Section 51(xii) of the Constitution of Australia

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Section 51 (xii) is a subsection of section 51 of the Constitution of Australia, that gives the Commonwealth Parliament the right to legislate with respect to "currency, coinage, and legal tender".

Generally, powers in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia can also be legislated on by the states, although Commonwealth law will prevail in cases of inconsistency. However, the currency power must be read in conjunction with other parts of the Constitution of Australia. Section 115 of the Constitution establishes "a state shall not coin money, nor make anything but gold or silver coin a legal tender in the payment of debts". This section effectively makes the concurrent power in section 51(xii) exclusive to the Commonwealth.

Despite this, coins of the Australian pound were not introduced until 1910, following the enactment of the Coinage Act 1909. The federal government did not issue banknotes until 1913, following the passage of the Australian Notes Act 1910. From 1901 to 1910 the states could not issue tender and the Commonwealth had not issued tender, so private currency was used as the common medium of exchange whilst the British pound sterling was the national unit of account.

## See also

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* Money portal

* Bank Notes Tax Act 1910

## References

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* "COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 51 Legislative powers of the Parliament [see Notes 10 and 11]". classic.austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 8 September 2020.

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Constitution of Australia

Legislative power|

* Parliament
* Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia: The Legislature
* Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia
* House of Representatives
* Senate

Executive power|

* Cabinet
* Chapter II of the Constitution of Australia: The Executive
* Section 61 of the Constitution of Australia
* Monarchy
* Governor-General
* Federal Executive Council

Judicial power|

* High Court
* Chapter III of the constitution of Australia: Courts
* Section 75 of the Constitution of Australia
* Boilermakers' Case

Other institutions|

* Inter-State Commission
* Privy Council

Doctrines|

* Australian Constitutional Law
* Responsible government
* Separation of powers
* Constitutional conventions
* Federalism
* Implied freedom of political communication
* Implied immunity of instrumentalities
* Reserve power (sovereign)
* Reserved State powers

Amendments|

* Referendum process
* Senate elections (1906)
* 1st State debts (1910)
* 2nd State debts (1928)
* Social services (1946)
* Aboriginals (1967)
* Casual vacancies (1977)
* Referendums (1977)
* Retirement of judges (1977)

Constitutional texts|

* Constitution of Australia
* Statute of Westminster 1931
* Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942
* Australia Act 1986
* Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990

Other topics|

* Constitutional history of Australia
* The Dismissal
* Constitutional Conventions (1998)
* 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis
* List of proposed states of Australia
* Republicanism in Australia
* Separatist movements within Australia

By chapter|

* I: The Parliament
* II: The Executive Government
* III: The Judicature
* IV: Finance and Trade
* V: The States
* VI: New States
* VII: Miscellaneous
* VIII: Alteration of the Constitution

By section|

* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4
* 5
* 6
* 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* 15
* 16
* 17
* 18
* 19
* 20
* 21
* 22
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* 24
* 25
* 26
* 27
* 28
* 29
* 30
* 31
* 32
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* 34
* 35
* 36
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* 40
* 41
* 42
* 43
* 44
* 45
* 46
* 47
* 48
* 49
* 50
* 52
* 53
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* 55
* 56
* 57
* 58
* 59
* 60
* 61
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* 63
* 64
* 65
* 66
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* 99
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* 105
* 105A
* 106
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* 112
* 113
* 114
* 115
* 116
* 117
* 118
* 119
* 120
* 121
* 122
* 123
* 124
* 125
* 126
* 127
* 128

Enumerated legislative
powers (Section 51)|

* Powers of
* (i) Interstate trade and commerce
* (ii) Taxation
* (v) Post and telegraph (communication)
* (vi) Defence
* (ix) Quarantine
* (x) Fisheries
* (xii) Currency
* (xiii) Banking
* (xiv) Insurance
* (xviii) Copyrights, patents and trademarks
* (xix) Naturalization and aliens
* (xx) Corporations
* (xxi) Marriage
* (xxii) Divorce
* (xxiii) Pensions
* (xxiiiA) Social security
* (xxvi) Race
* (xxvii) Immigration
* (xxix) External affairs
* (xxx) Pacific islands
* (xxxi) Acquisition of property
* (xxxv) Conciliation and arbitration
* (xxxvi) Transition
* (xxxvii) Referral
* (xxxviii) Imperial
* (xxxix) Incident

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