Part VII Rights, Ch.39 Expression

This chapter traces the way in which freedom of expression is recognized in Australian constitutional law. The absence of a provision protecting freedom of expression is just one aspect of a widely noted feature in the Australian Constitution, yet the full picture is considerably more complicated. Freedom of expression has long had a foothold in Australian constitutional law. In 1992, the High Court of Australia developed a doctrine known as ‘the freedom of political communication’ which, to some extent, operates like a guarantee or right of freedom of expression. The chapter considers the extent to which the freedom of political communication resembles an explicit and generally expressed right of freedom.