Evaluate one means by which the Commonwealth Constitution protects rights in Australia. - VCE - SSCE Legal Studies - Question 10 - 2015 - Paper 1

Australia has 5 express rights that are expressly worded and entrenched in the Constitution and include section 116, which provides a limited freedom of religion, and section 80, which ensures the right to a trial by jury. A strength of express rights is that they are clearly defined and outlined in the Constitution, providing a robust basis for legal protection against governmental actions.

However, a weakness of express rights is that they are opposed to human rights protections. For example, while they exist, these rights are very limited in nature, and there are very few of them. This limits the protection of rights in comparison to broader legal frameworks present in other countries. Furthermore, express rights can only be changed by referendum, making them difficult to amend or expand.

Hence, while express rights provide some security, they are not comprehensive, resulting in insufficient rights protections for Australian citizens. This demonstrates that while there are entrenched rights, the limitations of these provisions mean that Australians have to rely on other means to protect their rights.