Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd

Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd
Court	High Court of Australia
Full case name	The Amalgamated Society of Engineers v The Adelaide Steamship Company Limited and Ors
Decided	31 August 1920
Citations	(1920) 28 CLR 129; [1920] HCA 54
Case history
Prior action	none
Subsequent action	Minister for Trading Concerns (WA) v Amalgamated Society of Engineers [1923] AC 170
Court membership
Judges sitting	Knox CJ, Isaacs, Higgins, Gavan Duffy, Rich & Starke JJ
Case opinions
(5:1) the States, when parties to an industrial dispute in fact, are subject to the Commonwealth legislation passed pursuant to s 51(xxxv) of the Constitution. (per Knox CJ, Isaacs, Rich & Starke JJ; Higgins J concurring separately; Gavan Duffy J dissenting)
Laws applied
This case overturned a previous ruling
Federated Amalgamated Government Railway & Tramway Service Association v NSW Rail Traffic Employees Association [1906] HCA 94, (1906) 4 CLR 488.

Amalgamated Society of Engineers v Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd, commonly known as the Engineers case,^[1] was a landmark decision by the High Court of Australia on 31 August 1920. The immediate issue concerned the Commonwealth's power under s 51(xxxv) of the Constitution but the court did not confine itself to that question, using the opportunity to roam broadly over constitutional interpretation.^[2]

Widely regarded as one of the most important cases ever decided by the High Court of Australia, it swept away the earlier doctrines of implied intergovernmental immunities and reserved state powers, thus paving the way for fundamental changes in the nature of federalism in Australia.