The Samuel Griffith Society was founded by former Chief Justice Sir Harry Gibbs

Harry Gibbs

Sir Harry Talbot Gibbs, GCMG, AC, KBE, QC was Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia from 1981 to 1987 after serving as a member of the High Court between 1970 and 1981...

, John Stone

John Stone (Australian politician)

John Owen Stone is a former Australian politician. He served as Secretary to the Treasury between 1979 and 1984,and as a Senator for Queensland representing the National Party from 1987 to 1990.-Biography:John Stone was born in 1929...

 and others in 1992. Named after Sir Samuel Griffith

Samuel Griffith

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith GCMG QC, was an Australian politician, Premier of Queensland, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia and a principal author of the Constitution of Australia.-Early life:...

, one of the architects of the Australian Constitution, the society describes its prime role: "... to ensure that proposals to change the Australian Constitution will be subjected to the most intense scrutiny." It holds annual conferences 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

H. R. Nicholls Society

The H.R. Nicholls Society is an Australian think tank of the New Right on industrial relations. It was created in March 1986 after John Stone, Peter Costello, Barrie Purvis, and Ray Evans organised a seminar aimed at discussing the Hancock Report and other industrial matters.The Society is named...

, Bennelong Society

Bennelong Society

The Bennelong Society is as a conservative think-tank dedicated to Indigenous Australian affairs. The society was named after the Eora man, Bennelong, who served as an interlocutor between the Indigenous Australian and British cultures, both in Sydney and in the United Kingdom almost from the start...

 and Lavoisier Group

Lavoisier Group

The Lavoisier Group is an organisation based in Australia that promotes scepticism of current scientific consensus on global warming. The organisation questions the fears of the effects of global warming, the idea that human activity causes it, and the wisdom of policies designed to curtail it...

, promoted by Australian business leader and political activist Ray Evans

Ray Evans (Australian businessman)

Ray Evans is an Australian business leader, a conservative, and campaigner against climate change mitigation efforts.-Early years:Evans was educated at the Melbourne High School before he attended University of Melbourne and graduated in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering...

.

Core beliefs

• To oppose the further centralisation of power in Canberra.
• To restore the authority of Parliament as against that of the Executive.
• To defend the independence of the Judiciary.
• To foster and support any reforms of Australia's constitutional arrangements which would help achieve these objectives.
• To promote discussion on constitutional matters to establish a clear position in support of the decentralisation of government power.
• To encourage a wider understanding throughout the community of the Constitution and the nation's achievement under it."

More recently it has criticised the Mabo Decision

Mabo v Queensland

Mabo v Queensland was a landmark High Court of Australia decision recognising native title in Australia for the first time...

, supported Australia remaining a constitutional monarchy and opposed an introduction of a Bill of rights .