Monarchy in Australia - International and Domestic Aspects

International and Domestic Aspects

Further information: Commonwealth realm: The Crown in the Commonwealth realms

The monarch of Australia is the same person as the monarch of the fifteen other Commonwealth realms within the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations; however, each country is sovereign and independent of the others. On all matters of the Australian state, the monarch is advised by Australian federal Ministers of the Crown and, effective with the Australia Act 1986, no British government can advise the monarch on any matters pertinent to Australia. The British Government is thus considered a foreign power in regard to Australia's domestic and foreign affairs. Still, the High Court of Australia found that those natural-born citizens of other Commonwealth realms who migrated to Australia could not be classified as aliens (as referred to in the constitution) within Australia, given that they owed allegiance to the same monarch and thus are subjects of the Queen of Australia. However, in Sue v Hill, the High Court of Australia found that the United Kingdom was a foreign power for the purposes of Section 44 of the Australian Constitution, which determines eligibility for parliamentary office.