{"id":"C2015A00023","name":"Succession to the Crown Act 2015","slug":"succession-to-the-crown-act-2015","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"23 of 2015","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":8528,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2015A00023-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-03-30","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Succession to the Crown Act 2015","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nSuccession to the Crown Act 2015\n\n \n\nNo. 23, 2015\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to change the law relating to royal succession and royal marriages, and for related purposes\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n1 Short title\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Object of this Act\n\n4 Relationship with Sovereign not affected\n\n5 Definition of Crown\n\nPart 2—Succession to the Crown not to depend on gender\n\n6 Succession to the Crown not to depend on gender\n\nPart 3—Marriage and succession to the Crown\n\n7 Removal of disqualification arising from marriage to a Roman Catholic\n\n8 Disqualification arising from marriage\n\n9 Amendments and repeal relating to marriage and succession to the Crown\n\nPart 4—Other modifications of parts of the law of the Commonwealth, States and Territories\n\n10 References to Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement\n\n11 Union legislation affected by this Act\n\nPart 5—Repeal or amendment of this Act\n\n12 Repeal or amendment of this Act\n\nSchedule 1—Further provisions relating to marriage and succession to the Crown\n\nPart 1—Amendments relating to marriage to a Roman Catholic\n\nAct of Settlement\n\nBill of Rights\n\nPart 2—Repeal of the Royal Marriages Act 1772\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\nSuccession to the Crown Act 2015\n\nNo. 23, 2015\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to change the law relating to royal succession and royal marriages, and for related purposes\n\n[Assented to 24 March 2015]\n\nPreamble\n\n  On 28 October 2011, representatives of nations of which Her Majesty is the Sovereign agreed that the rules on succession to, and possession of, the Crown should be changed so as to make succession not depend on gender and to end the disqualification arising from marrying a Roman Catholic.\n\n  The United Kingdom has further proposed to disqualify certain persons from succeeding to the Crown as a result of marriage, to repeal the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and to validate certain marriages made void by that Act.\n\n  For the purposes of paragraph 51(xxxviii) of the Constitution the Parliaments of all the States have requested the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia to enact an Act in the terms, or substantially in the terms, of this Act.\n\nThe Parliament of Australia therefore enacts:\n\nPart 1—Preliminary\n\n \n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Succession to the Crown Act 2015.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.\n\n \n\n- Commencement information\n- Column 1 Column 2 Column 3\n- Provision(s) Commencement Date/Details\n- 1. Sections 1 and 2 and anything in this Act not elsewhere covered by this table The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 24 March 2015\n- 2. Sections 3, 4 and 5 The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 24 March 2015\n- 3. Parts 2, 3 and 4 A time and day, or times and days, to be fixed by Proclamation. 26 March 2015(F2015L00337)\n- 4. Part 5 The day this Act receives the Royal Assent. 24 March 2015\n- 5. Schedule 1 A time and day, or times and days, to be fixed by Proclamation. 26 March 2015(F2015L00337)\n\n\nNote:  This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.\n\n (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.\n\n3  Object of this Act\n\n  The main object of this Act is to change the law relating to the effect of gender and marriage on royal succession, consistently with changes made to that law in the United Kingdom, so that the Sovereign of Australia is the same person as the Sovereign of the United Kingdom.\n\n4  Relationship with Sovereign not affected\n\n  This Act is not intended to affect the relationship between the Sovereign and the Commonwealth, the States and the Territories as existing immediately before its enactment.\n\n5  Definition of Crown\n\n  In this Act:\n\nCrown means the Crown in all of its capacities.\n\nPart 2—Succession to the Crown not to depend on gender\n\n \n\n6  Succession to the Crown not to depend on gender\n\n  In determining the succession to the Crown, the gender of a person born after 28 October 2011 (by United Kingdom time) does not give that person, or that person’s descendants, precedence over any other person (whenever born).\n\nPart 3—Marriage and succession to the Crown\n\n \n\n7  Removal of disqualification arising from marriage to a Roman Catholic\n\n (1) A person is not disqualified from succeeding to the Crown or from possessing it as a result of marrying a person of the Roman Catholic faith.