The constitutional ideals of 1901 included  to provide framework for national government so that united approach can be taken to the issues pertaining to transportation, trade, defense and immigration.

Before 1901 when the constitution was proclaimed, two important  meetings took place to discuss how to adopt a common approach on various matters  faced by the Australasian colonies (later on called “States” through the constitution). These included the informal meeting attended by official representatives from the Australasian colonies in 1890 and the first National Australasian Convention in Sydney in 1891. These two meetings are important as through these meetings the process of confederating the Australian colonies was expedited and the question of how to structure the new central government was considered.

The shape of the new constitution was such that a federation was constituted within  the Westminster tradition of government.The main examples of constitutional structures that were considered included Canadian and the US structures of governments.  In the US model few powers were given to the central government and majority of the decision making was held by the States.

Thus in the Australian model of government we see a compromise between the States and the Commonwealth. Apart from powers listed in the Constitution as belonging to the Commonwealth Government, residual powers were left with the States. To maintain fairness and to protect rights of the States, Senate was introduced based on the US model as one of the two houses of parliament represented by equal number of members from all the States.

We see the shift from monarchy to democracy in the formation of Australia. The hybrid structure that was proposed earlier and implemented in 1901 with the Constitution, the monarch and the Governor-General.