End of appeals from the High Court to the Privy Council

08 July 1975

Although it was established in the Australian Constitution in 1901, the High Court of Australia did not become the final court of appeal in the Australian judicial system until 1975 when the Australian Parliament passed the Privy Council (Appeals from the High Court) Act 1974. Previously this power belonged to the British Privy Council. This meant that the British Privy Council could – and did – overturn decisions of the High Court of Australia on appeal.

In 1900 the British Parliament only agreed to the Australian Constitution if the Privy Council remained the final court of appeal in Australia. The Privy Council (Limitations of Appeals) Act 1968 stopped appeals to the Privy Council for constitutional and federal matters. The 1975 Act confirmed the independence of Australia’s judicial system by abolishing all appeals from the High Court to the Privy Council.

It was not until the Australia Acts of 1986, 85 years after Federation, that the right of appeal to the Privy Council from state courts was removed.