Constitution of Western Australia

Alan Fenna, BA Alberta, MA Queen’s, PhD YorkProfessor of Politics at the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Curtin University.Alan Fenna publishes widely in the areas of Australian government, Australian public policy, and Australian and comparative federalism. He has served as President of the Australian Political Studies Association (2009–10); worked in the Constitutional Affairs section of the WA Ministry of Premier and Cabinet; and served as an elected member of local governmentSarah Murray, BA (Hons), LLB (Hons) UWA, Grad Dip (Legal Practice) NSW, PhD MonashProfessor at the University of Western Australia. Sarah Murray researches in the areas of constitutional law, electoral law and court innovation. She is a member of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, a co-Chair of the ICON-S AUS-NZ Chapter and a WA Co-Convenor of the Electoral Regulation Research Network. In 2022 she was part of a successful ARC LIEF grant team working with Oxford University to digitise the drafting of the Australian Constitution.

• 1. Introduction: Discovering the WA Constitution.- 2. The What, Why and How of Constitutions.- 3. The WA Constitution in the Federal System.- 4. Origins of the WA Constitution: Framers, History and Documents.- 5. First Peoples and the WA Constitution.- 6. The Constitution and System of Government.- 7. Voting Rights and Electoral System.- 8. Amending the State Constitution: Fundamental or Ordinary Law?.- 9. What Should Be Done? Consolidation and Beyond.- 10. Conclusion.