\n\n (2) Subsection (1) applies in relation to marriages occurring before the commencement of this section if the person concerned is alive at that commencement (as well as in relation to marriages occurring after that commencement).\n\n8  Disqualification arising from marriage\n\n  A person is disqualified from succeeding to the Crown if the person is disqualified by subsection 3(3) of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 of the United Kingdom, as in force at the commencement of this section, from succeeding to the Crown in right of the United Kingdom.\n\n9  Amendments and repeal relating to marriage and succession to the Crown\n\n  Each Act of England or Great Britain that is specified in Schedule 1, so far as that Act is part of the law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in Schedule 1, and any other item in Schedule 1 has effect according to its terms.\n\nPart 4—Other modifications of parts of the law of the Commonwealth, States and Territories\n\n \n\n10  References to Bill of Rights and Act of Settlement\n\n  References, however expressed, in any law that forms part of the law of the Commonwealth or a Territory, to the provisions of the Bill of Rights or the Act of Settlement relating to succession to, or possession of, the Crown are to be read as including references to the provisions of this Act.\n\n11  Union legislation affected by this Act\n\n  So far as they are part of the law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, the following are subject to this Act:\n\n (a) Article II of the Union with Scotland Act 1706 of England;\n\n (b) Article II of the Union with England Act 1707 of Scotland;\n\n (c) Article Second of the Union with Ireland Act 1800 of Great Britain;\n\n (d) Article Second of the Act of Union (Ireland) 1800 of Ireland.\n\nPart 5—Repeal or amendment of this Act\n\n \n\n12  Repeal or amendment of this Act\n\n  This Act may be expressly or impliedly repealed or amended only by an Act passed at the request or with the concurrence of the Parliaments of all the States.\n\nSchedule 1—Further provisions relating to marriage and succession to the Crown\n\nPart 1—Amendments relating to marriage to a Roman Catholic\n\nAct of Settlement\n\n1  Preamble\n\nOmit “or marry a papist”.\n\n2  Preamble\n\nOmit “or marrying”.\n\n3  Section 2\n\nOmit “or shall marry a papist”.\n\nBill of Rights\n\n4  Section 1\n\nOmit “or by any King or Queene marrying a papist”.\n\n5  Section 1\n\nOmit “or shall marry a papist”.\n\n6  Section 1\n\nOmit “or marrying”.\n\n7  Application of amendments\n\nThe amendments made by this Part apply in relation to marriages occurring before the commencement of this Part if the person concerned is alive at that commencement (as well as in relation to marriages occurring after that commencement).\n\nPart 2—Repeal of the Royal Marriages Act 1772\n\n8  The whole of the Act\n\nRepeal the Act.\n\n9  Validation of some marriages voided by the Royal Marriages Act 1772\n\n(1) A marriage that was void under the Royal Marriages Act 1772 of Great Britain, so far as that Act was part of the law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory, is to be treated as never having been void if:\n\n (a) neither party to the marriage was one of the 6 persons next in the line of succession to the Crown at the time of the marriage; and\n\n (b) no consent was sought under section 1 of that Act, or notice given under section 2 of that Act, in respect of the marriage; and\n\n (c) in all the circumstances it was reasonable for the person concerned not to have been aware at the time of the marriage that the Act applied to it; and\n\n (d) no person acted, before the commencement of this item, on the basis that the marriage was void.\n\n(2) Subitem (1) applies for all purposes except those relating to succession to the Crown.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 5 March 2015\n\nSenate on 18 March 2015]\n\n(23/15)\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains within the original, stated purpose: to change how gender and certain marriages affect royal succession so that the Sovereign of Australia is the same person as the Sovereign of the United Kingdom (s3). It limits itself to succession and marriage rules, repeal of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 (as part of Australian law), validation of certain historic marriages (with an explicit carve‑out for succession), and textual adjustments to references in other laws (Schedule 1; s10, s11). It does not expand beyond those subjects, and the requirement that all States must request or concur to repeal or amend the Act (s12) preserves that narrow scope."