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The SCG is best known for its extensive lobbying work to have Australian citizenship law reformed, and the one-on-one assistance it has provided since 2000 to thousands in the Australian diaspora on their individual citizenship dilemmas. The entry into force of the operative provisions of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 on 1 July 2007 marks the SCG's latest achievement. This legislation provides an estimated 100,000 people outside Australia with a new right to apply for Australian citizenship.
See our home page for up to date detailed information on how to prepare your Australian citizenship application under the new Citizenship Act.
If you are not sure whether the new Act helps you or your family, or if you have any other Australian citizenship questions, send us an e-mail query.
Make sure you visit our special pages for Australian-born World War II war brides and their children. Even if you are not a war bride or the child of a war bride, the practical examples provided on those pages help to illustrate how the new Act benefits thousands of individuals in the Australian diaspora.
The Australian Government's official citizenship website is also an essential reference.
ARE YOU IN MALTA? If you are an Australian-born person who had to formally renounce their Australian citizenship before early 2000 in order to retain Maltese citizenship as an adult, you can now apply to resume your Australian citizenship under the new Australian Citizenship Act 2007. You can keep your Maltese citizenship, because Malta now allows dual citizenship. You will become a dual citizen once you resume Australian citizenship. Click here for further information specific to you. Unfortunately, any children born to you in Malta after you formally renounced your Australian citizenship (before you resume it) have no direct route to Australian citizenship under the new Act. This is a matter we are continuing to lobby on. For all Maltese-related questions, please contact SCG volunteer Norman Bonello in Malta, mobile +356 79 468 329.
Have You Unwittingly Lost Your Australian Citizenship?
If you acquired another citizenship as an adult on or after 26 January 1949 and before 4 April 2002, then you automatically forfeited your Australian citizenship under the old Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948. For example, if you naturalized in another country (e.g. the UK, Ireland, Canada, the US) between those dates, then you lost your Australian citizenship. Also, people who registered as Irish citizens on the basis of having an Irish-born grandparent between those dates will have lost their Australian citizenship. Loss occured automatically under Australian law, even if you didn't know you were losing your Australian citizenship, and even if the Australian authorities had no knowledge of you taking the other citizenship. Often minor children lost their Australian citizenship simultaneously under the old Section 23 when the adult parent lost under Section 17.
Many people don't realise that they lost their Australian citizenship in this way. If you think you may have lost your Australian citizenship, don't dispair. We know it can be very worrying and unsettling but we are here to help. It's best to get these situations straight and not bury your head in the sand. (We've seen some people who go into denial!) Loss of Australian citizenship can have serious implications for the citizenship status of your children. Get in touch with us and we will provide you with an expert legal assessment of your case on a confidential basis at no charge. If you have lost your Australian citizenship, it is not the end of the world. In almost every case you will be able to resume it under the 2007 Act. If you've lost your Australian citizenship but still happen to have an Australian passport which on its face is still valid, you must stop using that passport.
You may have had another citizenship in addition to Australian citizenship since birth due to the fact that you have a parent born in another country. If you simply get a passport when you are already a citizen of a country, that is not "acquiring" another citizenship, and the act of obtaining a passport in those circumstances will not have triggered a Section 17 loss.
Get in touch with us if you have any doubts about your situation.
Can Australian Citizens Now become Dual Citizens?
Due to significant lobbying efforts by the SCG, after 53 years in force, the infamous Section 17 was finally repealed with effect from 4 April 2002. This means that if you naturalize in another country on or after 4 April 2002, you do not automatically forfeit your Australian citizenship under Australian law. Australian law now allows dual citizenship, as do the laws of many other countries (e.g. the US, Canada, the UK, New Zealand, Ireland.) Since 4 April 2002, thanks to the SCG's work, thousands of Australians living abroad have been able to naturalize in their countries of residence and are now dual citizens.
It is still possible to formally renounce your Australian citizenship under Australian law, but this is a farely rare occurence. There are a handful of countries that require Australians who want to naturalize in those countries to first formally divest themselves of Australian citizenship by way of a formal renunciation under Australian law (e.g. Germany, Denmark, Zimbabwe). Those countries don't want their new citizens to be dual citizens. Australians in those few countries have a choice to make if they want to naturalize locally.
Affirm Your Australian Citizenship
Using the online affirmation facility on our site you can send an e-mail directly to the Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and add a personal note to him. You can also affirm your commitment to Australia if you are not an Australian citizen. Click here.
SCG Advocacy to Reform Australian Citizenship Law
We've been tireless crusaders for the reform of Australian citizenship law to help the million-strong Australian diaspora since 2000. Thousands of queries and e-mails over the years have helped us to identify the major shortcomings of Australian law and develop policy arguments to convincingly make the case for "fixes" for a number of very common but nevertheless inequitable scenarios.
You can review the extensive work we've done by browsing the Dual Citizenship folder of our site archives. There you will find all the letters we've written, submissions we've made, and other important documentation as well as articles and legislation.
Our most recent major advocacy work on citizenship was done in December 2005 - February 2006 when what is now the 2007 Citizenship Act was a bill in Parliament and subject to a Senate Inquiry. Read more about that Inquiry here.
Our primary submission in early 2004 in the Australian Senate Inquiry into Australian Expatriates also contained extensive suggestions for the reform of Australian citizenship law, most of which are now law in the form of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
Further Citizenship Reforms are Still Necessary
Does the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 solve all the citizenship dilemmas out there in the Australian diaspora? Not quite. It comes close, but there are still a number of scenarios we have identified for which there is currently no fix. And we have no doubt that more quirks and wrinkles will become apparent over time as further people contact us for advice on their situations. Our advocacy work is continuing. See our home page and the discussion there about what's not good about the new Act.
Help the SCG Continue its Citizenship Law Reform Work:
Make a Donation!
Has the SCG been of service to you? Please consider making a donation to show your appreciation. We are an entirely volunteer run organisation with no paid staff. Your donation will help us offset various outlays for postage, copying, stationery, web-hosting fees, telephone costs, etc. You can send a cheque in US$, or donate online through the Amazon Honor System. Thank you!
