monarch's accession; and the like.

Other royals have participated in ceremonies organised by or involving Australia and other Commonwealth nations abroad, such as Charles III, then Prince Charles, at the 2015 Anzac Day ceremonies at Gallipoli, the Duke of Edinburgh at the Anzac Day service in Hyde Park, London in 2024, or the Duke of Sussex's attendance at an Australia House reception for Australian athletes in the 2014 Invictus Games.{{Cite news |date=2015-04-23 |title=Gallipoli centenary: Prince Charles meets veterans' relatives |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32432725 |access-date= |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2024-04-25 |title=The Duke of Edinburgh attends the Anzac Day Services |url=https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2024-04-25/the-duke-of-edinburgh-attends-the-anzac-day-services |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=The Royal Family |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2014-09-10 |title=Prince Harry's Australian initiation at Invictus Games |url=https://www.nowtolove.com.au/royals/prince-harrys-australian-initiation-at-invictus-games-1703/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=Woman's Day |publisher= |language=en-AU}}

Members of the royal family have also made private donations to Australian charities or causes, such as when Elizabeth II made a private donation to the Australian Red Cross Appeal after the Blue Mountains bushfires in 2009 and Prince William to the Australian Red Cross during floods in 2023.{{Cite web |date=20 February 2009 |title=The Princess Royal to visit areas affected by the Victorian bushfires |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2009/ThePrincessRoyaltovisitareasaffectedbytheVictorian.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224091519/http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Pressreleases/2009/ThePrincessRoyaltovisitareasaffectedbytheVictorian.aspx |archive-date=24 Feb 2009 |website=royal.gov.uk}}{{Cite web |date=2023-01-20 |title=Prince William Makes a Private Donation to Help Those Hit by Flooding in Australia |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a42595247/prince-william-donation-australia-flooding/ |access-date= |website=Town & Country |language=en-US}}

File:Aust-ww2-japan.jpg signs a declaration of war against Japan as John Curtin looks on, 1941.]]

Section 68 of the Australian Constitution says: "The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the governor-general as the Queen's [monarch's] representative."{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Constitution|68}} In practice, however, the governor-general does not play any part in the Australian Defence Force's command structure other than following the advice of the Minister for Defence in the normal form of executive government.Raspal Khosa (2004). Australian Defence Almanac 2004–05. Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Canberra. Page 4. All personnel of the Australian Defence Force swear an Oath of Allegiance (or affirmation) to the Australian Monarch where they pledge to "resist his (or her) enemies."{{Cite web |date=2015-04-26 |title=DEFENCE (PERSONNEL) REGULATIONS 2002 - SCHEDULE 2 Oath or affirmation for enlistment of member |url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_reg/dr2002274/sch2.html |access-date=2025-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426170941/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_reg/dr2002274/sch2.html |archive-date=26 April 2015 }}

Australian naval vessels bear the prefix His Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) and many organisational groupings of the defence force (such as the Royal Australian Infantry Corps, Royal Australian Air Force and the Royal Australian Engineers) carry the "royal" prefix.{{cite web|url=http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/rar-sasr/0-rar-cat-index.htm |title=RAR; the Royal Australian Regiment; a history |access-date=22 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909090050/http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/rar-sasr/0-rar-cat-index.htm |archive-date=9 September 2010 }}

Members of the royal family have presided over military ceremonies, including Trooping the Colour ceremonies, inspections of the troops, and anniversaries of key battles. When Elizabeth II was in Canberra, she laid wreaths at the Australian War Memorial. In 2003, Elizabeth acted in her capacity as Australian monarch when she dedicated the Australian War Memorial in Hyde Park, London.{{ref|CNN1}} In 2024, Charles III as part of his tour of Sydney and Canberra, laid wreaths at the Australian War Memorial, as well as presiding over a Royal Fleet Review of the Royal Australian Navy, in Sydney.{{Cite web |title=MSN |url=https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/king-charles-and-queen-camilla-enjoy-australian-navy-fleet-review-in-sydney-harbour/ar-AA1sH0kN |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=www.msn.com}}

File:PrincessAnneRASigs1.jpg inspects the Royal Australian Corps of Signals as the unit's colonel-in-chief, 2000]]

