Samuel Griffith Society


The Samuel Griffith Society was founded in 1992 by a group led by former Chief Justice of Australia Sir Harry Gibbs, former Senator John Stone and legal academic Greg Craven. Named after Sir Samuel Griffith, one of the architects of the Australian Constitution, the society describes its aims as being: "to undertake and support research into constitutional arrangements, to encourage and promote widespread debate about the benefits of federalism, and to defend the great virtues of the present Constitution." It holds annual conferences, a national constitutional law essay competition and publishes an annual journal of conference proceedings entitled "Upholding the Australian Constitution".
It is one of a number of groups including the H. R. Nicholls Society, Bennelong Society and Lavoisier Group, that were promoted by Australian business leader and political activist Ray Evans.

Aims and objectives

The Society's aims have been described by author Dominic Kelly as to pursue "a renewed federalism" and to oppose "the Mabo judgment and the proposed Australian republic."

Current activities

The Samuel Griffith Society has held more than thirty conferences since 1992. Recent conference speakers have included former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Chief Justice Susan Kiefel and Senator James Paterson. Conference discussion topics have included Mabo decision, Australia remaining a constitutional monarchy, the possible introduction of a Bill of rights and the controversial section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
In 2019, the Society was granted deductible gift recipient status.
According to James Allan: "The Society’s members remain stalwart supporters of federalism, in line with the clear and unmistakable intentions of those who drafted our Constitution and worked to see it ratified, and despite the truly abysmal track record of our High Court in federalism disputes since 1920."
The Society has been criticised as "a temperamentally conservative body concerned with dry constitutional matters."