The High Court’s influence on Australian society can be seen in five definitive cases.
The Engineers case in 1920 was a nation-defining moment. Hitherto Australia was a collection of sovereign ex-colonies called states which could not be meddled with by the national parliament. The case swept away the doctrines of intergovernmental immunities and reserved state powers. If the Constitution gave the national parliament a power (like industrial relations) the power could be interpreted as widely as the language allowed including binding the states.
The Bank Nationalisation case in 1948 saved Australia from the British and New Zealand experience of having industries nationalised. People and companies had a right to free interstate trade. The legal significance of the case was of less moment than its economic and societal significance.
The Communist Party case in 1951 was a high point in Australian jurisprudence. It knocked out a federal law that dissolved the Communist Party and took its property. The Government could declare someone a communist, a security risk and preclude him or her from employment in the public service or a defence industry. It argued it could do so under the defence power. But the court ruled that it was for courts to decide the limits of parliamentary power, not the executive. It was a decisive statement on the application of the rule of law in Australia.
Tasmanian Dams case in 1983 confirmed the Australian Parliament’s power to invoke its international-law obligations throughout Australia. Because of the huge environmental argument the legal precedent was of less moment than the political one.
Mabo in 1992 decided that the common law of Australia recognised native title over all lands not already taken by legislative or executive acts. Once again, the social impact of Aboriginal recognition was of more import than the legal propositions.