R v Kirby; Ex parte Boilermakers' Society of Australia

High Court of Australia
Established 1903
Country Australia
Location Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

R v. Kirby; Ex parte Boilermakers' Society of Australia [1956] HCA 10; (1956) 94 CLR 254 (2 March 1956) was a case in which the High Court of Australia held that the judicial power of the Commonwealth could not be vested in a tribunal that also exercised non-judicial functions. Although the court's reasons did not examine the fundamental justifications for the separation of judicial and executive powers, this case is one of the foundations for that doctrine in Australian law.

The significance of the case was that it restricted the use of judicial power to Chapter III courts (under the Australian Constitution), also established that these courts could exercise no other power. In this way, it set a high standard for the separation of judicial power.

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