Federation: Australia Unites

When did Australia become a nation by uniting its six colonies?

• 26 January 1788

• 1 January 1901

• 31 July 1900

• 25 April 1915

Before 1901, Australia was a collection of ______ colonies. (Fill in the blank)

• British

• French

• Spanish

• Dutch

Each Australian colony had its own government, laws, defence force, stamps, and tariffs before federation.

• True

• False

Before the colonies could join together, what did they need to set out the rules for how Australia would be run?

• A new flag

• A constitution

• A national anthem

• A cricket team

The Constitution was approved by a vote of the people in referendums held in each colony between June 1899 and July 1900.

• True

• False

Who became Australia’s first Prime Minister after the Constitution was agreed to by the British Parliament?

• Lord Hopetoun

• Sir Edmund Barton

• Queen Victoria

• John Macarthur

What document provides the rules for the governance of Australia and is described as the birth certificate of the nation?

• The Australian Constitution

• The Magna Carta

• The Bill of Rights

• The Treaty of Versailles

The Constitution created a federal Parliament and united the six self-governing British colonies as separate states within the Commonwealth of Australia.

• True

• False

According to the Australian Constitution, which sections outline most of the law-making powers of the federal Parliament?

• Sections 1 and 2

• Sections 10 and 20

• Sections 51 and 52

• Sections 100 and 101

Match the following groups with their main components:

• The Executive

• All federal courts, including the High Court

• The Judiciary

• The Prime Minister and ministers

• The Parliament

• The Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate, the House of Representatives