Monarchs of Australia (or their spouse in the case of Elizabeth II){{Cite news |date=1954-04-01 |title=Government Gazette Notices |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232903929 |access-date=2024-10-22 |work=Commonwealth of Australia Gazette}} are appointed to the highest ranks in each of the branches of the Defence Force. In 2024, Charles III was appointed to the Honorary Ranks of admiral of the fleet of the Royal Australian Navy, field marshal of the Australian Army, and marshal of the Royal Australian Air Force, by the governor-general of Australia.{{cite web |title=Australian Defence Force Honorary Ranks for His Majesty The King |url=https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/releases/2024-10-19/australian-defence-force-honorary-ranks-his-majesty-king#:~:text=His%20Majesty%20King%20Charles%20III,the%20Governor%2DGeneral%20of%20Australia. |access-date=20 October 2024 |website=Australian Defence Force}} These ranks have always been held by members of the royal family, with the exceptions of field marshals Sir William Birdwood and Sir Thomas Blamey.

Additionally, some members of the royal family are Colonels-in-Chief of Australian regiments, including: the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery; Royal Australian Army Medical Corps; the Royal Australian Armoured Corps and the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, amongst many others.

File:Royal Standard of Australia.svg, adopted in 2024]]

Royal symbols are the visual and auditory identifiers of the Australian monarchy. The main symbol of the monarchy is the sovereign. The monarch's portrait has appeared on all Australian coins, with King Charles III's portrait in use for newly minted coins since 2024.{{Cite news |last=Midena |first=Kate |date=2024-05-15 |title='A beautiful memento': Effigy of King Charles III now on all coins made at the Royal Australian Mint |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-15/king-charles-australian-coins-full-set-2024/103846914 |access-date= |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}} The monarch's image also previously appeared on most Australian definitive stamps until 1973. Due to complaints by royalists about this change, the annual Queen's Birthday stamp was introduced in 1980.{{Cite web |title=Queen Elizabeth II: In Memoriam |url=https://australiapostcollectables.com.au/stamp-issues/queen-elizabeth-ii-in-memoriam |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=Australia Post |language=en}} The monarch has also previously appeared on the lowest denomination of all Australian banknotes, with Queen Elizabeth II's portrait currently appearing on the five-dollar banknote.{{Cite web |last=Marshall |first=Candice |date=2022-10-04 |title=Face off: Australia's complicated history with the faces on its banknotes |url=https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2022/10/face-off-australias-complicated-history-with-the-faces-on-its-banknotes/ |access-date= |website=Australian Geographic |language=en}}{{cite web |title=$5 Banknote |url=https://banknotes.rba.gov.au/australias-banknotes/banknotes-in-circulation/five-dollar/ |access-date=3 April 2022 |work=Reserve Bank of Australia}} However the Reserve Bank has announced that this design will be replaced one that depicts Indigenous Australian culture and history instead of the new monarch.{{Cite news |last=Beazley |first=Jordyn |date=2023-02-02 |title=Australia's new $5 banknote will feature Indigenous history instead of King Charles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/02/australia-new-5-dollar-banknote-indigenous-history-note-instead-of-king-charles |access-date=2023-11-02 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

File:Australian $1 - original series - obverse.jpg]]

A crown is depicted on the Queensland and Victorian state badges (which are included on the Australian coat of arms,{{cite web|url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/commonwealth-coat-arms|title=Commonwealth Coat of Arms|work=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|access-date=3 April 2022}}) and on various medals and awards.{{Cite web|url=http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/awards/medals/national_medal.cfm|title=It's an Honour - Honours - Awards - A-Z of Awards - National Medal|date=7 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107011729/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/awards/medals/national_medal.cfm |archive-date=7 January 2009 }} For example, the crown's presence on the insignia of the Order of Australia represents the monarch's role as Head of the Order.{{Cite web |date=August 2023 |title=Order of Australia Handbook |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-08/Order%20of%20Australia%20Booklet_16th%20edition_0.pdf |publisher=Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General |page=13 |publication-place=Government House, Canberra |edition=16th}} The sovereign is further both mentioned in and the subject of songs and loyal toasts.{{cite web |title=Grace and Loyal Toast |url=https://www.governor.nsw.gov.au/protocol/vice-regal-guidelines/grace-and-loyal-toast/ |website=governor.nsw.gov.au |publisher=Governor of New South Wales |access-date=11 April 2022 |language=en-AU}} Australia inherited the royal anthem "God Save the King" (alternatively, "God Save the Queen" in the reign of a female monarch) from the United Kingdom. It was the national anthem of Australia until 1984, and has since been retained as the country's royal anthem, its use generally restricted to official occasions where the monarch or a member of the royal family is present.{{cite web|url=http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/symbols/anthem.cfm#history|title=Australian National Anthem – History|publisher=Australian Government|date=10 July 2007|access-date=1 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906030849/http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/symbols/anthem.cfm|archive-date=6 September 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/australian-national-anthem |title=Australian National Anthem |publisher=Australian Government |website=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=26 April 2020}}

