Editing Statute of Westminster 1931 (section)

===Australia===

[[File:Opening of the first parliament.jpg|thumb|''[[The Big Picture (painting)|The Big Picture]]'', opening of the Parliament of Australia, 9 May 1901, by Tom Roberts]]

Australia adopted sections 2 to 6 of the Statute of Westminster with the [[Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942]],<ref>{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|sowaa1942379|Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942}}</ref> in order to clarify the validity of certain Australian legislation relating to the [[World War II|Second World War]]; the adoption was backdated to 3 September 1939, the date that Britain and Australia joined the war.

Adopting section 2 of the statute clarified that the Parliament of Australia was able to legislate inconsistently with British legislation, adopting section 3 clarified that it could legislate with extraterritorial effect. Adopting section 4 clarified that Britain could legislate with effect on Australia as a whole only with Australia's request and consent.<ref name="Australian independent government">{{cite web |title=Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942 |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/history-of-parliament/history-milestones/australian-parliament-history-timeline/events/statute-of-westminster-adoption-act-1942 |website=Parliamentary Education Office |publisher=Government of the Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref>

Nonetheless, under section 9 of the statute, on matters not within Commonwealth power Britain could still legislate with effect in all or any of the Australian states, without the agreement of the Commonwealth although only to the extent of "the constitutional practice existing before the commencement" of the statute. However, this capacity had never been used. In particular, it was not used to implement the result of the [[1933 Western Australian secession referendum]], as it did not have the support of the Australian government.<ref name="Australian Secession Referendum">{{cite web |title=Western Australian Secession Referendum |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/history-of-parliament/history-milestones/australian-parliament-history-timeline/events/western-australian-secession-referendum |website=Parliamentary Education Office |publisher=Government of the Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref>
 
All British power to legislate with effect in Australia ended with the [[Australia Act 1986]], the British version of which says that it was passed with the request and consent of the Australian Parliament, which had obtained the concurrence of the [[Parliaments of the Australian states and territories|parliaments of the Australian states]].<ref name=SydLaw>{{harvnb| Twomey| 2011| p=10}}</ref>