The Australian Parliament recognises that Australian citizenship represents full and formal membership of the community of the Commonwealth of Australia, and Australian citizenship is a common bond, involving reciprocal rights and obligations, uniting all Australians, while respecting their diversity.
The
Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (the Citizenship Act) sets out how you become an Australian citizen. The Citizenship Act also defines the circumstances in which you may cease to be a citizen and other matters related to citizenship.
The Citizenship Act specifies the Minister for Home Affairs must table a report to the Parliament on citizenship cessations. The minister must table this report every 12 months and include the number of citizenship cessation applications (previously determinations) made. You can find these reports on this page under Citizenship cessation reports.
Section 36D of the Citizenship Act allows the minister to apply to a court for an order to cease a person’s Australian citizenship.
The Act (section 36C) states that the court may make an order to cease a person’s Australian citizenship if:
- the person is aged 14 years or over
- the person is a dual national
- the person has been convicted of one or more serious offences
- the court has imposed a period or periods of imprisonment that total at least 3 years or more, and
- the conduct the offence relates to is so serious and significant that it demonstrates that the person has repudiated their allegiance to Australia.
Section 36C of the Citizenship Act sets out the serious offences relevant to citizenship cessation. These offences show a clear link to the breaking of the common bond. This shows that a person has repudiated their allegiance to Australia.
Serious offences specified in the Act, are provided under the Criminal Code and include:
- certain terrorism offences including breaches of Extended Supervision Orders and Interim Supervision Orders
- treason
- espionage
- foreign interference
- advocating mutiny
- foreign incursions and recruitment offences
- certain explosives and lethal devices offences.
In deciding whether a person’s conduct is so serious and significant that it demonstrates they have repudiated their allegiance to Australia, the court must consider:
- whether the person has engaged in conduct that demonstrates a repudiation of the values, democratic beliefs, rights and liberties which underpin Australian society
- the degree, duration or scale of the person’s commitment to, or involvement in, the conduct constituting to which the offence relates
- the intended scale of the conduct to which the conviction relates
- the actual impact of the conduct to which the conviction relates
- whether the conduct caused, or was intended to cause, harm to human life or a loss of human life.
Changes to the Australian Citizenship Act affecting citizenship cessation reporting
8 December 2023 - present
The Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Act 2023 commenced on 8 December 2023. This new legislative framework established a revised citizenship cessation regime following the High Court’s decision in:
- Alexander v Minister for Home Affairs [2022] HCA 19 (Alexander) on 8 June 2022
- Benbrika v Minister for Home Affairs [2023] HCA 33 (Benbrika) on 1 November 2023.
This Act amended the Citizenship Act to repeal the invalid provisions and establish a revised citizenship cessation regime. These changes appropriately address the implications of the High Court judgments in Alexander and Benbrika.
18 September 2020 – 7 December 2023
Provisions for citizenship cessation commenced on 18 September 2020 after passage of the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Cessation) Act 2020. This Act was repealed on 08 December 2023.
These provisions allowed the Minister for Home Affairs to make a determination that an individual’s Australian citizenship had ceased in certain circumstances.
At this time, the minister was required to table a report to the Parliament every 6 months. The report showed the number of ministerial determinations about citizenship cessation made during that period under the following provisions:
- Section 36B (Citizenship cessation for certain conduct)
- Section 36D (Citizenship cessation for certain convictions)
12 December 2015 – 17 September 2020
Until 17 September 2020, the Citizenship Act contained provisions that resulted in the cessation of an individual’s Australian citizenship. Citizenship could be ceased by determination of the minister, or in specified circumstances. Under these provisions, citizenship cessation would come into effect by operation of law (automatically). On automatic cessation, the Minister for Home Affairs was required to give notice to the individual. These provisions were repealed when the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Cessation) Act 2020 came into effect.
Former subsection 51B of the Citizenship Act specified the minister must table a report to the Parliament every 6 months. The report showed the number of ministerial determinations and notices given about citizenship cessation made during that period under the following provisions:
- section 33AA (Renunciation by conduct)
- section 35 (Service outside Australia in armed forces of an enemy country or a declared terrorist organisation)
- section 35A (Conviction for terrorism offences and certain other offences)
Citizenship cessation reports
