Nationhood
Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948
26 January 1949
Australian citizenship is established. Australians are still British subjects but are now recognised as citizens of their own country.
When Australia became a nation in 1901 there was no Australian citizenship. Australians, like people from other British Commonwealth countries, were considered British subjects. Large-scale immigration after the Second World War from Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries led to confusion about the citizenship status of Australians. The Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 (later called the Australian Citizenship Act 1948) created Australian citizenship and set the rules for how people could become citizens.
Australian citizens continued to be British subjects until 1984. Australian citizenship as defined by the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 extended to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians as ‘natural-born’ citizens. However, it did not guarantee citizenship rights, such as voting.
The first Australian citizenship ceremony was held on 3 February 1949 in Canberra. By the end of 1949 more than 2,000 migrants from 35 countries had become Australian citizens.
The New Australian, February 1949
National Library of Australia, Nf 325.94 NEW
The New Australian, February 1949
National Library of Australia, Nf 325.94 NEW
Description
This bulletin article describes the first Australian citizenship ceremony conducted after the introduction of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948. The seven men pictured were granted citizenship in the ceremony. They were from 7 different European countries. Their backgrounds are described within the article.
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