File:The Queen of Australia.jpg, the first monarch to be titled Queen of Australia, wearing her Australian insignia as sovereign of the Order of Australia and the Australian Wattle Spray Brooch, 2011]]

His Majesty The King's Flag for Australia, approved on 30 August 2024 by Charles III, signifies his presence and is displayed when Charles is in Australia.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/australian-flags-booklet/part-3-other-official-flags-australia/royal-and-vice-regal-flags|title=Royal and Vice-Regal flags

|website=www.pmc.gov.au}} The flag was first used during the 2024 royal visit. The flag is used in the same way as the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom. Where practical, when it is flown on or outside a building, no other flag should be flown with it and is flown when the King is visiting Australia from all buildings, cars, boats or aircraft that he occupies. The flag features the six quarters of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, surrounded by an ermine border which represents the federation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/australian-flags-booklet/part-3-other-official-flags-australia/royal-and-vice-regal-flags|title=Royal and Vice-Regal flags

|website=www.pmc.gov.au}}

As in other Commonwealth realms, the King's Official Birthday is a public holiday and, in Australia, is observed on the second Monday in June in all states and territories, except Queensland and Western Australia. In Queensland, it is celebrated on the first Monday in October, and in Western Australia it is usually the last Monday of September or the first Monday of October.{{cite news|title=Why you have bad weather and King George VI to thank for the Queen's Birthday long weekend|date=12 June 2021|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-12/queens-birthday-long-weekend-public-holiday-june-australia/100194956|work=ABC News}} Celebrations are mainly official, including the Australian Birthday Honours list and military ceremonies.{{cite news|url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/is-queens-birthday-a-public-holiday-in-your-state/news-story/6d9c905cb08c0ecabd36a3de95e3e0cf|work=news.com.au|title=Is Queen's Birthday a public holiday in your state?|date=10 June 2021}}{{cite web|title=Queen's Birthday Parade Returns to Duntroon|date=12 June 2021|url=https://www.army.gov.au/our-news/media-releases/queens-birthday-parade-returns-duntroon|work=army.gov.au}}

Popular royal symbolism emerged during the reign of Queen Victoria, as a means of encouraging loyalty to the wider British Empire. The Crown symbolised the "imagined community of a global British people" with prime minister Joseph Lyons calling it "the great unifying element in the British Empire". Queen Elizabeth II stated in 1954 during her Australian tour that "the Crown is the human link between all the people who owe allegiance to me, an allegiance of mutual love and respect and never of compulsion". To Australia's Indigenous peoples, the Crown has symbolised the dispossession of their land and the violation of their sovereignty, with the claiming of the east coat of Australia by James Cook done in the name of King George III. However, the Crown has also symbolised protection of Indigenous rights, with several petitions made to the monarch by Indigenous leaders protesting rights violations.{{Cite web |last=Butler |first=Dan |date=10 September 2022 |title=Meeting Queen Elizabeth: taking the First Nations fight to the top |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/meeting-queen-elizabeth-taking-the-first-nations-fight-to-the-top/5yvqubmr2 |access-date= |website=NITV |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=McKenna |first=Mark |title=Symbols of Australia |date=2021 |publisher=Newsouth |isbn=978-1-74223-712-1 |edition=2nd |pages=57–61 |chapter=Crown}}{{Cite web |title=Aboriginal petitions |url=https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/first-australians/aboriginal-petitions |website=National Archives of Australia}} The continued presence of royal symbols has been argued to act as a "social construction of reality", which reinforces their perception as a "positive role in national life". Such symbolism has been criticised as akin to propaganda, that acts to counter arguments against the royals' social and political power.{{Cite journal |last=Coghlan |first=Jo |date=2024-03-12 |title=The British Royals in Australia: Traditions, Icons, and Popular Culture |url=https://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/3025 |journal=M/C Journal |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |doi=10.5204/mcj.3025 |issn=1441-2616|doi-access=free }}

