What is a Head of State?

The Oxford Companion to Law (1980) defines heads of state as follows:

"As a state is an abstract idea, a legal and political concept, it must have a living person as head of state to represent it and for some purposes to embody it. How the head of state is chosen depends on the constitution of each individual state.

There are three main categories of heads of state: monarchs, who hold office by hereditary right; presidents, who are elected for stated periods; and dictators, who obtain and hold power by force, though they may nominally be entitled presidents and nominally be elected or otherwise chosen.

Sometimes a dictator may be the real controlling force but may have a monarch, president, or other nominal head of state above him. Whether a head of state is a figurehead, or a person also having executive powers, depends upon the constitution and practise of each state. By custom each state accords various ceremonial honours to the head of each other state when visiting."

Who is Australia's Head of State?

Elizabeth II, the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is Australia's Head of State because:

The Constitution of Australia defines the Parliament as "the Queen, a Senate, and a House of Representatives" and vests the Federal legislative (law-making) power in the Parliament (section 1, Constitution).

The executive power (the governing and administrative power) of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Queen (section 61, Constitution).

The Queen has the power to disallow any law within one year of it being made even after the Governor-General has given his assent (section 59, Constitution).

The Governor-General only holds office "during the Queen's pleasure" which means that the he can be dismissed by the Queen at any time (section 2, Constitution).

Lastly, but probably most importantly in a symbolic sense, is the Schedule to the Constitution that requires all Federal Parliamentarians to swear an oath or declare an affirmation of allegiance to the Queen. This oath of allegiance can only be changed by alteration of the Constitution — unlike the Citizenship Oath, which can be changed by an Act of Parliament, or the Ministerial Oath which can be changed by Proclamation.

The Governor-General is not the Head of State of Australia because:

The Governor-General is appointed to represent the Queen, not Australia (section 2, Constitution).

It is clear from the above provisions, such as sections 2 and 59, that the Governor-General is subservient to the Queen.

Even the Governor-General's power given by section 68 as Commander in Chief is vested in him as "the Queen's representative".

No Oath of Allegiance is required to the Governor-General by any member of Parliament or official.

Australia is a constitutional Monarchy and in accordance with these principles the monarch is our head of state. Both the above provisions of the Australian Constitution and custom make it clear that the Queen is intended to be the embodiment of the Commonwealth of Australia.

A recent example of the symbolism and custom in regard to this was the visit by President Clinton to Australia in November 1996 during which reciprocal toasts were given to each nation by giving a loyal toast to the head of state of each nation as the embodiment of the nations. To honour the United States of America, a toast was given to the President. President Clinton responded by giving a toast to the Queen, not to the Governor-General.

The Queen also sees herself as Australia's Head of State:

The following is quoted from the Monarch's website on the page entitled 'Commonwealth Realms':

"A Commonwealth realm is a country where The Queen is the Head of State. The Queen is Queen not only of Britain and its dependent territories, but also of the following realms: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, St Christopher and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu."

The Royal Titles Act 1953 provided that legislation on the Royal Title was to be enacted separately by each of The Queen's Commonwealth realms, i.e. each Commonwealth country that retains a monarchical constitution recognises The Queen as Head of State. The form that this takes in each realm includes a common element: the description of the Sovereign as 'Queen of Her other Realms and Territories and Head of the Commonwealth'.

But what is the difference between a Sovereign and a Head of State?

The Macquarie Dictionary defines "Sovereign" as a monarch, "having supreme rank, power or authority" and being "above all others in character and importance".

By definition, the Sovereign has higher rank, authority and importance than our Governor-General. Therefore, by definition, the Governor-General cannot possibly be our Head of State.

If you would like more information, please read the interview with former Chief Justice, Sir Anthony Mason.

Related sites

The Future of the Monarchy The Guardian Special Report more>