Australian Citizenship Act 2007
The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 governs the acquisition, renunciation, and loss of Australian citizenship. The Act replaced the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 and modernised the citizenship framework. Citizenship may be acquired by birth, by descent, or by conferral (grant) for eligible non-citizens. The Act sets out the requirements for citizenship by conferral, including the residence requirement (generally four years of lawful residence), the character requirement, the knowledge of Australia test, and the pledge of commitment. The Act also provides for the automatic acquisition of citizenship at birth in Australia (with exceptions for children of diplomats and enemy aliens) and citizenship by descent for children born overseas to Australian citizens.
Legal area: Immigration and citizenship law governs the entry, stay, and removal of non-citizens and the acquisition and loss of Australian citizenship.
Year enacted: 2007
Full text: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2007A00020
Key Provisions
- Part 2: Acquisition of citizenship (by birth, descent, adoption, conferral)
- Section 12: Citizenship by birth (born in Australia with specified parentage)
- Section 16: Citizenship by descent (born overseas to Australian citizen parent)
- Section 21: Citizenship by conferral (residence, character, knowledge test, pledge)
- Section 24: Minister’s power to grant or refuse citizenship
- Part 3: Loss of citizenship (renunciation, revocation, deprivation)
- Section 33: Renunciation of citizenship
- Section 34: Revocation of citizenship (fraud or false representation)
Significance
The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 defines the legal boundary between citizens and non-citizens in Australia. The Act’s citizenship by conferral pathway is the primary mechanism by which permanent residents become Australian citizens. The residence requirement has been progressively tightened, and the knowledge of Australia test (introduced in 2007, revised in 2020) tests English language proficiency and knowledge of Australian values. The Act’s deprivation provisions (section 34) allow the revocation of citizenship for fraud, and have been controversially extended to dual citizens involved in terrorism-related conduct.