The Demise of Cross-Vesting

Abstract

Cross-vesting operated for over 10 years as a means of alleviating jurisdictional disputes between the different court systems in Australia. When the first challenge to its constitutional validity resulted in a 3-3 split decision in Gould v Brown¹ in 1998, it was clear that it would not be long before the issue was tested again. On 17 June 1999, a differently constituted High Court handed down judgment in four cases,² deciding by a majority of 6-1 that key provisions of the cross-vesting schemes under consideration were invalid.