When did Australia leave from the British Empire?

Answer 1

Australia became a Dominion of the British Empire as a confederation of former colonies in 1901. This made Australia internally independent of the British Parliament, although external relations were still handled by the Imperial Cabinet in the UK. With the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Australia and the other Dominions became fully independent countries, although still within the empire.In the late 1940s the Commonwealth of Nations replaced the British Empire as far as the independent former colonies were concerned, so in effect, Australia did not leave the empire, the empire left Australia.

Answer 2

Australia as a nation became part of the British Empire when the colonies federated on 1 January 1901 to become the Commonwealth of Australia.

However, the continent that is now Australia actually started to become part of the British Empire much earlier, when Lieutenant James Cook (later "Captain Cook") claimed a section of the eastern coast for Great Britain in August 1770.

The process of Australia becoming part of the British Empire was not a single event, but a series of claims.

• Although Cook was not the first European to discover Australia (as he was preceded by numerous Portuguese and Dutch explorers), he was the first to make an official claim on behalf of England, thus incorporating the east coast into the British Empire.
• When Captain Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet of convicts on 26 January 1788, he extended the claim to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and further west.
• The western half of the continent was only claimed in 1829.

The British Empire no longer exists, but Australia is still part of the Commonwealth, which is made up of nations originally colonised by Britain,

Answer 3

There is no simple answer to that question.

Prior to 1901, Australia was made up of six self-governing colonies which were still overseen by the British empire. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies was achieved and the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed, while its first Prime Minister was appointed (and later elected). This gave Australia the right to govern itself. Although the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia came into effect at Federation, this did not mean that Australia was now independent of British rule. When the UK approved colonial federation, it simply meant that the six self-governing states of Australia allocated some functions to a federal authority. Australia gained the status of a Dominion, which meant it remained a self-governing colony within the British Empire, with the Head of State being the British monarch. The British government appointed Australia's Governor-General and State Governors, who answered to the British government.

All Dominions within the British Empire were declared "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations" at the Imperial Conference of 1926. The Statute of Westminster 1931 ratified the discussions of the Imperial Conference. This meant that Australia and other Dominions such as South Africa, New Zealand and Canada could now conduct treaties and agreements with foreign powers, and manage their own military strategies. No longer were the Australian Governor-General, Parliament and individual governors answerable to the UK. The British monarch could only act on the advice of the Australian Government, and the Governor-General was no longer appointed by and answerable to the British monarch.

The defeat of the large British garrison at Singapore in January 1942 came as a very unwelcome shock to the Australian government. It exposed the weakness of Britain and led Australia to seek much closer ties with the US and it was felt that for this the country needed full independence; hence the date for activating the 1931 Statute of Westminster. Australian Parliament formally adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931 under the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, on 9 October 1942.

Australia reached the next stage of independence on 3 March 1986, when the Australia Acts came into effect. The Australia Acts declared that Australia had the status of a Sovereign, Independent and Federal Nation. The nation still retains Elizabeth II as head of state, but her position as Australia's head of state is a completely separate position from her position as the head of state of any other country, including the UK. What the Australia Act effectively did was remove the ability of the British Government to make laws for Australia and removed the last legal link with the UK by abolishing the right of appeal to the judicial committee of the Privy Council. Also it was not until 1988 that the last state, Queensland, removed this from their statutes as well.

Some might say Australia is still on a path to independence as we are still technically ruled by the British monarchy, even though that monarchy does not have any right to interfere with Australian laws. There will always be those who disagree with the above, as it could be said that Australia received independence in varying degrees.

Answer 4

1788- colony of New South Wales

1851- became a self-governing colony

1901- independence