Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990

The Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1990. The purpose of the Act was to allow the Commonwealth of Australia to retain the original copy of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), which the British government had loaned for the celebration in 1988 of the bicentenary of British settlement in Australia.

Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to exclude one of the record copies of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 from the public records to which the Public Records Act 1958 applies.
Citation	1990 c. 17gh
Territorial extent	England and Wales Scotland Northern Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	29 June 1990
Other legislation
Relates to	Public Records Act 1958
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Text of the Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Australian government had made a formal request to Queen Elizabeth II for the Act to remain in Australia, as part of the nation's history. However, under the UK's Public Records Act 1958, the original copy of every Act of Parliament had to remain in the Public Record Office in London. Thus the British Parliament passed a new Act to exempt this copy from that requirement, so as to allow the copy to remain with Australia as a gift.

The copy is now displayed in the Federation Gallery at the National Archives of Australia, in Canberra.