Section 41 of the Constitution of Australia

Section 41 of the Australian Constitution is a provision of the Constitution of Australia which states that "no adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of a State shall, while the right continues, be prevented by any law of the Commonwealth from voting at elections for either House of the Parliament of the Commonwealth."

Related High Court decisions

• King v Jones: The words "adult person" are fixed with the same meaning they had when the Constitution came into effect, that is, they refer to persons over the age of 21, no matter the contemporary interpretation.
• R v Pearson; Ex parte Sipka: The section is only provisional; rights acquired after the passage of the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 are not protected. In essence, there is no constitutional right to vote in Commonwealth elections