The
Commonwealth of Australia was established on 1 January 1901, federating the six Australian colonies into a single union and replacing the
Federal Council of Australasia, which was abolished in the previous year. The status of Australians as British subjects (including Indigenous Australians) remained unchanged despite the creation of this union. Commonwealth nationality legislation enacted in 1903 superseded laws of the new states; naturalisation in one of the states became automatically valid in all of them. The federal government continued and extended restrictions on persons of non-European descent as part of its
White Australia policy. The
Immigration Restriction Act 1901 created the legal basis for administering dictation tests in any European language as determined by an immigration officer. Any person who failed was denied entry into Australia. While
Māori from New Zealand technically fell under the exclusion criteria of this Act, the New Zealand government pressured the Commonwealth government into exceptionally relaxing restrictions for Māori. The Naturalization Act 1903 explicitly prohibited naturalisation of anyone with ancestry from Africa, Asia, or Oceania (except New Zealand).
Imperial common code The Imperial Parliament brought regulations for British subject status into codified statute law for the first time with passage of the
British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914. British subject status was standardised as a common nationality across the Empire.
Dominions that adopted this Act as part of local legislation were authorised to grant subject status to aliens by imperial naturalisation. Australia adopted the common code in 1920. The 1914 regulations codified the doctrine of
coverture into imperial nationality law, where a woman's consent to marry a foreigner was also assumed to be intent to
denaturalise; British women who married foreign men automatically lost their British nationality. There were two exceptions to this: a wife married to a husband who lost his British subject status was able to retain British nationality by declaration, and a British-born widow or divorcée who had lost her British nationality through marriage could reacquire that status without meeting residence requirements after the dissolution of her marriage. Minor children whose parents voluntarily lost British subject status by renunciation or acquisition of a foreign nationality were considered to have automatically lost British nationality as well, but could resume their status as British subjects by declaration within one year of reaching age 21. Australia's version of the common code regulations contained extensive measures for revoking British subject status from naturalised persons. Individuals who showed disloyalty to the monarch, were sentenced to imprisonment for at least one year or received a fine of more than £100 within five years of naturalising, had been deemed to be "not of good character" when subject status was granted, or lived outside of the British Empire for more than seven years were liable to have their naturalisation revoked. Unlike the 1903 Act, the common code enacted in 1920 did not explicitly bar migrants on the basis of
race. It instead allowed the government to deny naturalisation to any person without cause. Only 45 people of Asian descent were naturalised between 1904 and 1953. Migrants of non-European ancestry were effectively barred from permanent residency and naturalisation until 1957. By the end of the First World War, the Dominions had exercised increasing levels of autonomy in managing their own affairs and each by then had developed a distinct national identity. Britain formally recognised this at the
1926 Imperial Conference, jointly issuing the
Balfour Declaration with all the Dominion heads of government, which stated that the United Kingdom and Dominions were autonomous and equal to each other within the
British Commonwealth of Nations. Full legislative independence was granted to the Dominions with passage of the
Statute of Westminster 1931. Women's rights groups throughout the Empire pressured the imperial government during this time to amend nationality regulations that tied a married woman's status to that of her husband. Because the British government could no longer enforce legislative supremacy over the Dominions after 1931 and wanted to maintain a strong constitutional link to them through the common nationality code, it was unwilling to make major changes without unanimous agreement among the Dominions on this issue, which it did not have. Legislative reform in 1936 allowed women in Australia denaturalised by marriage to retain their rights as British subjects, following a similar change enacted by New Zealand in the previous year and eroding imperial legal uniformity in that regard. Ireland also amended its laws in 1935 to cause no change to a woman's nationality after her marriage and Canada permitted women who had not acquired foreign nationality on marriage to retain their British nationality beginning in 1932.
Australian citizenship created Diverging developments in Dominion legislation, as well as growing assertions of local national identity separate from that of Britain and the Empire, culminated with the
creation of a substantive Canadian citizenship in 1946, breaking the system of a common imperial nationality. Combined with the approaching independence of
India and
Pakistan in 1947, comprehensive reform to imperial nationality law was necessary at this point to address ideas that were incompatible with the previous system. The Dominion governments agreed on the principle of equal standing for women in a reformed nationality system at the
1946 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference and Australia amended its law to grant equal nationality rights in that same year. Australia enacted the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 to create its own citizenship, which came into force on 26 January 1949, shortly after the
British Nationality Act 1948 became effective throughout the Empire on 1 January 1949. All British subjects who were born, naturalised, or resident for at least five years in Australia automatically acquired Australian citizenship on that date. British subjects born to a father who himself was born or naturalised in Australia and British subject women who were married to someone qualifying as an Australian citizen also automatically acquired citizenship on that date. All other noncitizens could acquire citizenship by naturalisation after fulfilling a general residence requirement. Candidates must have resided in Australia (including Papua) or New Guinea for at least four of the previous eight years, with one year of continuous residence immediately preceding an application. This was reduced to two of the previous eight years in 1973. Non-Europeans were allowed to apply for residency and naturalisation from 1957, if they were legally admitted and living in Australia for 15 years (reduced to five years in 1966). Almost all provisions to revoke citizenship from naturalised individuals were repealed in 1958. On the other hand, Australian citizens who acquired a foreign citizenship other than through marriage were automatically denaturalised and lost their Australian citizenship under this Act. Individuals who naturalised as Australian citizens conversely were not required to renounce their previous nationalities.