Until its new constitution went into force in 1962, the Anglican Church of Australia was part of the Church of England. Its titular head was consequently the monarch, in his or her capacity as Supreme Governor of the Church of England."The Church of England Australia was organised on the basis that it was part of the Church of England, not merely 'in communion with', or 'in connection with', the Church of England. Thus any changes to doctrine or practice in England were to be applied in Australia, unless the local situation made the change inapplicable.... A new national constitution was agreed in 1961 and came into force on 1 January 1962. This created a new church, the Church of England in Australia, and severed the legal nexus with the Church of England." [http://www.anglican.org.au/home/about/Documents/1391%20Outline%20%20of%20the%20Structure%20of%20the%20Anglican%20Church%20of%20Australia%20-%20Website%20Version%20020713.pdf Outline of the Structure of the Anglican Church of Australia], p. 5. However, unlike in England, Anglicanism was never established as a state religion in Australia.[http://www.anglican.org.au/home/about/history/Pages/part_2_the_anglican_church_in_australia.aspx Part 2 – The Anglican Church in Australia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508210054/http://www.anglican.org.au/home/about/history/Pages/part_2_the_anglican_church_in_australia.aspx |date=8 May 2016 }}, Anglican Church of Australia. Retrieved 17 January 2017.

{{main|History of monarchy in Australia}}

File:Queen-Victoria-Statue-Outside-QV-Building.jpg in Sydney]]

The development of the Australian monarchy into the independent entity it is today began in 1770, when Captain James Cook, in the name of, and under instruction from, King George III, claimed the east coast of Australia.{{Cite journal |last=Kirby |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Kirby (judge) |date=2021 |title=250 Years of the Crown in Australia: From James Cook to the Palace Papers (1770–2020 |url=https://anzlaw.thomsonreuters.com/Document/I80ba286feebf11ebbd8ee2d68a0d5eb4/View/FullText.html |journal=Australian Law Journal |volume=95 |url-access=subscription |via=Westlaw}}{{Cite web |title=Australia: History and Present Government |url=https://www.royal.uk/output/Page5174.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211225050/http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5174.asp |archive-date=11 February 2008 |access-date=3 November 2023 |website=royal.gov.uk}} Colonies were eventually founded across the continent,Day, D; Claiming a Continent; Harper Collins, 1997; p.38B. Hunter (ed) The Statesman's Year Book, MacMillan Press, p.102 ff. all of them ruled by the monarch of the United Kingdom, upon the advice of his or her British ministers, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in particular. In 1901 the six colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, following the assent of Queen Victoria to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act. However, this did not change the relationship of the monarch to the new nation, with her powers (such as the appoint of governors, governors-general and others set out in the Constitution) exercised in accordance with the advice of British ministers.

This situation continued until after the First World War, where in response to calls from some Dominions for a re-evaluation of their status under the Crown after their sacrifice and performance in the conflict,{{rp|110}} the Balfour Declaration of 1926 was issued following a series of Imperial conferences. The statement provided that the United Kingdom and the Dominions were to be "autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate to one another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown". The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927, an Act of the Westminster Parliament, was the first indication of a shift in the law, which ensured the independence of the office.David Smith, Head of State, Macleay Press 2005, p.24 Another move to independence occurred in 1930, when the British government agreed that the Australian Cabinet would advise the sovereign directly on the choice of governor-general. The Crown was further separated by the Statute of Westminster 1931,[http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1081723 Statute of Westminster 1931 (c. 4) s. 4] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804165251/http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?activeTextDocId=1081723 |date=4 August 2009 }}; cf McInn, W.G.; A Constitutional History of Australia; p.152 adopted by Australia in 1942 (retroactive to 3 September 1939).[http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sowaa1942379/s3.html Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 (Cth) s 3] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213525/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/sowaa1942379/s3.html |date=3 March 2016 }} Craig, John; Australian Politics: A Source Book; p.43

