The High Court of Australia sits for the first time.

The **High Court of Australia** is the highest court in the Australian judicial system and plays a central role in interpreting the Australian Constitution and determining important questions of federal law. The Court was established under the **Judiciary Act 1903**, although its creation had been anticipated by the Australian Constitution, which came into effect with Federation on 1 January 1901. The Constitution provided for a federal Supreme Court, to be called the High Court of Australia, but it took more than two years for the new Commonwealth Parliament to establish it. The Court first sat in Melbourne on 6 October 1903, with three founding justices: Chief Justice Sir Samuel Griffith and Justices Sir Edmund Barton, Australia’s first prime minister, and Richard O’Connor.

During its early decades, the High Court was particularly important in defining the constitutional relationship between the Commonwealth and the states. Its early judges generally sought to protect the powers of the states from excessive Commonwealth interference, developing doctrines such as the “reserved state powers” doctrine. This approach changed significantly after the composition of the Court altered. A major turning point came with the **Engineers’ Case of 1920**, in which the Court rejected several earlier constitutional doctrines and adopted a broader interpretation of Commonwealth legislative powers. The decision helped shift the constitutional balance toward the federal government and remains one of the most significant judgments in Australian constitutional history.

The High Court gradually became more firmly established as Australia’s final court of appeal. For much of Australia’s history, some cases could still be appealed from Australian courts to the **Judicial Committee of the Privy Council** in London, reflecting the country’s historical ties to Britain. Commonwealth legislation progressively restricted these appeals, beginning with the *Privy Council (Limitation of Appeals) Act 1968* and followed by further legislation in 1975. The **Australia Act 1986** finally ended the remaining avenues of appeal from Australian courts to the Privy Council, confirming the High Court’s position at the top of an independent Australian judicial system. Since 1980, the Court has operated from its purpose-built headquarters in Canberra, although it also occasionally sits in other Australian cities.

Over its history, the High Court has delivered landmark decisions that have profoundly influenced Australian law and society. Among the best known is **Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992)**, which rejected the doctrine of *terra nullius* and recognised that Indigenous native title could survive British colonisation. Other important cases have dealt with freedom of political communication, voting rights, immigration, Commonwealth taxation powers and the division of authority between federal and state governments. Today, the seven-member High Court serves both as Australia’s ultimate appellate court and as the principal interpreter of the Constitution. More than a century after its first sitting in 1903, its decisions continue to shape the country’s federal system, legal institutions and understanding of constitutional government.