Across ANZ: Australian Commonwealth Government Oversteps Constitutional Authority

Josh Withers

In 1901, the Constitution of Australia came into effect, establishing the Commonwealth of Australia and its federalist government. For quite some time, the federalist system remained well balanced, with the states and the Commonwealth respectively retaining the powers granted to them by the constitution. However, as time has gone on, Australia has faced growing imbalance as many powers designated to the state governments have been taken over by the federal government.

The change in the balance of power between the state and federal governments has been significant, yet is not reflected in the constitution. This has been a cause for concern for many Australian people, stemming from a lack of accountability for federal actions outside the scope of the constitution. 

Under the Australian constitution, the responsibility of healthcare provisions is divided between the state and federal governments, with the states being responsible for the management of public hospitals and the federal government being in charge of a major portion of the funding. As of January 30th, 2026, the federal government has announced an A$25 billion dollar funding increase to public hospitals. This funding increase came with the agreement of larger federal oversight on state healthcare budgets.

However, as the federal government takes over the expenditure of public healthcare, the Australian people have already been experiencing consequences from it. Despite the increases in funding, the Australian federal government has not provided necessary medical treatment to many, with particular public outrage being raised over the failure to deliver lifesaving cancer treatment to children in need. 

Although the federal government has taken a larger role in the oversight and administration of healthcare in Australia, they have not met the expectations of the Australian people upon stepping into this position. While funding may be greater and oversight has increased, the federal government has not provided the level of care the Australian people expect. 

Education

Healthcare is not the only field in which the Commonwealth has taken a larger role in, with the federal government having also assumed a larger role in education. In 2013, the Australian government set the goal that they would have a “high quality and high equity” schooling system by 2025. However, according to Fiona Mueller, Director of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority, that only would have been possible with a “Christmas miracle”. 

Despite the federal government taking charge in shaping curriculum, increasing funding, and developing educational facilities in rural areas and native lands, there has been little progress towards the goal set in 2013. Even now, after the 2025 deadline has passed, Australia’s federal government has not made significant strides towards the goal. The cause of this lies in a lack of clarity from the federal government. Despite the goal of improving education having been laid out plainly, more specific benchmarks and objectives were never properly laid out. 

Although the target was established, the federal government only provided vague goals that not only did not provide clear instructions for educators, but also placed them into a multilayered system of regulations put in place by the various levels of government that each have a hand in education policy. With education regulations being formally divided amongst federal, state, and territorial governments, as well as other important educational institutions, the federal government taking on a more active role in deciding these policies only created further confusion and difficulty for educators attempting to navigate these systems. 

With the more hands-on role that the federal government has taken in education, and the goal they set out for themselves, one would assume that the state of the Australian education system had improved since 2013. However, many aspects of the educational system remain stagnant since then, with accessibility of education and enrollment in higher education remaining either the same or decreasing in many parts of the country. 

Policing

Another notable sector in which the Commonwealth government has taken a more central role in is policing and law enforcement. As of 1979, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) was established, despite the constitution deferring the responsibility of law enforcement to the states. The AFP was initially founded as a counter-terrorism unit in response to a major terror attack that had occurred a year prior. The AFP was a combination of the Australian Commonwealth Territory Police, the Commonwealth Police, and the Narcotics Bureau, all of which played much smaller roles in law enforcement individually. However, after their merger, the AFP has steadily taken up a more and more active role in policing, which is a responsibility meant for state and territory governments to uphold. 

As the federal government takes up more responsibility in law enforcement, many Australians worry about the integrity of the AFP. This concern is not unfounded either, as the federal government has officially revealed the growing number of complaints of misconduct in their AFP Annual Report. This report notably showcases a significant year over year increase in complaints of misconduct, most notably being a nearly 300% increase in Category 3 complaints between 2021 and 2025, which account for instances of “serious misconduct”. These statistics validate the worries of the Australian public, and also bring into question the way in which the federal government will handle this issue. Being an organization which exists outside the scope of the powers the constitution divests to the federal government, it is unclear what accountability measures exist for such a unique problem. 

The AFP has also found itself in controversy in the past, having been found by the Commonwealth Ombudsman to have illegally accessed location data on at least 135 separate incidents. This information would not be permissible for prosecutorial purposes, and any instance in which the AFP did use this information to prosecute an individual would require significant legal repercussions against the AFP. The trust individuals place in law enforcement is highly dependent on the responsibility of the law enforcement itself, and these actions by the AFP have significantly impacted their credibility in terms of respecting public privacy. 

More than anything, the attempts of the federal government to play a more active role in many sectors of Australian society have not had the desired outcomes for the Australian people. As the federal government continues to reach out and grasp at more responsibilities that formally belong to the states and territories, a series of shortcomings has followed in the government's wake. Many Australian citizens have expressed disapproval of the overreach of the federal government, however their concerns have gone unnoticed as year by year the federal government continues extending its authority into more aspects of life.