Citizenship in Australia

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History of Australian citizenship

At Federation in 1901, 'British subject' was the sole civic status noted in the Australian Constitution. The Australasian Federal Convention of 1897–98 was unable to agree on a definition of the term ‘citizen’ and wanted to preserve British nationality in Australia. An administrative concept of citizenship arose from the need to distinguish between British subjects who were permanent residents and those who were merely visitors. This was necessary for the Commonwealth to exercise its powers over immigration and deportation. Motivated by the nationalism of Arthur Calwell, the Minister for Immigration 1945–49, this administrative concept was formalised in the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948. In 1958 the Act was amended so that naturalisation could only be revoked if obtained by fraud. This prevented a naturalised person being stripped of citizenship and deported.

Throughout the 1960s, Australian citizens were still required to declare their nationality as British. The term 'Australian nationality' had no official recognition or meaning until the Act was amended in 1969 and renamed the Citizenship Act. This followed a growing sense of Australian nationalism and the declining importance for Australians of the British Empire. In 1973 the Act was renamed the Australian Citizenship Act. It was not until 1984 that Australian citizens ceased to be British subjects.

The records

The relationship between citizens and government is blurred by the absence of a clear definition of Australian citizenship, its rights and obligations. Relevant records are spread widely across government agencies covering activities such as immigration, passports, franchise, jury service, public service employment and social security.

Reflecting this, the records held by the National Archives cover a range of issues such as: the legal and constitutional meaning of citizenship; naturalisation; ceremonies; promotional activities; civic identity of migrants, aliens, Aboriginal people, non-Europeans and women; rights and obligations of citizenship; travel and passports; and international human rights.

Most records take the form of case files or policy files and include correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, and bills introduced into Parliament.

Record series documenting the history of citizenship in Australia

Attorney-General’s Department, 1901– (CA 5)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Bill files 1901–ongoing A2863
Correspondence files 1929–ongoing A432
Special files 1952–ongoing A467

Department of Immigration, 1945– (CA 51)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files, class 1 (general, passports) 1939–50 A659
Correspondence files, class 6 (aliens registration) 1946–50 A437
Correspondence files 1951–55 A445
Correspondence files 1953–ongoing A446
Secret correspondence files 1972–ongoing A6980

See also the main series of the State offices of the Department of Immigration, held in State offices of the National Archives: C3939 (held in Sydney); J25 (Brisbane); K403 (Perth); D399 and D400 (Adelaide – held in Sydney and Adelaide)

Department of External Affairs (I), 1901–16 (CA 7)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files 1903–38 A1

Department of External Affairs (II), 1921–70 (CA 18)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files 1927–42 A981
Correspondence files 1947 A1068
Correspondence files 1948–89 A1838

Prime Minister’s Department, 1911–71 (CA 12)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files 1915–23 A457
Correspondence files 1923–34 A458
Correspondence files 1934–50 A461
Correspondence files 1951–55 A462
Correspondence files 1956–ongoing A463

Commonwealth Investigation Service, 1946–60 (CA 650)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Correspondence files 1927–53 A367
Correspondence files 1940–49 A373

See also series of the State offices of the CIS, held in State offices of the National Archives: SP1714/1 (held in Sydney); B741 (Melbourne); BP242/1 (Brisbane); D1915 (Adelaide).

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, 1949– (CA 1297)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Subject files 1949–ongoing A6122

House of Representatives Select Committee on Voting Rights of Aborigines (CA 3195)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Papers of the Committee 1961 AA1982/247

Good Neighbour Council of the ACT, 1950–80 (CA 2980)
Title or description of record Date range Series number
Minutes, agenda, reports, papers of meetings 1950–79 AA1980/254
Correspondence files 1950–80 AA1980/255

See also series of the Good Neighbour Council of Victoria (CA 3491) M653 and M690 (held in Melbourne) and the Good Neighbour Council of Western Australia (CA 7268) K1225 (held in Perth).

For more information

Citizenship was just one of a diverse range of matters dealt with by some of the large departments listed in the table above. In using RecordSearch to identify record items from the correspondence series of departments such as External Affairs or the Prime Minister's Department you will need to conduct searches using the series number and keywords that reflect your area of interest (such as 'citizen', 'nationality' or 'alien').

Research guide: