In Australia, airports are federal land. Controlled substances are under state jurisdiction.
So this raises a fecetious question - if you smoked a joint under the lights would you be immune to state prosecution?
So this raises a fecetious question - if you smoked a joint under the lights would you be immune to state prosecution?
Allow me to introduce the Commonwealth Places (Application of Laws) Act 1970 to you. [https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00956]
Section 4 has the effect that (leaving aside taxation laws), "[t]he provisions of the laws of a State as in force at a time (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) apply, or shall be deemed to have applied, in accordance with their tenor, at that time in and in relation to each place in that State that is or was a Commonwealth place at that time" (s 4(1)) - unless the State law already had that application, in which case the State law applied untouched (s 4(3)).
There is also express provision in s 5 concerning the operation of some Commonwealth crimes provisions.
But as a general matter, if smoking is illegal just outside the Commonwealth place, it will be illegal inside it.
eta: oops, I left this open for a while before posting, and just saw others have answered.
If the police were feeling that way inclined you'd get a fine and (compulsory?) drug diversion counselling, but probably not for one joint.
Last time I checked anyways, I haven't lived there since I was charged with two counts of trafficking a controlled drug about 10 years ago.
Odd detail to include in random convo to a crowd of strangers
It's a mildly interesting story too, because it proves, at least back then, that South Australian police can't always run roughshod over your rights to privacy.
They had to drop the charges due to acting illegally, and I got all my cash back. Ha!
(Also, it's only major airports - state capital city airports, plus a handful of regional airports that were formerly owned by the Federal Airports Corporation - that are federal land. Most airports in Australia are small regional airports that are and were always owned by local government and not subject to the special federal land ownership and leasing regime of the major airports.)