Government Powers under a Federal Constitution provides a comprehensive analysis of the key areas of constitutional law in Australia and contains insightful explanations of the many issues students will have to address in this complex area of law.

The structure of this text emphasises that the Commonwealth Constitution not only establishes the branches of the Commonwealth Government, but also, and quite necessarily, imposes limits on State powers.

With this underlying perspective, the text has been separated into the following parts:

• Constitutional Concepts and their History
• General Principles of Constitutional Law and Litigation
• General Constitutional Doctrines Applying to the Executive and Legislative Powers of the Commonwealth and States
• Doctrines Applying Specifically to the Commonwealth Parliament
• Doctrines Applying Specifically to the States
• The Constitutional Status of the Territories
• Possible Changes to the Constitution and the Federation.

This is a book for the present and future. The issues raised in this book invite readers to anticipate developments that may occur in the future in the hope that readers may play a part in shaping future constitutional debates.