Section 51(v) of the Constitution of Australia (commonly referred as the post and telegraph power) is a subsection of

Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia Section 51 of the Constitution of Australia enumerates the legislative powers granted to Federal Parliament by the Australian States at Federation. The list contains 39 subsections, each referred to as a 'head of power' under which the parliam ...

Legislative powers of the Parliament. that gives the

Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...

power to legislate on " postal,

telegraphic Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

, telephonic, and other like services".

Postal services

In 1901, one of the first Acts of the federal parliament was the Post and Telegraph Act 1901, relying on Section 51(v).. The Act created the

Postmaster-General's Department The Postmaster-General's Department (PMG) was a department of the Australian federal government, established at Federation in 1901, whose responsibilities included the provision of postal and telegraphic services throughout Australia. It was ...

(PMG) which took over the colonial mail systems. The PMG was responsible for

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

and domestic

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

operations as well as postal mail. In 1975 the Postmaster-General's Department was separated into the

Australian Telecommunications Commission Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

(now

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 ...

) which was responsible for telephone services,. and the

Australian Postal Commission Australia Post, formally the Australian Postal Corporation, is the government business enterprise that provides postal services in Australia. The head office of Australia Post is located in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which also serves as a pos ...

(now Australia Post) which was responsible for postal services.. The power also supports the issue of Australian postal stamps.

Telephonic services

The power has supported Australia’s regulatory environment for telecommunications in Australia, such as the telecommunications part of the

Trade Practices Act The ''Competition and Consumer Act 2010'' (CCA) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia. Prior to 1 January 2011, it was known as the ''Trade Practices Act 1974'' (TPA). The Act is the legislative vehicle for competition law in Australia, an ...

. (See

Communications in Australia Telecommunications in Australia refers to communication in Australia through electronic means, using devices such as telephone, television, radio or computer, and services such as the telephony and broadband networks. Telecommunications have ...

“Other like services”

The most problematic part of this power has been the words “other like services”. The High Court has taken a flexible approach to interpreting this provision that has recognised that technology has changed since the constitution was written. In the case of '' R v Brislan'', in 1935, the High Court decided that s.51(v) included the power to regulate radio broadcasting. However, in ''Brislan'' four of the judges held radio to be a wireless type of ‘telegraphic or telephonic service’, rather than an ‘other like service’. In the 1965 case of '' Jones v Commonwealth (No 2)'',. the High Court found that television broadcasting also fell under the ambit of s.51(v). Although the communications power is often presumed to apply broadly as new technologies arise, it is uncertain, in the absence of litigation, whether Commonwealth regulation will be supported. For example, it is unclear whether regulation of internet content would be supported under s.51(v). The Commonwealth has already relied on s.51(v) to regulate parts of the internet. For example, the ''Interactive Gambling Act'' (Cth), which regulates the operation of online casinos within Australia and advertising of online gambling, was based on s.51(v).. Other forms of gambling are a state and territory responsibility. In March 2013 Australia's accession to the Council of Europe's ''

Convention on Cybercrime The Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime or the Budapest Convention, is the first international treaty seeking to address Internet and computer crime (cybercrime) by harmonizing national laws, improving ...

'' came into force following the ''Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Act'' 2012 (Cth).. The amendments to the ''Criminal Code'' which removed the earlier "carriage service" (telephone and internet) elements of some computer offences (in part 10.7) were apparently supported by the s.51(xxix) external affairs power (arising from obligations under an international treaty). This may mean that ratification of the Convention extended the Commonwealth power in this area beyond the s.51(v) power, avoiding the need to rely on the definition of 'other like services'.

References

External links

Geraldine Chi
Technological Change and the Australian Constitution

000 Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * "Triple Zero", a song by AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes'' * Th ...

MULR 25 {{DEFAULTSORT:Section 51(V) Of The Australian Constitution Australian constitutional law