},"complexity_factors":["Short statute: limited number of operative provisions (12 sections plus Schedule)","Few defined terms (only ‘Crown’ is defined) (s5)","Cross-reference to an external UK statute (Succession to the Crown Act 2013) and reliance on that Act’s subsection 3(3) (s8)","Schedule contains multiple targeted amendments to historic statutes (Act of Settlement, Bill of Rights, Royal Marriages Act 1772) — some retrospective effects (Schedule 1 Part 1 and item 9)","Conditional commencement by proclamation for Parts 2–4 and Schedule (s2)","High threshold for future repeal or amendment (requires request or concurrence of all State Parliaments) (s12)","Specific validation test for void marriages with four cumulative conditions (Schedule 1, Part 2, item 9)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (mechanics first)**\n\n- Makes the line of succession to the Crown gender-neutral for people born after 28 October 2011 (United Kingdom time) — sex no longer gives a later-born person precedence over an earlier-born person (s6).\n\n- Removes the rule that used to disqualify someone from the Crown because they married a Roman Catholic. That removal applies to marriages that happened before the change if the person is still alive when this provision starts, and to marriages after the start (s7; Schedule 1, Part 1; item 7) .\n\n- Adopts (for marriage-related disqualifications) the position in subsection 3(3) of the United Kingdom’s Succession to the Crown Act 2013 as it exists at the time this Australian provision commences — in other words, Australia imports the UK rule on marriage-based disqualification in force at commencement (s8).\n\n- Repeals the Royal Marriages Act 1772 (Schedule 1, Part 2, item 8) so far as that Act formed part of Australian law, and in limited circumstances treats certain marriages which had been void under that 1772 Act as if they had never been void — but that validation does not apply for succession-to-the-Crown purposes (Schedule 1, Part 2, item 9).\n\n- Requires references in Australian law to the Bill of Rights or the Act of Settlement (when those references relate to succession or possession of the Crown) to be read as including references to this Act (s10). It also specifies that certain historic Union Acts are subject to this Act (s11).\n\n- Some parts of the Act (Parts 2–4 and Schedule 1) only come into effect on proclamation (s2).\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- The line of succession to the Crown (royal family members and their descendants): gender no longer determines precedence for those born after 28 October 2011 (s6).\n\n- Individuals who married a Roman Catholic: they are no longer disqualified from the Crown, and that change applies retrospectively for living persons (s7; Schedule 1 Part 1).\n\n- People whose marriages had been declared void under the Royal Marriages Act 1772: some of those marriages may be treated as valid now for most legal purposes other than succession, subject to the specific conditions in Schedule 1, item 9.\n\n- Federal, state and territory law and institutions that refer to historic succession rules: they must now be read to include this Act (s10). State Parliaments are involved because repeal or amendment of this Act requires the request or concurrence of all States (s12).\n\n**Why it matters (stated purpose and mechanical consequences)**\n\n- Stated purpose: the Act is intended to change gender and marriage effects on succession so that the Sovereign of Australia is the same person as the Sovereign of the United Kingdom (s3). Mechanically, it does that by (a) removing male-preference primogeniture for births after 28 October 2011 (s6), (b) removing the marriage-to-a-Roman-Catholic disqualification (s7; Schedule 1 Part 1), and (c) aligning Australia with certain UK changes about marriage and royal consent (s8, Schedule 1 Part 2).\n\n**Practical tests against costs, incentives and implementation**\n\n- Who pays / administrative cost: mostly government bodies. The practical costs are limited to updating official materials, registers and legal references, and handling any court matters that arise from validated marriages (s2, s10, Schedule 1 item 9). There is no ongoing taxation or regulatory cost imposed on private business.\n\n- Who decides: Parliament of the Commonwealth enacted the changes; future repeal or amendment requires the request or concurrence of all State Parliaments (s12), which raises the bar for subsequent changes.\n\n- Behaviour changes: affected individuals do not need to avoid marrying a Roman Catholic to preserve succession rights (s7). Some royal-family marriage planning — especially in the top line of succession — will still need to follow any consent rules that are imported from the UK measure referenced (s8, Schedule 1 Part 2). For the public, the main visible change is the shift to gender-neutral order for those born after 28 October 2011 (s6).\n\n- Effects on private enterprise and markets: negligible. The Act does not create new economic regulation, change competition, or affect prices or contract freedom in ordinary commercial life. The only private-law impacts are narrow: the limited validation of certain historic marriages (Schedule 1, item 9) can affect marital status, property or inheritance questions for particular couples, but the item expressly excludes succession effects.\n\n- Compliance burden and legal risk: low for the general population. There may be isolated legal disputes about the validation of particular marriages (Schedule 1, item 9) or about the operation of any UK-imported marriage-disqualification rule (s8). Those disputes would be resolved under ordinary private-law and succession processes.