Australian Citizenship Regulations 2007
1 July 2007 - Legislation change
Client summary
From 1 July 2007, the Australian Citizenship Regulations 2007 will commence, repealing the Australian Citizenship Regulations 1960 to prescribe various matters under the new Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
The new regulations will provide:
- for the registration of persons who are Australian citizens by descent or adoption in accordance with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption or who have resumed Australian citizenship
- acceptable reasons for failing to make a pledge of commitment
- arrangements for making a pledge of commitment
- the form of notice of evidence of Australian citizenship
- the matters of which an applicant must be informed when asked to provide personal identifiers
- that translations must be included with non-English information or documentation accompanying applications for Australian citizenship
- the fees that must accompany applications for Australian citizenship
- for the refund of the whole or part of a fee
and - the methods by which the Minister must give notice of a decision under the Act.
Technical details
The Regulations repeal the Australian Citizenship Regulations 1960 and prescribe various matters under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
The following provisions of the Regulations are amended:
Regulation 1: provides that these are the Australian Citizenship Regulations 2007.
Regulation 2: provides that these Regulations commence at the same time as sections 2A to 54 of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (the Act).
Regulation 3: provides that the Australian Citizenship Regulations1960 (the old Regulations) are repealed.
Regulation 4: defines the terms and phrases which apply to the Regulations as a whole: Most of the terms and phrases are consistent with those which appeared in regulation 3 of the old Regulations. The term Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption has been introduced for the purpose of administering section 19C of the Act.
Regulation 5: prescribes the manner by which the Minister must register a person under section 18 of the Act if the Minister approves the person becoming an Australian citizen by descent. It is consistent with regulation 7 of the old Regulations.
Regulation 6: prescribes the manner by which the Minister must register a person under section 19E of the Act if the Minister approves the person becoming an Australian citizen by adoption in accordance with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. It has been introduced for the purpose of the new provision in section 19E in the Act.
Regulation 7: prescribes the reasons for failure to make a pledge of commitment for which a person’s approval to become an Australian citizen cannot be cancelled. It is substantially consistent with regulation 11 of the old Regulations. It has been expanded to cover people who are overseas for the purpose of attending a funeral and associated arrangements or are overseas and unexpectedly hospitalised. In addition, a prescribed reason includes if that person was overseas to care for a person who is critically ill. It is no longer a requirement that the person critically ill be a close relative.
Regulation 8: prescribes how a pledge of commitment is to be made under subsection 27(2) to become an Australian citizen by conferral. The pledge must be made in public if it is reasonably practicable, and the person before whom a pledge is made must read aloud the address specified in Schedule 1 to the Regulations to the person making the pledge. This regulation is consistent with regulation 12 of the old Regulations. The note in this regulation relates to the arrangements to be followed for a public citizenship ceremony as previously prescribed in subsection 15(2) and section 41 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948. These arrangements are currently contained in the Departmental publication “Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code.
Regulation 9: prescribes the manner by which the Minister must register a person under section 31 of the Act if the Minister approves the person becoming an Australian citizen again. It is consistent with regulation 15 of the old Regulations.
Regulation 10: prescribes matters that must be contained in a notice of evidence of a person’s Australian citizenship. It is largely consistent with regulation 4A of the old Regulations.
Regulation 11: prescribes the matters a person must be informed of in a request for personal identifiers. It supports the introduction of a legislative framework for the collection, use and storage of personal identifiers in under the Act.
Regulation 12: prescribes the fees and other information and documents that must accompany an application under a provision of the Act. It prescribes that if an application for citizenship is accompanied by information or a document in a language other than English, it must also be accompanied by an official English translation. The particular fees required for applications under the Act are detailed in Schedule 3.
Regulation 13: provides for the refund of the whole or part of a fee for the purposes of subsection 46(3) of the Act. It has been expanded to include circumstances where a person has paid an incorrect fee with the original application.
Regulation 14: prescribes a notice of a decision under the Act must be given by personal delivery, prepaid post to the last address given to the Department, or electronic means.
Schedule 1: provides the address that must be read aloud to the person making a pledge of commitment under regulation 8 and in accordance with section 27 of the Act.
Schedule 2: provides a form for a notice of evidence of Australian citizenship for the purposes of section 37(3) of the Act and regulation 10 of the Regulations.
Schedule 3: prescribes the fees to be accompanied by applications under the Act. There has been no change to the prescribed fees.
Additional information: Detailed information can be found on the Citizenship website.
See: www.citizenship.gov.au
Transitional arrangements: Nil
Forms: The following application forms have been updated in accordance with the new Act:
- Form 118 Application for Australian citizenship by descent
- Form 119 Application for evidence of Australian citizenship
- Form 124 Application for conferral of Australian citizenship
- Form 128 Application for renunciation of Australian citizenship
- Form 132 Application to resume Australian citizenship
- Form 1195 Proof of Identity for applications made online for conferral of Australian citizenship
A new Form 1272 Application for Australian citizenship for children adopted under full and permanent Hague Convention arrangements has been developed to support the new provisions in the Act.
The information Form 1027i How to apply for conferral of Australian citizenship has also been updated.
The following Forms have been withdrawn:
- Form 975i Australian citizenship – citizenship by birth in Australia
- Form 1037 Declaration of a New Zealand citizen parent of an Australian born child
- Form 1014i Australian citizenship – British and Maltese former child migrants
- Form 1063i Becoming a citizen – what you should know
- Form 1113i Deprivation of Australian citizenship
- Form 1114i Australian citizens who acquired another citizenship prior to 4 April 2002
- Form 1184 Application for an evidentiary certificate
- Form 1185 Evidentiary certificate
Instructions:
The Australian Citizenship Instructions (ACIs) have been rewritten to support the new Act. The ACIs will also continue to be available on Legendcom. Parts of the ACIs will be publicly available on the Citizenship website.
See: www.citizenship.gov.au
Effect on delegations:
All the existing delegations and authorisations under the old Act and old regulations have been repealed. New delegations and authorisations, that are consistent with those under the old Act, have been made.
Effect on systems: Departmental systems have been updated to support the new Act.