# Australian Law Dopers: How do you cite the Australian Constitution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2020, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-law-dopers-how-do-you-cite-the-australian-constitution/923072 "2020-10-16T03:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2020, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-law-dopers-how-do-you-cite-the-australian-constitution/923072/21 "2020-10-21T08:35:47Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Perhaps the “Commonwealth of Australia” ought to drop the “Commonwealth of” part, and just be “Australia.” Might help, when you’re trying to convince other countries that you’re not British. Worked for us Gosh, don’t suggest it. Nobody here notices the constitution, and the term “Commonwealth of” is unknown except to pedants, lawyers, politicians and cranks. But if you suggest that _other countries_ might notice words in some arcane document nobody has ever read, _then_ you’re hitting a sore spot. “Other countries might think” is a strong argument in Aus. Like Motherhood, Apple Pie, and The American Way. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-law-dopers-how-do-you-cite-the-australian-constitution/923072/22 "2020-10-22T02:13:31Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > Was “confederation” the term used for this process at the time that it was happening? What strikes me is that, in the period up to 1867, Canadians would have been very conscious of the late unpleasantness south of the border, in which the United States of America were opposed by the Confederate States of America. I can’t but think that this must have coloured the language used about the developments occurring in Canada. I honestly don’t know whether “confederation” was used at the time, or not. The preamble to our constitution mentions the word “Dominion” once, and “union” a few times, but not “confederation.” The would-become Canadians and the British were certainly aware of the US Civil War, which is why the drafters of the _British North America Act_ 1867 (Canada’s constitution) took care to enumerate which powers were federal and which were provincial–one of the disagreements that the Confederate states and the Union were fighting over. I can say that “confederation” is a term that we Canadians grow up with. I do remember Canada’s 100th birthday in 1967–I was a child at school, and we were encouraged to do some sort of “confederation project.” High school history classes mentioned confederation as synonymous with July 1, 1867, and subsequent university classes did as well. The term was used a lot again in 2017, for Canada’s 150th birthday. So if it wasn’t used in 1867, I’d like to know when it started to be used. You have a good question, and now, I’d like to know the answer to it too. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-law-dopers-how-do-you-cite-the-australian-constitution/923072/23 "2020-10-22T02:31:25Z")
The term was used right from the beginning. For example, the Parliament of the Province of Canada debated the Quebec Resolutions, ultimately voting in favour of them. The debates were printed in their entirety: _Parliamentary Debates on the Subject of Confederation of the British North American Provinces_, 3rd Session, 8th Provincial Parliament of Canada (Quebec: Hunter, Rose, 1865). ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-law-dopers-how-do-you-cite-the-australian-constitution/923072/24 "2020-10-22T03:38:12Z")
Ignorance fought. Thanks, **Northern Piper**! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-law-dopers-how-do-you-cite-the-australian-constitution/923072.md?page=1)