COVID Travel Bans, Citizenship and the Constitution: Do Australian Citizens Have a Constitutional Right of Abode?

Abstract

The words ‘the people’ of the States and of the Commonwealth appear throughout the Constitution, yet they have received little judicial attention. It remains unclear who constitutes ‘the people’ and what rights or freedoms membership of ‘the people’ entails. This essay explores these uncertainties, suggesting that ‘the people’ have an implied constitutional freedom to enter and remain in Australia without licence from the executive. Recognition of such an implied constitutional freedom would have important implications in the COVID-19 era for the validity of travel bans and restrictions, which exclude citizens from entering Australia on public health grounds.