File:Margaret Joan Spencer.jpg inspects the Australian Women's Army Service as the governor-general, 1945]]

The Curtin Labor government appointed Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, as governor-general during the Second World War. Curtin hoped the appointment might influence the British to despatch men and equipment to the Pacific War, and the selection of the brother of King George VI reaffirmed the important role of the Crown to the Australian nation at that time.{{Cite web |last=Cunneen |first=Chris |title=Gloucester, first Duke of (1900–1974) |url=https://archive.today/20120708131219/http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140317b.htm?hilite=duke;of;gloucester |website=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Australian National University}} Queen Elizabeth II became the first reigning monarch to visit Australia in 1954, greeted by huge crowds across the nation. In 1967, Elizabeth's son, Charles III (then Prince Charles), attended school in Geelong Grammar School in Corio, Victoria.{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8285474/Prince-Charles-says-Pommy-insults-were-character-building.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Jacquelin | last=Magnay | title=Prince Charles says 'Pommy' insults were character building | date=27 January 2011}} Her grandson Prince Harry undertook a portion of his gap-year living and working in Australia in 2003.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_3133000/3133262.stm |work=BBC News | title=Prince Harry arrives for gap year in Australia | date=23 September 2003}}

File:Prince Charles visiting Geelong Grammar School, Corio, Victoria, Australia.jpg with students of his Australian alma mater, Geelong Grammar School, in 2006]]

The sovereign did not possess a title unique to Australia until the Australian Parliament enacted the Royal Styles and Titles Act in 1953, after the accession of Elizabeth to the throne, and giving her the title of Queen of the United Kingdom, Australia and Her other Realms and Territories. However, Elizabeth only acted as Queen of Australia at the federal level. At the state level, Elizabeth acted as Queen of the United Kingdom with state laws still subject to the Colonial Laws Validity Act, which meant that UK laws overrode them when inconsistent. While the federal government adopted the Statute of Westminster in 1942, which removed the legislative restrictions of the Colonial Laws Validity Act, the states specifically asked to be excluded from the agreement. This was because they felt their interests were better protected whilst they were under the authority of the UK, which provided a buffer against the increasing power of the federal government.

Thus, the British government could still{{spaced ndash}}at least in theory, if not with some difficulty in practice{{spaced ndash}}legislate for the Australian states, and the governors in the states were appointed by and represented the sovereign of the United Kingdom, not that of Australia.Craig; p.43 As late as 1976, the British ministry advised the monarch to refuse Colin Hannah another term as Queensland's governor, after seriously considering unilaterally dismissing him due his breach of political impartiality, despite the recommendation of the then state Bjelke-Petersen government for his nomination.{{Sfn|Twomey|2006|pp=62–68}}Chipp, Don; An Individual View; p.144 Additionally, court cases from state supreme courts could be appealed directly to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, thereby bypassing the Australian High Court which otherwise could not be appealed in the privy council for federal matters since 1968 and for state matters since 1975.{{Cite web |last=Gleeson |first=Murray |author-link=Murray Gleeson |date=18 June 2008 |title=The Privy Council – An Australian Perspective |url=https://www.hcourt.gov.au/assets/publications/speeches/former-justices/gleesoncj/cj_18jun08.pdf |website=hcourt.gov.au |place=London |page=16 |type=Speech for the Anglo-Australasian Lawyers Society, The Commercial Bar Association, and The Chancery Bar Association}}{{Cite book |last1=Creyke |first1=Robin |title=Laying down the law |last2=Hamer |first2=David |last3=O'Mara |first3=Patrick |last4=Smith |first4=Belinda |last5=Taylor |first5=Tristan |date=2021 |publisher=LexisNexis |isbn=978-0-409-35193-4 |edition=11th |location=Chatswood |pages=271–4 |language=en-AU}} In 1973 reference to the United Kingdom was removed by the Royal Style and Titles Act. Henceforth, the monarch would be styled uniquely as Queen of Australia. Elizabeth signed her assent to the Act at Government House, Canberra that year, leading Senior Vice President of the Labor Party, Jack Egerton, to remark to her, "They tell me, love, you've been naturalised."{{Cite web|url=https://www.whitlam.org/whitlam-legacy-australia-the-nation|title=Whitlam Institute Australia the Nation|website=Whitlam Institute}}{{Cite web |title=Royal Style and Titles Act 1973 (Cth) |url=https://www.foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-28.html |website=Documenting A Democracy |publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy}} It was with the passage of the Australia Act 1986, which repealed the Colonial Laws Validity Act and abolished appeals of state cases to London, that the final vestiges of the British monarchy in Australia were removed, leaving a distinct Australian monarchy for the nation. The view in the Republic Advisory Committee's report in 1993 was that if, in 1901, Victoria, as Queen-Empress, symbolised the British Empire of which all Australians were subjects, all of the powers vested in the monarch under Australia's Constitution were now exercised on the advice of the Australian government.

