[a] The monarch is represented at the federal level by the governor-general (currently Samantha Mostyn[4]), in accordance with the Australian constitution[5] and letters patent from his mother and predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II.

[18] Others have suggested the Crowns separated once Australia became fully independent, with dates suggested including 1931 (when the UK Statute of Westminster was passed), 1939 or 1942 (due to Statute of Westminster Adoption Act, passed in 1942 with retrospective effect to 1939) or 1986 (when the Australia Acts severed the last possibilities of UK institutions changing Australian laws).

[45] However, subsequent Victorian government documents have used the title Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.

These entail that succession follows the eldest non-adopted child of the current monarch (primogeniture), with the restriction that an heir must be in communion with the Church of England and not a Roman Catholic to ascend the throne.

The British statutes, the Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 first limited succession to legitimate descendants of Sophia, Electress of Hanover and imposed religious requirements in the context of the Glorious Revolution.

[50] The most recent reforms to the succession occurred following the Perth Agreement in 2011, in which all the Commonwealth realms agreed to changes including the removal of a preference towards male heirs and the repeal of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 (which amongst other things prevented the monarch from marrying a Roman Catholic).

Following an appropriate period of mourning, the monarch is also crowned at a coronation ceremony in the United Kingdom; though, this is not necessary for a sovereign to reign, being primarily a symbolic event.

This is in reciprocation to the sovereign's coronation oath, taken most recently by Charles III who promised "to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland [and] your other Realms ... according to their respective laws and customs".

[69] However, the wording of this oath or affirmation is not written into law and beginning with swearing in of Paul Keating, all Labor prime ministers have dropped the reference to the sovereign.

However, the importance of allegiance to the monarch has been stressed by several justices in the context of determining whether a person is an "alien" for the purposes of section 51 the Constitution.

[72] For example, Justice Callinan held in Re Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Ex parte Te (2002) that "judged from a constitutional — rather than a statutory — perspective, the fundamental criterion of membership [of the Australian body-politic] is allegiance to the Queen of Australia".

[74][75] Key features of Australia's system of government include its basis on a combination of written and unwritten rules, comprising the sovereign, governors, and governor-general.

[87] Australia has a written constitution based on the Westminster model of government, implementing a federal system and a distinct separation of powers.

[118] The sovereign and their family have participated in events such as various centennials and bicentennials; Australia Day; the openings of Olympic and other games; award ceremonies; D-Day commemorations; anniversaries of the monarch's accession; and the like.

Other royals have participated in ceremonies organised by or involving Australia and other Commonwealth nations abroad, such as Charles III, then Prince Charles, at the 2015 Anzac Day ceremonies at Gallipoli, the Duke of Edinburgh at the Anzac Day service in Hyde Park, London in 2024, or the Duke of Sussex's attendance at an Australia House reception for Australian athletes in the 2014 Invictus Games.

[122][123] Section 68 of the Australian Constitution says: "The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the governor-general as the Queen's [monarch's] representative.

[145][146] Popular royal symbolism emerged during the reign of Queen Victoria, as a means of encouraging loyalty to the wider British Empire.

[147][148][149] The continued presence of royal symbols has been argued to act as a "social construction of reality", which reinforces their perception as a "positive role in national life".

[152] The development of the Australian monarchy into the independent entity it is today began in 1770, when Captain James Cook, in the name of, and under instruction from, King George III, claimed the east coast of Australia.

However, this did not change the relationship of the monarch to the new nation, with her powers (such as the appoint of governors, governors-general and others set out in the Constitution) exercised in accordance with the advice of British ministers.

[16] This situation continued until after the First World War, where in response to calls from some Dominions for a re-evaluation of their status under the Crown after their sacrifice and performance in the conflict,[79]: 110  the Balfour Declaration of 1926 was issued following a series of Imperial conferences.

[157] Another move to independence occurred in 1930, when the British government agreed that the Australian Cabinet would advise the sovereign directly on the choice of governor-general.

Curtin hoped the appointment might influence the British to despatch men and equipment to the Pacific War, and the selection of the brother of King George VI reaffirmed the important role of the Crown to the Australian nation at that time.

While the federal government adopted the Statute of Westminster in 1942, which removed the legislative restrictions of the Colonial Laws Validity Act, the states specifically asked to be excluded from the agreement.

[163] As late as 1976, the British ministry advised the monarch to refuse Colin Hannah another term as Queensland's governor, after seriously considering unilaterally dismissing him due his breach of political impartiality, despite the recommendation of the then state Bjelke-Petersen government for his nomination.

Elizabeth signed her assent to the Act at Government House, Canberra that year, leading Senior Vice President of the Labor Party, Jack Egerton, to remark to her, "They tell me, love, you've been naturalised.

[170] Many commentators have argued that disagreement between republicans as to the preferred model for a republic (most notably over whether the president should be appointed or directly elected) was a key factor in the "no" result.

[177] Following the accession of King Charles in September 2022, the number of polls on the republic issue increased, producing a range of responses.

Whereas prime minister Julia Gillard stated that she would like to see Australia become a republic, she, on 21 October 2011, at a reception in the presence of the Queen at Parliament House, asserted that the monarch is "a vital constitutional part of Australian democracy and would only ever be welcomed as a beloved and respected friend".

[178] After Kevin Rudd was appointed as prime minister, he affirmed that a republic was still a part of his party's platform and stated his belief that the debate on constitutional change should continue.