EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Australian Citizenship Act 2007
Australian Citizenship Amendment (Notices of Citizenship) Regulations 2025
The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (the Citizenship Act) provides for the process of becoming an Australian citizen, the circumstances in which citizenship may cease, and other related matters.
Section 54 of the Citizenship Act provides that the Governor-General may make regulations prescribing matters required or permitted by the Citizenship Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed, for carrying out or giving effect to the Citizenship Act.
Subsection 37(1) of the Citizenship Act also provides that a person may make an application to the Minister for evidence of the person’s Australian citizenship. Subsection 37(2) enables the Minister to give the person a notice stating that the person is an Australian citizen at a particular time. Under subsection 37(3) of the Citizenship Act, the notice must be in a form prescribed by the regulations and contain any other matter prescribed by the regulations.
In practice, evidence of Australian citizenship is generally provided to a person on the day that they make the pledge of commitment at an Australian citizenship ceremony. In accordance with subsection 27(3), a pledge must be made to the Minister or to a person who is authorised by the Minister under subsection 27(4) or (5) of the Citizenship Act, known as a presiding officer. An example of an authorised person has included, from time to time and subject to the relevant state or territory, the mayor of a local government council.
Section 12 of the Australian Citizenship Regulation 2016 (the Citizenship Regulation) specifies the requirements for a notice issued under of subsection 37(3) of the Act, including that the notice be in accordance with the form in Schedule 2. While subsection 12(2) of the Citizenship Regulation specifies that the signature of the Minister may be a facsimile that is printed or stamped (as opposed to signed by hand), there is no similar flexibility attributed to signatures of other presiding officers, such as mayors. Additionally, Schedule 2 requires the signature of the presiding officer on each notice.
The Australian Citizenship Amendment Regulation (Notices of Citizenship) 2025 (the Amendment Regulations) amends the Citizenship Regulation to enable presiding officers to print or stamp a facsimile of their signature (and title) on citizenship certificates, and for their signature and title to be an optional requirement.
No external consultation was undertaken as the amendments do not substantially alter existing arrangements, and operate to support and enhance processes in relation to notices of citizenship. The amendments also do not alter eligibility for Australian citizenship or impact the rights of Australian citizens. The purpose of the amendments is to support operational flexibility in organising and delivering Australian citizenship ceremonies. This includes circumstances where there are multiple presiding officers, or no presiding officers.
The Amendment Regulations relate to matters of detail and are therefore appropriate for inclusion in Citizenship Regulations.
The instrument is subject to disallowance under section 42 of the Legislation Act. A Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights has been completed in accordance with the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. The overall assessment is that the Amendment Regulations are compatible with human rights. A copy of the Statement is at Attachment A.
The Amendment Regulations commences on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation.
The Citizenship Act specifies no conditions that need to be satisfied before the power to make the Regulations may be exercised.
The Amendment Regulations are a legislative instrument for the Legislation Act 2003 (the Legislation Act).
Further details of the Amendment Regulations are set out in Attachment B
ATTACHMENT A
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Australian Citizenship Amendment Regulation (Notices of Citizenship) 2025
This Disallowable Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the Disallowable Legislative Instrument
The Australian Citizenship Amendment Regulation (Notices of Citizenship) 2025 (the Amendment Regulations) amends the Australian Citizenship Regulation 2016 (the Citizenship Regulations) to allow presiding officers to print or stamp their signature and title on citizenship certificates, and for their signature and title to be an optional requirement.
The purpose of this amendment is to provide flexibility and streamline arrangements for presiding officers when signing citizenship certificates, particularly where they are presiding over large ceremonies.
Subsection 37(1) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (the Citizenship Act) provides that a person may make an application to the Minister for evidence of the person’s Australian citizenship. Subsection 37(2) enables the Minister to give the person a notice stating that the person is an Australian citizen at a particular time. Under subsection 37(3) of the Citizenship Act, the notice must be in a form prescribed by the regulations and contain any other matter prescribed by the regulations.