The 1999 Australian republic referendum was defeated by 54.4 per cent of the populace, despite polls showing that the majority supported becoming a republic.{{Cite web |title=[Newspoll Republic Polls] |url=http://www.newspoll.com.au/image_uploads/cgi-lib.1278.1.1101republic.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050615110920/http://www.newspoll.com.au/image_uploads/cgi-lib.1278.1.1101republic.pdf |archive-date=15 June 2005 |website=Newspoll}} Many commentators have argued that disagreement between republicans as to the preferred model for a republic (most notably over whether the president should be appointed or directly elected) was a key factor in the "no" result.{{Cite web |title=1999: Republic referendum |url=https://moadoph.gov.au/explore/democracy/1999-republic-referendum |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House}}{{Cite web |title=Paul Keating: Republicanism |url=https://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-117_t-319_c-1084/nsw/history/power-people-and-politics-in-the-post-war-period/people-and-power/paul-keating-republicanism |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115130315/http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-14_u-117_t-319_c-1084/nsw/history/power-people-and-politics-in-the-post-war-period/people-and-power/paul-keating-republicanism |archive-date=15 January 2016 |website=Skwirk Online Education}} The referendum followed the recommendation of a 1998 Constitutional Convention called to discuss the issue of Australia becoming a republic. The Queen visited Australia a year after the referendum and stated that "I respect and accept the outcome of the referendum. In the light of the result last November, I shall continue faithfully to serve as Queen of Australia under the Constitution to the very best of my ability".{{cite web |date=20 March 2000 |title=You decide when monarchy goes, Queen tells Australians |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/mar/20/australia.monarchy |website=TheGuardian.com}}{{cite web |date=20 March 2010 |title=A speech by the Queen at the Sydney Opera House |url=https://www.royal.uk/sydney-opera-house-speech |website=The Royal Family}}

Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch, died on 8 September 2022, and was succeeded by her son, Charles III. The coronation of Charles III and Camilla took place on 6 May 2023. In October 2024, Charles III became the first reigning King of Australia to visit the country.{{Cite web |last=Walter |first=Jordan Baker, Riley |date=2024-10-18 |title=King Charles and Queen Camilla land in Sydney for royal visit |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/king-charles-and-queen-camilla-land-in-sydney-for-royal-visit-20241017-p5kjay.html |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}

{{further|Republicanism in Australia|Monarchism in Australia}}

{{Further|Republicanism in Australia#Public opinion}}

Various polls have been conducted on public support for the monarchy since at least 1953. These have produced a variety of responses, depending on the specific framing of the question. A peer review analysis of survey data published in the Australian Journal of Political Science in 1993 found that republican sentiment had slowly and stably increased from the 1950s and rose rapidly in the late 1980s and early 1990s such that certain polls indicated a majority or plurality republican support.{{Cite journal |last=Bean |first=Clive |date=1993-12-01 |title=Public attitudes on the monarchy-republic issue |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00323269308402275 |journal=Australian Journal of Political Science |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=190–206 |doi=10.1080/00323269308402275 |issn=1036-1146}} A follow up analysis published in 2016 found that support for the monarchy reached a low of 34 per cent in 1998 following the 1992 annus horribilis, before rising significantly to around 50% by 2016.{{Cite journal |last=Mansillo |first=Luke |date=25 January 2016 |title=Loyal to the Crown: shifting public opinion towards the monarchy in Australia |journal=Australian Journal of Political Science |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=213–235 |doi=10.1080/10361146.2015.1123674 |s2cid=155419597}}

Following the accession of King Charles in September 2022, the number of polls on the republic issue increased, producing a range of responses.

