Social media posts claim Australia has two constitutions - the constitution1 adopted at Federation2 in 1901 and a corporate constitution linked to the nation's financial registration in the US.
This is false. Experts told AAP FactCheck Australia has only one constitution and the claim is the handiwork of conspiracy theorists commonly referred to as sovereign citizens3 or "SovCits".
The claim has been reignited by debate on the voice referendum4, which proposes altering the Australian Constitution5 to recognise Indigenous people with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice6.
Conspiracists are questioning which constitution should be changed.
This Facebook post (screenshot here7) states: "Which Constitution are they going to change on the 14th? Is it our LAWFUL Real one or their fake green CORPORATE VERSION???"
Another post includes a video of an Indigenous man opposing the voice.
"Which constitution are you going to go into," he says (video mark 23sec).
"Is it the 1901 Constitution, which is now null and void, or is it the new American corporation, the American foreign, registered corporation constitution? Now no one knows that but our government is a registered organisation in America."
He goes on to say: "There's two constitutions at play."
Australia is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission8 (SEC), a routine process for the purpose of selling bonds and other financial instruments, but this is unrelated to the formation of a corporation.
The SEC requires most parties selling securities9 to provide certain information to potential buyers, as set out under the US Securities Act of 193310.
SEC filings show11 the Commonwealth of Australia, via its Washington embassy12, has lodged a number of documents with the commission since 2002.
NSW13 and Queensland14, for example, are also registered with the SEC for similar reasons.
Experts say being registered with the US SEC is routine for national and state governments and doesn't make them corporations.
Associate Professor Harry Hobbs15, a constitutional expert at the University of Technology Sydney16, said the Australian government registered "The Commonwealth of Australia" as a Form 18-K17 entity for the purpose of issuing securities in the US.
"This is a requirement of US law if Australia wants to borrow money and sell securities," Dr Hobbs told AAP FactCheck.
"Many governments around the world have done the same thing. It does not mean that Australia is now a corporation."
Associate Professor Bruce Baer Arnold18, from the University of Canberra's Law School19, co-authored a May 2023 journal article20 on the constitution and sovereign citizens.
He said government registration for borrowing purposes wasn't exceptional.
"It's a bureaucratic mechanism in a global financial system that requires registration," Dr Arnold told AAP FactCheck in an email.
"Appearing in a register does not mean that the national (or state) government has ceased to exist or has been taken over by the US or World Bank21 or IMF22 or Bank of International Settlements23.
"The Commonwealth of Australia is still recognised as a sovereign nation (ie we enact and implement our own law, independent of eg the UK and US and UN).
"That recognition is evident in international treaties and in diplomatic representation."
Dr Arnold said the conspiracy around multiple constitutions among sovereign citizens was a variation of arguments that the Australian government is illegitimate because at some stage there was a "constitutional rupture24".
AAP FactCheck has previously reported on one such supposed rupture, the 1973 law that changed the Queen's title in Australia25, which sovereign citizens claim means all traffic fines are unlawful.
"The 'we don't have to obey because Australia is a corporation' (on occasion a corporation controlled by the Rothschilds26 and/or George Soros27 - traditional anti-Semitism28) claims started to get circulation in the 1970s as an echo of arguments in the United States," Dr Arnold said.
"They've been propagated by word of mouth, commercial 'training' and advocacy by sov cit gurus ... and social media."
AAP FactCheck previously debunked claims Australia is a corporation here29 and here30.
The registration is standard government practice for the purpose of legally trading securities in the US.
Australia has one constitution which was adopted at Federation in 1901.
False — The claim is inaccurate.
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