Reform and abolition of British subject status The 1948 Act redefined the term British subject as any citizen of Australia or another Commonwealth country.
Commonwealth citizen is defined in this Act to have the same meaning. British subject/Commonwealth citizen status co-existed with the citizenships of each Commonwealth country. Irish citizens were treated as if they were British subjects, despite
Ireland's exit from the Commonwealth in 1949. All Commonwealth citizens were eligible to become Australian citizens by registration, rather than naturalisation, after residing in Australia for at least five of the preceding seven years. Commonwealth citizens who became Australian citizens by registration were not required to swear an
oath of allegiance because they were already subjects of the Crown. All British subjects under the reformed system initially held an automatic right to settle in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Non-white immigration into the UK was systemically discouraged, but strong economic conditions in Britain following the Second World War attracted an unprecedented wave of colonial migration. In response, the British Parliament imposed immigration controls on any subjects originating from outside the
British Islands with the
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962. Ireland had continued to allow all British subjects free movement despite independence in 1922 as part of the
Common Travel Area arrangement, but moved to mirror Britain's restriction in 1962 by limiting this ability only to people born on the
British Isles. Britain somewhat relaxed these measures in 1971 for patrials, subjects whose parents or grandparents were born in the United Kingdom, which gave effective preferential treatment to white Commonwealth citizens. As a sign of Australia's changing relationship with Britain,
Australian passports were no longer labelled with the phrase "British passport" beginning in 1967. Legislative changes in 1969 meant that Australian citizens technically ceased to be British subjects in that year, but retained "the status of British subjects" instead. Preferences that were afforded to citizens from other Commonwealth countries and restrictions on migrants of non-European descent were abolished in a further 1973 amendment. The name of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 itself changed to the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 in 1973 as well; the anniversary of this event has been celebrated since 2001 as
Australian Citizenship Day. By the 1970s and 1980s, most colonies of the British Empire had become independent and remaining ties to the United Kingdom had been significantly weakened. The UK itself updated its nationality law to reflect the more modest boundaries of its remaining territory and possessions with the
British Nationality Act 1981, which redefined British subject to no longer also mean Commonwealth citizen. Australian citizens remain Commonwealth citizens in British law and are still eligible to vote and stand for public office in the UK. Further reforms in 1984 fully abolished British subject status in Australian law and removed remaining gender imbalances in nationality regulations. Voting eligibility rules were changed to require Australian citizenship instead of British subject status, but any British subject without citizenship already enrolled to vote before 26 January 1984 had the right to continue participating in elections. Noncitizen British subjects could no longer apply for Australian passports beginning in that year. After passage of the
Australia Act 1986, the
High Court has considered any persons without Australian citizenship to be
aliens. While British subjects could not have been considered foreign at the time of federation, the severing of constitutional ties with the United Kingdom created a definitive separation between the two countries; British citizens have since been considered subjects of a foreign power and are ineligible to serve in the
Parliament of Australia under
section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. The eligibility of 10 sitting legislators was questioned under this section of the Constitution during the
2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, leading to eight disqualifications under subsequent court proceedings.
Heightened citizenship requirements The general residence requirement for acquiring citizenship was relaxed in 1984. Naturalisation candidates were required to have lived in Australia for two of the five years preceding an application, while holding permanent residency for at least one year during that aggregate period. However, concerns over an influx of unintended immigration and the perceived exploitation of nationality law by illegal migrants to gain residence in Australia created the impetus for ending unrestricted birthright citizenship in 1986. Children born in the country since then are only granted citizenship by birth if at least one parent is a citizen or permanent resident. Naturalisation candidates have been required since 1993 to recite a
citizenship pledge in which they commit their loyalty to the country of Australia, rather than swear an oath of allegiance to the
Australian monarch. Automatic denaturalisation of Australians acquiring foreign nationalities was repealed in 2002.
Citizenship tests were introduced in 2007 and the general residence requirement was increased back to four years as well. Government powers for citizenship deprivation were greatly expanded in 2015. Australians holding another nationality and engaged in terrorist activities were subject to automatic loss of citizenship. These measures were amended in 2020 to require an explicit revocation order from the
Minister for Home Affairs.
