The Federal Court of Australia has only the jurisdiction conferred on it by statute. However, many disputes falling within that jurisdiction, particularly in trade practices matters, will also involve elements of common law or other State or federal statutory law. Section 32 invests in the Federal Court additional jurisdiction in some such cases in respect of “associated matters”. This may be compared with “pendent jurisdiction” developed by the federal courts in the United States. The object of this article is to analyse the meaning of the term “associated matters” and to consider the bearing it has upon the future relationship between the Federal Court and the various State courts.

Mr Partlett is concerned to review the theoretical and practical place of government programs which positively discriminate in favour of groups on racial lines. He reviews the justification of this benign discrimination in relation to the notion of equality. He finds that the justification of benign discrimination depends upon its social realities. With reference to recent United States constitutional law developments he concludes that programs of benign discrimination must be closely justified to ensure that they do not trespass on certain fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual.

Australian government initiatives are then reviewed together with an appraisal of their legal standing under the various pieces of anti-discrimination legislation in Australia.

The author attempts to synthesise out of this discussion a strategy under which benign programs may be encouraged for the promotion of equality for aborigines, while at the same time the individual human rights of others are protected.

In this article Dr Lumb refers to the choice of the phrase “Commonwealth of Australia” to designate the new federal body politic established on the Australian continent and surrounding islands by the Constitution Act. He then attempts to show how the term “Commonwealth” appearing alone or in association with other words is used in different ways. He identifies an “instrumental” usage pursuant to which the term is understood as applying to the federal instruments of government, and an “organic” usage under which the term is used to refer to the Australian body politic or community. This ambiguous usage has had a considerable impact on judicial interpretation of the “federal balance” as is to be seen from the Australian Assistance Plan Case. The specific problems of the Territories as “parts of the Commonwealth” are examined in the context of the relationship between relevant sections of Chapter VI and earlier Chapters of the Constitution and some opinions are expressed on the sources of constitutional power relating to the Territories.