\n\n- Concentrated benefits and costs: benefits are concentrated on individuals whose position in the line of succession or whose marital status was affected by the old rules (s6, s7, Schedule 1). Costs are diffuse and administrative (updating references and records) and limited.\n\n- Implementation and coordination risk: the Act depends on proclamation for key parts to commence (s2) and on the UK rules it imports being applied as intended in the Commonwealth context (s8, s10). There is a dependency on correct alignment with UK provisions and on state Parliaments if future change is required (s12).\n\n**Bottom line**\n\nThis is a narrowly targeted statute that (1) makes succession gender-neutral for persons born after 28 October 2011, (2) removes the disqualification for marrying a Roman Catholic (with limited retrospective application), (3) repeals the Royal Marriages Act 1772 as part of Australian law and validates certain marriages previously void under it (except for succession purposes), and (4) aligns Australian legal references to historic succession instruments with these changes. The direct legal and economic effects are limited and concentrated on a small number of people; most impacts are administrative and procedural (see s6–9, Schedule 1, s10–12)."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: updating succession rules to match UK reforms. The scope has not expanded beyond gender equality in succession, removal of Catholic marriage disqualification, and consequential amendments to historical statutes. The validation of past void marriages in Schedule 1, item 9 is directly connected to repealing the Royal Marriages Act 1772 and does not represent scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Heavy reliance on external UK legislation (Succession to the Crown Act 2013) without fully reproducing its text in section 8","Retroactive application provisions requiring careful date checking (28 October 2011 cutoff for gender; 'alive at commencement' test for Catholic marriages)","Cross-references to four separate 17th-18th century British statutes (Bill of Rights 1688, Act of Settlement 1701, Royal Marriages Act 1772, and Union Acts)","Schedule 1 contains textual amendments to historical statutes using line-item omission format rather than rewritten text","Dual commencement dates creating temporal complexity (immediate assent for machinery provisions; proclamation for substantive succession changes)","Constitutional mechanism requiring unanimous State consent for future amendment (section 12)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis Act updates Australia's royal succession rules to match changes made in the United Kingdom in 2013. It makes three key changes to who can become King or Queen:\n\n- **Gender equality in succession**: Since 28 October 2011, whether someone is male or female no longer affects their place in line to the throne. Previously, younger brothers could jump ahead of older sisters. Now, birth order matters, not gender.\n\n- **Marriage to Catholics no longer disqualifies**: Previously, anyone who married a Roman Catholic was barred from becoming monarch. This Act removes that ban entirely — it even applies retroactively to marriages that happened before this law passed, provided the person is still alive.\n\n- **New marriage disqualification**: Anyone who marries without the required consent under UK rules (as set out in the UK's Succession to the Crown Act 2013) is now disqualified from succession. This replaces the old system.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\nPrimarily the British Royal Family and their descendants, but it also affects Australian law by ensuring the Australian Crown and UK Crown remain united. The Act also validates certain past royal marriages that were technically void under the old **Royal Marriages Act 1772** — a 243-year-old law that required the monarch's permission for certain royal marriages.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nAustralia shares its monarch with the United Kingdom. This Act ensures that whoever is King or Queen of the UK is automatically King or Queen of Australia too. Without this law, different succession rules could theoretically create separate monarchs for Australia and Britain. The Act also removes discriminatory religious restrictions that dated back to the 17th and 18th centuries.\n\n**Important protection:**\n\nThe Act includes a \"lock\" — it can only be changed or repealed if **all Australian State Parliaments agree**. This prevents the Commonwealth from unilaterally altering the rules of succession."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/succession-to-the-crown-act-2015","history":"/api/acts/succession-to-the-crown-act-2015/history","analysis":"/api/acts/succession-to-the-crown-act-2015/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/succession-to-the-crown-act-2015/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/succession-to-the-crown-act-2015/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/succession-to-the-crown-act-2015/documents"}}