Constitution Watch has received many enquiries about the reservation of Bills. This little known process is often misunderstood, leading to guesswork. Below, we examine the reservation process in sections 58 and 60 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900.
Section 58 above provides the mechanism of Royal Assent, the Governor General when presented with a proposed law passed by both house of the Parliament has but three options to fulfil the requirements of section 58. The three mechanisms of assent are:
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The Governor General Assents in the Monarch's name, the Bill becomes Law.
That the Governor General withholds assent, rejection of the Bill for assent.
Or that he reserves the law for the Queens pleasure.
It is the third mechanism of assent we will focus on: Reservation for the Monarch's pleasure. But first we must understand the Royal Prerogative, page 322 of the Annotations of the Constitution provide the following on the subject:
PREROGATIVES.—These are the residuary fractions and remnants of the sovereign power which, unimpaired by legislation and revolution, remain vested in the Crown. They are the products and survivals of the Common Law and are not the creatures of statutes.
One such prerogative of the Monarch is Royal Style and Titles, and any Bill touching on the style and title of the Monarch must be reserved for Her Majesty's pleasure. For clarity when the Governor General enlivens the reservation mechanism of section 58 he is presented the Bill for assent, he then declares according to his discretion that he reserves the Bill for Her Majesty's pleasure.
Below is an example of this process found on the rear page of the Royal Style and Titles Act 1973, the Governor General cancels out his assent upon his discretion and then reserves the Bill for the Monarch. He signs the Bill certifying it has been passed by both house's but this is not assent, he then reserved the proposed law for the Queens Assent.
The reservation process under section 58 means:
The Governor‑General does not immediately assent or refuse, but instead “reserves” the Bill so that the Monarch can decide whether to provide assent.
The Bill does not become law until the Monarch's assent is signified within the time and in the manner laid down in section 60 (which deals with how and when the Monarch's pleasure on reserved Bills is to be communicated).
Historically, reservation reflected Australia’s status as part of the British Empire, allowing the Imperial authorities to scrutinise certain Bills before they became law.
What “reservation” actually does
Under section 58, the Governor‑General has three distinct choices when presented with a bill: assent, withhold assent, or reserve “for the Monarch’s pleasure”. If the bill is reserved, assent is not given and the bill has no legal force at that stage.
Section 60 then provides that a reserved bill only becomes law if, within two years, the Governor‑General notifies the House's or issues a Proclamation that the bill has received the Monarch’s assent. In that situation, the assent is that of the Monarch, conveyed back through the Governor‑General.
Now lets take a look at the Queens Assent, this where much confusion lies. Some say the Act is invalid because the Monarch has placed the Royal Sign Manual (The Monarch's Signature) on the front page of the Bill.
The front-page monarch signature, as seen on rarities like the Flags Act 1953, marks this exceptional external reservation and return path: the Governor General reserved it (noting on the document), and Queen Elizabeth II personally signed her assent on the cover during her 1954 tour, before parliamentary notification (Section 60). This ceremonial front placement highlights the bill's unique path, bypassing routine rear end delegated assent, while preserving legal clarity that the rear remains for standard Governor-General actions.
