Victoria v Commonwealth[1] was an important decision of the High Court of Australia concerning the procedures in section 57 of the Constitution.

The government moved a motion to suspend the Standing Orders to allow the Bill to proceed to passage "without delay".

On 7 March 1974, the House of Representatives resolved to send a request to the Senate to resume reconsideration of the Bill.

The states of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia commenced proceedings challenging the validity of the Act.

They argued that the Bill had been first rejected by the Senate on 2 April 1974 and that, as a result, the required 3 months had not passed before its second passage by the House of Representatives.

The Commonwealth made several arguments in defence of the validity of the Act: All members of the Court wrote separate opinions.

By majority, the Court held that the Act was invalid as it had not met the requirements of section 57 and so should not have been considered and passed at the joint sitting.