 India is a republic State whereas in Australia Queen of England is the monarch.

 Australian Constitution does not have express comprehensive set of provisions for
emergency and on the contrary, in Indian Constitution express provisions are there for
the proclamation of emergency under part 18.
 Australia has 1 official language whereas India has thirteen official languages.(8 th
schedule)
 In Australian federal structure the residuary power vests in the contracting states
whereas in India the residuary powers vest in the centre.
(Australia -Section 107. Saving of power of State Parliaments- Residuary powers)
(Australia -Sec 51. Legislative powers of the Parliament) (Article 248 of Indian
constitution)
 In Australia each contracting state has its own Constitution also which is not the case
with India. (Sec106. Saving of Constitutions -Australian Constitution)

Similarities
 Section 109 of the Constitution says that where a state law conflicts with a federal
law, the state law is cancelled. (Art.254 of the Constitution)
 Division of power – (section 51 Australia ) (Schedule 7 of Indian Constitution )
 Bicameral Legislature
 If we interpret Sec. 128 literally, it nowhere gives power to amend to the parliament
rather it only prescribes the procedure to be adopted, but it has been held that the
power to amend is implied under Sec. 128. But, as far as Art. 368 is concerned it
explicitly provides the power to the Parliament to amend.
 Although there are no express or implied limitations in Australia, because of this
stringent act of referendum and involvement of public in matters of constitutional
amendments and the requirement of double majority, till date only 8 amendments
have been made in the Constitution of Australia despite 44 referendums being
submitted to the electors since its adoption. On the contrary, amending powers in
India are subject to the ‘Basic structure doctrine’ as propounded by a 13 Judge Bench
of the hon’ble SC in the case of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, but because
of the relatively simpler and easier amending procedure, the Indian Constitution has
been amended more than 100 times since its adoption.
AUSTRALIA : Dispute Settlement Mechanism: In the Australian federal system, the Courts
and inter-governmental bodies play significant roles in resolving disputes between the states
and national government or between states. The High Court is the highest court in Australia.
It has played an essential role in sustaining federalism for over a century. According to
Section 77 of the Australian Constitution, the final court of appeal is in dispute between
federal and state jurisdiction. It has the authority to interpret the Constitution. The inter-
governmental Councils and Committees representing national and state governments such as
Loan Councils, Premiers Conference, Special Premiers Conference, and Council of
Australian Governments manage federal relations.
INDIA: Dispute Settlement Mechanism: The judiciary and inter-governmental bodies are two
mechanisms in the Indian federation to manage and resolve disputes between the centre and
state or between the two states amicably. The Supreme Court is the ultimate arbitrator in
matters on centre vs state and state vs state. The matters related to (i) the centre and one or
more states (ii) centre and state or states vs a state or states (iii) one or more state vs one or
more states fall under the primary jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. These issues can be
directly taken to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court also has the right to interpret the
constitution. Its power of judicial review functions as a guarantee against the possible
encroachment of powers and authorities of states by the centre. The inter-governmental
bodies prevent the conflict escalation and try to manage before letting them explore or
become disputes. Inter-State Council (Article 263) and National Development Council bring
central and state governments to a single platform to discuss their problems and issues.