Australian Citizenship History:

Australian citizenship was created through the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948, and came into effect 26 January 1949, soon after the post-war mass migration program was launched in 1945. Prior to 1949, Australians could only hold the status of British subjects.

The original intention of Australia’s migration program was that the country’s population would be increased approximately 1% per year through natural increase, and 1% through migration.

By 1949, net overseas migration was 153,648. Since 1945, over 6.5 million people have migrated to Australia, and since 1949 over 4 million people have acquired Australian citizenship.

The Australian population has grown from around 7 million in 1945 to almost 22 million in 2009.

Permanent Residence & Citizenship

Permanent residents have access to the welfare support, Medicare and public education available to the general population. The instrumental advantages of citizenship from migrant are security from deportation, an Australian passport and eligibility for permanent government employment.

The requirements Australian citizenship imposes, mainly to enrol to vote and to vote, and possibly do jury service, are not onerous and would be considered by many to be advantageous aspects of citizenship.

Australia is following a trend set by the immigrant-receiving countries of Western Europe. Indeed, the Australian citizenship test is directly modelled on that of the United Kingdom.

The residence requirement introduced in October 2007 doubled the time during which non-citizen residents can be deported. The test introduced at the same time requires applicants to demonstrate an understanding of English and to answer questions about Australia’s history, culture and values.

Major developments in Australian immigration

1900-45

Immigration was at the time administered separately by the states. The immigration Restriction Act 1901, which introduced a “dictation test” for those seeking to immigrate that could be given in any European language, was the beginning of what became known as the “White Australia Policy”. This policy remains unchanged until after the Second World War.

The Naturalisation Act 1903 introduced the conditions by which “aliens” could be granted naturalisation by the Commonwealth and attain the rights and privileges of British subjects.

1945-50

The Commonwealth’s Immigration Department was established in 1945. A key point was not only attracting migrants but those that were considered ‘desirable’.

The Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 created an Australian citizenship and the conditions by which it could be acquired. An Australian citizen was also considered a British subject.

The first citizenship ceremony was held at the Albert Hall in Canberra in 1949.

1950s

The top five source countries for settler arrivals during the period 1949-59 were the United Kingdom and Ireland, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece.

In 1954, the General Assisted Passage Scheme was introduced to give assistance to migrants from the USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway Sweden and Finland in order to bring more migrants from European counties.

1980s

There was an increasing focus on immigrants with particular skills or those who aimed to establish businesses. New visa categories were introduced in 1981 including ‘Labour Shortage and Business Migration’ as well as ‘Independent Migration’ favouring those with needed skills and those with family already in Australia.

There was a heated debate over the number of immigrants from Asian countries in both the media and in Parliament. The 1980s saw a dramatic decline in the number of those arriving from the United Kingdom, falling 20% of settler arrivals, whilst Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia became the first Asian nations to be included in the list of top five source countries for settler arrivals. For the first time, the total number of settlers from Asia overtook the total number from the United Kingdom.

1990s

The Migration Reform Act passed in 1992 codified the immigration program into law through the introduction of a universal visa system.

In November 1993, in what became referred to as the ’1 November’ decision, permanent residence status was provided to a large number of people who were temporarily residing in Australia and those applying for refugee status.

2000s

Immigration policy in the early part of the decade was focused primarily on the issue of unauthorised boat arrivals. Debate over multiculturalism came to the force in the middle of the decade, particularly in regard to Muslim Australians and the proposes introduction of a more rigorous citizenship test.

In 2006, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs released a discussion paper on the merits of introducing a citizenship test, Australian citizenship: much more than a ceremony.

In January 2007, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs was renamed the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 significantly restructured the 1948 Act. It introduced a number of measures relating to national security as well as the extension of the residency requirement to four years including 12 month period of permanent residence before making the application.

Australian Citizenship Test

The Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Testing) Act 2007 introduced the new test requirements for citizenship applicants. The test consist of 20 multiple choice questions drawn from a large pool of questions and based upon information on Australian history, culture and values contained in a resource booklet. A person’s English language skill is assessed by their ability to pass the test in English.

In 2006-07, 169,123 people were approved to become Australian citizens by grant, descent and resumption.