Changing regulations for New Zealand citizens Migration between Australia and New Zealand has traditionally been lightly regulated. After briefly being annexed to New South Wales in 1839, New Zealand was established as a separate British colony in 1840. Security concerns during the First World War halted free movement between the two jurisdictions but this was restarted and formalised in 1920; white and Māori British subjects could live and work in both Australia and New Zealand with no restrictions. This was expanded to all Australian and New Zealand citizens and permanent residents, regardless of race, after agreement on the 1973
Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. Australia introduced the
Special Category Visa (SCV) in 1994, which is automatically issued to New Zealand citizens on arrival. Although these visas allow New Zealanders to reside in the country indefinitely, they do not confer a permanent status in Australia. This did not materially affect the status of New Zealanders until 2001, when holders of the SCV were no longer treated as permanent residents for welfare and citizenship purposes. New Zealand citizens who were already domiciled in Australia on 26 February 2001 retained welfare access and continued to be treated as permanent residents for citizenship. The government implemented these changes to control the costs of resident New Zealanders on
social security in Australia. Although New Zealand made financial contributions to the Australian budget to offset welfare expenditures, Australia considered them to be inadequate. Under amendments to the
Migration Act 1958 in 1999, the
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has the ability to revoke visas from any noncitizen who is convicted of a crime that leads to a sentence of 12 months or longer. Further changes in 2014 expanded the scope of visa revocation; any noncitizen who received a total prison sentence of at least 12 months, including for multiple charges that carry a combined sentence of that length, would automatically have their visas revoked. The 2014 policy changes were applied retroactively, which meant that released noncitizens who had already served multiple sentences totaling 12 months or longer but never a single sentence of that length would be subject to visa cancellation and deportation. As a consequence of the 2014 changes, the number of Australia-resident New Zealanders who had visas cancelled by the government increased dramatically. While only 77 New Zealanders had their visas revoked in 2013–2014, this had risen to 1,287 in 2016–2017. The New Zealand government reported that 60 per cent of its citizens deported by Australia were ethnically Māori or
Pasifika. Since 2022, the Australian government has expanded pathways to citizenship for New Zealand citizens. Children born in Australia to New Zealand citizens are automatically Australian citizens by birth since 1 July 2022,
Territorial changes Papua, New Guinea, and Nauru Queensland attempted to preemptively counter German colonial interests in the Pacific by annexing
Papua in 1883, though this was met with disapproval from imperial authorities. Following the establishment of
German New Guinea, Britain claimed Papua in 1884 and formally annexed it in 1888. After Australian federation in 1901, Britain ceded administrative control of the territory to the Commonwealth government in 1902, which was accepted by Australia in 1905.
New Guinea and
Nauru remained
German colonies until the
First World War, after which New Guinea became a
League of Nations mandate under Australian control while Nauru's mandate was split between Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. In practice, Australia held sole governing authority over Nauru. While residents of Papua became British subjects, that status was not extended to those from the mandated territories under the recommendation of the
Permanent Mandates Commission. Residents of New Guinea and Nauru were instead treated as
British protected persons. When Australian citizenship was created in 1949, Papuans automatically became Australian citizens while New Guinea and Nauru residents became "Australian protected persons". Despite their status as British subjects/Australian citizens, Papuans of indigenous descent did not have an automatic right to reside in
mainland Australia and were required to apply for that separately. Persons with non-indigenous ancestry held that right automatically.
Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975. Indigenous residents born in Papua or New Guinea with two grandparents also born in either territory or surrounding area, who did not have right of residence in mainland Australia, and did not hold foreign nationality automatically became citizens of the new country. Former Australian citizens born in Papua before independence seeking to resume citizenship cannot reacquire that status by descent. Because Papua fell within the definition of "Australia" before 1975, applicants cannot claim citizenship through their birth overseas. Since 2007, Papua New Guinean citizens who lost Australian citizenship on independence but have a parent born on the Australian mainland can apply for a special resumption of citizenship.
Indian Ocean territories The
Cocos (Keeling) Islands and
Christmas Island were respectively annexed into the Empire in 1857 and 1888. The Cocos Islands were first directly administered by the UK until 1878, when it was transferred to
Ceylon, then to the
Straits Settlements in 1886, and finally devolved to the settlement of
Singapore in 1903. Christmas Island was similarly incorporated into Singapore in 1900. Following the Second World War, the Australian government expressed its interest in acquiring both territories for strategic and commercial reasons; the Cocos Islands for its
airstrip and Christmas Island for its phosphate. Sovereignty over the Cocos Islands was transferred to Australia in 1955. Island residents became Australian citizens at time of transfer while retaining UK citizenship. Christmas Island was transferred to Australia in 1958 under largely the same terms. Citizens from these territories did not have automatic right of residence on the Australian mainland, as was the case with citizens from Papua, until this restriction was repealed in 1984. No Australian citizen has been required to obtain an entry permit to enter the country since that year.
Burmese independence Burma gained independence from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948. The British Parliament enacted the
Burma Independence Act 1947 to remove British subject status from all individuals who held that status solely through their connection with Burma. Burmese resident in the UK or its colonies could make formal claims to retain subject status. The Australian Parliament did not pass similar legislation addressing this event, leaving only common law to apply. Australian common law at the time dictated that only Burmese resident in Burma at the time of independence lost British nationality, while every Burmese person who left Burma permanently before its independence or "within a reasonable time thereafter" retained British subject status. This created an anomalous situation where Burmese living in Australia ceased to be British subjects under UK law, but continued that status in Australian law. The Nationality and Citizenship (Burmese) Act 1950 addressed this discrepancy, removing British subject status from persons connected with Burma. Individuals who lost subject status through this Act but had become Australian citizens in 1949 could retain their citizenship by making formal declarations within two years of the Act's passage. == Acquisition and loss of citizenship ==