Section 12 of the Citizenship Regulation prescribes matters for the purposes of subsection 37(3) of the Act and requires the notice to be in accordance with the form in Schedule 2. The form in Schedule 2 to the Citizenship Regulation sets out that the notice is to include the ‘Signature or printed or stamped signature of the Minister’ and the ‘Signature of presiding officer’. A presiding officer is an Australian citizen authorised by the Minister under subsections 27(4) or (5) of the Citizenship Act to receive the pledge of commitment. A person must generally make a pledge of commitment to become an Australian citizen, see section 26 of the Citizenship Act.
While subsection 12(2) of the Citizenship Regulation specifies the signature of the Minister may be a facsimile that is printed or stamped, there was no similar flexibility attributed to signatures of presiding officers.
The amendments to the Citizenship Regulation provide similar flexibility in the way presiding officers sign citizenship certificates. This amendment enables citizenship certificates to be prepared ahead of time to include a printed facsimile of both the Minister and presiding officer’s signature.
Furthermore, while subsection 12(3) of the Citizenship Regulation provides the presiding officer ‘may’ sign the notice, the form of notice in Schedule 2 required the signature of the presiding officer. As not every applicant is required to make a pledge of commitment at a ceremony to become a citizen, and some presiding officers may not wish to or are unable to sign citizenship certificates, it is not always possible or practical to require presiding officers to comply with this requirement. Providing clarification in the Citizenship Regulation that the signature and title of the presiding officer is optional, overcomes these obstacles.
Human rights implications
This Disallowable Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Disallowable Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
ATTACHMENT B
Details of the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Notices of Citizenship) Regulation 2025
Section 1 – Name of Regulations
This section provides that the name of the instrument is the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Notices of Citizenship) Regulations 2025.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides that the amendments commence on the day after registration on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3 – Authority
This section provides that the instrument is made under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
Section 4 – Schedules
This section provides for the operation of the amendments.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Australian Citizenship Regulation 2016 (the Citizenship Regulations)
Item [1] - Section 5
This item defines presiding officer to mean any of the following persons before whom a pledge of commitment may be made:
(a) a person authorised under subsection 27(4) of the Act;
(b) a person included in a class of persons authorised under subsection 27(5) of the Act.
This item gives clarity to existing references to presiding officers elsewhere in the Citizenship Regulations.
Item [2] - Subsection 12(3)
This item will repeal the existing subsection 12(3) and substitute provisions that set out how and when a presiding officer may sign a notice issued under subsection 37(2) of the Citizenship Act.
This first subparagraph of this item specifies that the signature of one or more presiding officers may, but is not required to, be included in the notice. The third subparagraph of this item specifies that the presiding officer whose signature appears on the notice need not be the presiding officer before whom the pledge of commitment was made by the person who is the subject of the notice. These subparagraphs allow for greater flexibility in the organising of Australian citizenship ceremonies, including where a presiding officer is not in attendance or where there is a change in the presiding officer who attends.
This item also specifies that where the signature of a presiding officer is included on the notice, it may be a facsimile that is printed or stamped. This reflects existing requirements for the signature of the Minister on the same notice, which can be a facsimile that is printed or stamped.
Item [3] - In the appropriate position in Part 4
This item inserts a new provision into Part 4 of the Citizenship Regulations. This provision clarifies the operation of amendments made by Schedule 1 to the Amendment Regulations.
37 Application of amendments made by Schedule 1 to the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Notices of Citizenship) Regulations 2025
This section provides that the amendments apply to any notice under subsection 37(2) of the Citizenship Act given after the commencement of the amendments, irrespective of whether the application for the notice was made before, on, or after the commencement of the amendments.
Item [4] - Schedule 2 (Form)
This item will repeal the existing form in Schedule 2 to the Citizenship Regulations and substitute a new updated form for the purpose of issuing a notice of Australian citizenship under the Citizenship Act.
The revised form reflects that the signature of a presiding officer is optional.