File:2024 Royal Visit Sydney (6).jpgWhereas prime minister Julia Gillard stated that she would like to see Australia become a republic, she, on 21 October 2011, at a reception in the presence of the Queen at Parliament House, asserted that the monarch is "a vital constitutional part of Australian democracy and would only ever be welcomed as a beloved and respected friend".Speech by Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, 21 October 2011, Parliament House After Kevin Rudd was appointed as prime minister, he affirmed that a republic was still a part of his party's platform and stated his belief that the debate on constitutional change should continue.{{Cite news |last=O'Malley |first=Sandra |title=Kevin Rudd Reaffirms Support for Republic |work=Perth Now |url=https://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23496624-948,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411124051/http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23496624-948,00.html |archive-date=11 April 2008}}

Gillard had, during her time as prime minister, propounded that an appropriate time for Australia to become a republic would be after the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Following Elizabeth's death, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said in an interview he wanted Australia to have an appointed head of state, but he did not have a timetable for a referendum, did not commit to advising one take place during his time as prime minister, and postulated that no vote should happen until demand rose from the grassroots.{{Cite interview |last=Albanese |first=Anthony |subject-link=Anthony Albanese |interviewer=Piers Morgan |title=Television interview - Piers Morgan Uncensored |url=https://www.pm.gov.au/media/television-interview-piers-morgan-uncensored |publisher=pm.gov.au |date=3 May 2023}} Albanese had earlier stated he would, out of respect for Elizabeth, merely refrain from having the governor-general call a referendum before the next election for the House of Representatives.{{cite news |last=Lynch |first=Cordelia |date=11 September 2022 |title=Australian PM says he will not hold republic referendum during his first term out of 'deep respect' for Queen |url=https://news.sky.com/story/australian-pm-says-he-will-not-hold-republic-referendum-during-his-first-term-out-of-deep-respect-for-queen-12694817 |work=Sky News (UK) |location= |access-date=11 September 2022}}{{cite news |last=Lynch |first=Cordelia |date=11 September 2022 |title=Queen dies: Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese rules out republic referendum in first term |url=https://news.sky.com/video/queen-dies-australian-prime-minister-anthony-albanese-rules-out-republic-referendum-in-first-term-12694893 |work=Sky News (UK) |location= |access-date=11 September 2022}}

File:Abolish The Monarchy Melbourne Naarm Rally (52379052770).jpg

Republicans have dismissed the large public turnouts during royal tours as "the cult of celebrity".{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpkYT4vXSgs|title = The Queen and I (2000) - Charles Wooley's meeting with the Queen {{pipe}} 60 Minutes Australia|website = YouTube| date=2 May 2018 }} However, following Prince William's and Catherine's visit to the Blue Mountains after devastating bush fires in 2014, historian Jane Connors opined that "there is still a sense that having the royal family come to see you is more healing and significant than just having anyone come to see you", citing comments made by some who had come to the area while the royal couple were present.{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/historian-jane-connors-on-royal-visits-to-australia/7752758|title=Historian Jane Connors on Royal visits to Australia|website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=10 August 2015}} Academic Holly Randell-Moon has criticised royal visits as reinforcing the legitimacy of white settler possession against Indigenous sovereignty, with celebrity responses to the royals "obscuring the racial and religious power" of monarchy.{{Cite journal |last=Randell-Moon |first=Holly |date=27 Mar 2017 |title=Thieves like us: the British monarchy, celebrity, and settler colonialism |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19392397.2017.1299019 |journal=Celebrity Studies |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=393–408 |doi=10.1080/19392397.2017.1299019 |url-access=subscription |via=Taylor and Francis}}

Former governor-general Michael Jeffery argued that the constitutional monarchy has been key to Australia's political stability and lack of civil wars.{{Cite web |last=Jeffery |first=Michael |date=23 June 2003 |title=Transcript - World Today with Major General Jeffery - 23 June 2003 |url=http://www.gg.gov.au/governorgeneral/content.php?id=20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602104910/http://www.gg.gov.au/governorgeneral/content.php?id=20 |archive-date=2 June 2009 |website=Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia}}

