More than 6.1 million people have become Australian citizens by conferral since Australian citizenship was introduced in 1949.
Former nationality or citizenship
In 1949, during the inaugural year of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948, Australian citizenship was granted to 2,493 people from just over 35 different nationalities. The top 5 nationalities (and number of grants) at that time according to the Australian Yearbook 1953, ABS were:
- Italian (708)
- Polish (597)
- Greek (276)
- German (225)
- Yugoslav (80)
In 2023-24, a total of 192,242 people became Australian citizens by conferral, representing over 200 different nationalities.
The following table shows the number of people who were conferred as Australian citizens during 2023‑24, according to their former nationality.
Number of people conferred Australian citizenship, and top 10 countries of nationality (1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024)
Country of nationality*
| No. of people |
|---|
India
| 28,968
|
New Zealand
| 27,826
|
United Kingdom
| 16,503
|
Philippines
| 10,449
|
China**
| 7,561
|
Iraq
| 7,048
|
Vietnam
| 7,013
|
Afghanistan
| 6,515
|
Pakistan
| 5,715
|
South Africa
| 4,849
|
| Other | 69,795
|
|
Total |
192,242 |
*Countries of nationality are indicated by the client at the time of initial contact with the Department of Home Affairs and may include sovereign nation states as well as external territories and dependencies with varying degrees of political and economic autonomy. Where an applicant holds multiple citizenships at the time of application, the most recently recorded has been reflected in this reporting.
**"China” denotes mainland China only and does not include the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
