Reflections on Australian Citizenship

Reflections on Australian Citizenship

David d'Lima, FamilyVoice Australia - August 2017

Since developing Australian citizenship in the mid-Twentieth Century, the nation has struggled to find the right approach, with five pledges used in five decades, as may be seen in the following short survey.

In 1901 at Federation, Australians were not citizens of Australia, but of Britain.
In 1948 Australian Citizenship was created, and it took effect from 1949. From that date, candidates for

citizenship made the following Oath of Allegiance:

I, A. B; swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George the Sixth, his heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen.

From 1966 all persons pledging themselves as Australian citizens were required to renounce all foreign allegiance, but received the optional choice of making no reference to God when they made their promise:

I, A. B., renouncing all other allegiance, swear by Almighty God [or solemnly and sincerely promise and declare] that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors according to law.