I have no idea if I'm answering these questions to an "acceptable exam standard". Could someone read through and tell me if I'm answering the question right and point out where my answers need improvement/more clarity? Please? I would seriously appreciate any help you can offer me. I have a SAC first week back and I'm super stressed because I keep losing marks for "lack of clarity" and "not answering the question."
1) Evaluate the means by which the rights of Australians are protected by the Constitution.There are three means by which the rights of Australians are protected by the Constitution: separation of powers, expressed rights and implied rights.
Structural protections are mechanisms written into the Constitution. They are not in and of themselves rights but they should ensure the protection of our rights because they protect against an abuse of power.
Express rights are rights explicitly outlined in the Constitution. We don’t have many; we only have five (s. 51, s. 80, s. 92, s. 116 and s. 117) but what we do have is very much permanent. s. 128 theoretically allows for them to be amended or taken away by means of a referendum but it is highly unlikely a referendum to strip constituents of their votes would meet the already difficult criteria.
Implied rights are not explicitly stated in the Constitution; they are inferred by the High Court. They exist only so long as the High Court says it does which means these are somewhat temporary; as soon as the High Court rules otherwise on a case addressing this issue, we no longer have an implied right.
They can only be amended or taken away by a referendum, as outlined by s. 128
2) What is meant by "structural protection of rights" in the Constitution. Describe the main structure that exist in the Constitution to protect rights.Structural protections are not rights in and of themselves; they are mechanisms or structures that are designed to protect against an abuse of power, thereby protecting the rights of Australians if these mechanisms are working as they were designed to.
The main structures that exist in the Constitution to protect rights are:
1) The High Court
The protector of the Constitution, they provide people, groups or bodies with a means to affirm their rights if they believe they have been impinged.
2) Representative Government
Members of Parliament are supposed to represent the people, working in the people’s best interests; they can expect to retain their seats only so long as they do so. They should therefore not seek to strip their constituents of their rights.
3) Separation of Powers
No single person can have absolute power as the power to govern in Australia is divided into three arms – legislative, executive and judicial. This system provides checks and balances to ensure no one can abuse their power and revoke the rights of Australians because, in theory, the other two branches of power would prevent them from doing so.
4) Bicameralism of Parliament
The two houses should complicate the law-passing process. This should ensure any proposed legislation that may infringe upon the rights of the Constituents do not have free passage through parliament and would, in theory, be rejected by parliament.
5) Responsible Government
Within parliament, there exists a chain of accountability; members of parliament are accountable to the parliament and the parliament is accountable to the people. Members of Parliament are expected to be honest and accountable for their actions and, in the case of members of the cabinet, the actions of their respective department. This means that members of parliament would not act against what the people want because they would be held completely accountable for their actions.