This chapter explores the history of Australian constitutionalism. To this end, it necessarily develops a definition of constitutionalism that fits the sometimes-distinctive Australian approach but that also is plausible from the standpoint of global theory and practice. To assist to frame the historical story, the chapter identifies a series of continuing influences on Australian constitutionalism, including the sources on which it draws; the implications of the long Indigenous relationship with country; the nature and duration of colonial status from 1788; and the early impetus towards electoral democracy. Against that background, the chapter traces the historical development of written Constitutions in Australia; of the role of popular sovereignty, including conceptions of the people; of the character and extent of constitutional limits on public power; and of judicial review. It concludes with some brief reflections on the principal features of Australian constitutionalism now and some of the challenges that it faces.