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1855 to 1857, colony by colonyPrimary source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The Australian colonies win responsible self-government

Elected parliaments replace rule by an appointed governor, 1850s

On the timeline · around 1855 to 1857, colony by colony · Penal Colony to FederationPenal Colony to FederationThe Australian colonies win responsible self-government18201830184018501860187018801890

Quick facts

NSW Constitution Act passed
16 July 1855
NSW Parliament first sat
22 May 1856
SA Constitution proclaimed
24 October 1856
Last colony to achieve it
Western Australia, 1890

What happened

The Australian Colonies Government Act 1850 empowered the individual colonies to draft their own constitutions, and by the mid-1850s the gold rush had brought waves of new settlers with democratic expectations that accelerated the process. New South Wales's Constitution Act passed the British Parliament on 16 July 1855, and its new bicameral parliament, an appointed Legislative Council alongside an elected Legislative Assembly of 54 members, first sat on 22 May 1856. South Australia followed with its own constitution, proclaimed by Governor MacDonnell on 24 October 1856, establishing an elected House of Assembly of 36 members chosen by nearly universal manhood suffrage, among the most democratic constitutions in the British Empire at the time. Victoria and Tasmania gained similar arrangements the same year, and Western Australia, settled later and more sparsely, did not achieve responsible government until 1890.

Why it matters

Within roughly seventy years of the First Fleet, the Australian colonies moved from rule by an appointed governor to elected, self-governing parliaments, a transition faster than many contemporaries expected for what had begun as a penal settlement. The new parliaments extended the vote to virtually all adult men, well ahead of most of the world, while excluding Aboriginal people from any comparable political voice, a gap that would not be substantially addressed for another century.

How we know

The constitutional acts of each colony survive as legislative documents; the New South Wales Parliament and the History Trust of South Australia both maintain detailed institutional histories of the transition drawn from these founding texts.

Sources

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