The idea of a uniquely Australian monarch, resident in Australia, has been voiced occasionally. The proposition was first published in 1867.{{Cite web |last=Davidson |first=Jim |date=5 June 2012 |title=The lost option |url=https://www.griffithreview.com/articles/the-lost-option-2/ |url-access=subscription |website=Griffith Review}} It was later reiterated by Alan Atkinson in his 1993 book The Muddle Headed Republic,{{citation| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DFUm9uiS5akC&dq=%22australian+royal+family%22&pg=PA135| editor-last1=Galligan| editor-first1=Brian| editor-last2=McAllister| editor-first2=Ian| editor-last3=Ravenhill| editor-first3=John| title=New Developments in Australian Politics| last=Irving| first=Helen| chapter=Republicanism and Citizenship| page=135| year=1997| publisher=Macmillan Education Australia| isbn=9780732943042| accessdate=9 May 2023}} by Harry Meklonian in 2009,{{Citation| url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-novel-solution-to-the-republican-debate-20091113-iekx.html| last=Melkonian| first=Harry| title=A novel solution to the republican debate| date=13 November 2009| newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald| accessdate=9 May 2023}} and by Richard Hughes in 2017.{{citation| url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/call-me-oldfashioned-but-prince-harry-wouldnt-be-a-bad-monarch-down-under-20171129-gzuxlu.html| last=Hughes| first=Richard| title=Call me old-fashioned, but Prince Harry wouldn't be a bad monarch Down Under| date=1 December 2017| newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald| accessdate=9 May 2023}} In a similar vein, Waleed Aly suggested in 2022 replacing the monarch with a life appointed Indigenous "First Elder".{{Cite web |last=Aly |first=Waleed |date=2022-09-22 |title=Forget a president – here's another idea |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/forget-a-president-here-s-another-idea-20220921-p5bk02.html |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} Another possibility, offered in 2009 by an American constitutional lawyer, would be to crown someone in the line of succession to the Australian throne (such as Prince Andrew and Prince Harry), but who is not expected to become monarch by the present rules of succession.

The date of separation of the Australian Crown from the British Crown is a matter of debate (see emergence of a separate Crown above), however the process most likely occurred in the 1930s to 1940s, and was complete by at least 1948.

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{{Portal|Australia|Monarchy}}

• Australian State Coach
• List of Australian organisations with royal patronage
• Royal tours of Australia
• List of Commonwealth visits made by Elizabeth II
• List of prime ministers of Elizabeth II
• List of sovereign states headed by Elizabeth II
• Australian peers and baronets
• Wattle Queen
• King-in-Parliament

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|30em}}

• {{cite book| last=Hill| first=David| author-link=David Hill (businessman)| title=Australia and the Monarchy| publisher=Random House| year=2016| isbn=978-0-85798-754-9}}
• {{Cite book |last=Twomey |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Twomey (academic)| title=The Australia Acts 1986: Australia's Statutes of Independence |date=2010 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-807-5 |editor-link=Anne Twomey (academic) |location=Annandale, NSW}}
• {{cite book| last=Twomey| first=Anne| author-link=Anne Twomey (academic)| title=The Chameleon Crown: The Queen and her Australian Governors| location=Annandale, NSW| publisher=Federation Press| year=2006| isbn=978-1-86287-629-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/chameleoncrownqu0000twom |via=Internet Archive}}
• {{cite book| last=Smith| first=David| author-link=David Smith (Australian public servant)| title=Head of State: The Governor-General, the Monarchy, the Republic and the Dismissal| location=Paddington, NSW| publisher=Macleay Press| year=2005| isbn=978-1-876492-15-1}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Australian monarchy}}

• [http://www.gg.gov.au Governor-General of Australia (Official website)]
• [http://www.norepublic.com.au Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (Official website)]
• [http://www.republic.org.au Australian Republican Movement (Official website)]
• [http://www.monarchist.org.au Australian Monarchist League (Official website)]
• [https://www.pmc.gov.au/government/official-australian-portraits-king-and-queen Official Australian portraits of The King and Queen]

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