Editing Commander-in-chief (section)

===Australia===
[[File:Aust-ww2-japan.jpg|right|thumb|[[Governor General of Australia]] [[Alexander Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie|The Lord Gowrie]] (right) signing the [[declaration of war]] against [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] with [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[John Curtin]] (left) looking on. (8 December 1941) ]]
Under chapter II of section 68 titled ''Command of the naval and military forces'', the [[Constitution of Australia]] states that: {{Blockquote|The command in chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the Governor-General as the [[Monarchy of Australia#The Crown and the Australian Defence Force|Queen's]] representative.<ref>{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Australian Constitution|68}}.</ref>{{efn|Since September 2022, a reference  to the Queen in a clause of the Constitution is now a reference to [[Charles III|King Charles III]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Parliamentary Education Office|author2=Australian Government Solicitor |title=Australia's Constitution: With Overview and Notes by the Australian Government Solicitor |date=November 2022 |page=iii |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/-/media/05_About_Parliament/52_Sen/523_PPP/2023_Australian_Constitution.pdf |access-date=17 August 2024}}</ref> [[Section 2 of the Constitution of Australia|Section 2]] of the Constitution states that provisions referring to the Queen in the Act "shall extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors".<ref>{{cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Constitution|2}}</ref>}}}}

In practice, however, the governor-general does not play an active part in the [[Australian Defence Force]]'s command structure, and the [[Politics of Australia|democratically accountable]] [[Cabinet of Australia|Australian Cabinet]] (chaired by the [[Prime Minister of Australia|prime minister]]) ''de facto'' controls the ADF. The [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|minister for defence]] and several subordinate ministers exercise this control through the [[Australian Defence Organisation]]. Section 8 of the [[Defence Act 1903]] states:
{{Blockquote|The [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|minister]] shall have the general control and administration of the Defence Force, and the powers vested in the [[Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)|chief of the defence force]], the [[Chief of Navy (Australia)|chief of Navy]], the [[Chief of Army (Australia)|chief of Army]] and the [[Chief of Air Force (Australia)|chief of Air Force]] by virtue of section 9, and the powers vested jointly in the [[Secretary of the Department of Defence (Australia)|secretary]] and the chief of the defence force by virtue of section 9A, shall be exercised subject to and in accordance with any directions of the Minister.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C1903A00020 | title = Defence Act 1903 | publisher = [[ComLaw]] | access-date = 2014-01-21 }}</ref>}}