Purposive Theory - Australia

Australia

The Acts Interpretation Act 1901 of Australia states that the interpretation that best achieves the purpose or object of the act is to be preferred to all other interpretations. When determining the purpose of a statutory provision courts ought to keep in mind the contexts for the provision at the outset rather than only when ambiguity or inconsistency. exists. The statutory context 1) explanatory memoranda that are relevant to the statute and 2) reports of advisory bodies, such as law commissions, that created the need for the particular statutory provisions. (See CIC Insurance Limited v Bankstown Football Club Limited(1997) 187 CLR 384 at 408; also see Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (Cth), s15AB.)

Whereas other commonwealth countries embraced purposivism much earlier, the High Court of Australia has only been receptive to purposivism since the 1970s. Historically, Australian legalism (a variant of originalism) persevered for many years following the landmark decision in the Engineers Case. Sometimes considered aggressively textualist, Australian legalism emphasizes the importance of and attends only to the words in the statute when determining meaning.

The Court remains entrenched in the tradition of textualism and original meaning more than the typical European, Canadian or even American jurist however, Justice McHugh refers to Australian legalism as "faint-hearted", as the Court's focus on textualism does not preclude its ability to evaluate extrinsic evidence. The move away from staunch textualism is largely attributed to the 'revolution' of the Mason Court.