Australia

• The Commonwealth Constitution of 1901, which divides power between the federal government and the states
• Acts of the federal Parliament and of the state and territory parliaments
• Case law (precedent), including the High Court's decisions on both state and federal law
• Native title, recognised by the High Court in the Mabo case (1992)

• The High Court of Australia at the top
• Federal courts, such as the Federal Court of Australia
• State and territory courts, each with its own supreme court, which hear most cases

A law degree covering the required core subjects (often called the Priestley 11), then practical legal training, then admission by the Supreme Court of a state or territory. In some states barristers and solicitors are separate, and in others they are not.

• Australia has no national bill of rights in its Constitution, only a few specific protections.
• There is one common law for the whole country: the High Court decides common-law questions for all states.
• Admission is by state, but can be recognised across the country.
• Australian and English law share many roots, but Australian courts no longer follow every English development.

United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Ireland, India

The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Australia as: Common law. It names the systems in order of importance.

The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Cook Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya.

• High Court of Australia
• Federal Court of Australia: Australia's court system

Sources last reviewed: October 2026.