3432 ACC Report f/a 1 - Australian Citizenship

aised in one submission. It was recognised
that there may be concern expressed by Local
Governments on duplication of roles and
confusion for Citizenship candidates as to who
conducts ceremonies.
The Council recommends that current
arrangements, which provide for
State/Territory Government involvement in the
conduct of Australian Citizenship ceremonies
for special events, from time to time, are
appropriate and sufficient at this time.
Losing Australian Citizenship
Losing Citizenship — (1) By acquiring
another Citizenship
Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act
1948 (the Act) provides that an Australian
Citizen aged 18 or over who does ‘any act or
thing, the sole or dominant purpose of which
and the effect of which is to acquire the
nationality or Citizenship of a foreign country
shall… cease to be an Australian Citizen’.
A child who acquires another Citizenship in
their own right will not lose Australian
Citizenship under section 17 of the Act.
However, under section 23 of the Act, if a child
has a parent who loses Australian Citizenship
under section 17 of the Act, the child will also
lose her or his Australian Citizenship unless
their other parent is an Australian Citizen or
the loss would render them stateless.
This provision works by operation of law and
therefore takes effect when the Australian
Citizen acquires the new Citizenship, whether
or not she or he is aware of it. Around 600
cases of loss of Australian Citizenship come to
the notice of the Department of Immigration
and Multicultural Affairs (the Department) each
year, often in the context of the individual
applying for an Australian passport. In some
cases, the Department may have to advise a
person that she or he has ceased to be an
Australian Citizen some years previously.
Many of these notifications cause significant
distress to the individuals concerned. Many
cases of persons losing their Australian
Citizenship do not come to official notice at all.
However, a great number of Australian Citizens
do possess another Citizenship in addition to
their Australian Citizenship including:
• Australian Citizens by grant who are able,
under the law of their country of origin,
to keep their previous Citizenship on
obtaining Australian Citizenship;
• Australian Citizens born in Australia who
automatically acquire, through a parent,
another Citizenship by descent;
• Australian Citizens born overseas to an
Australian Citizen parent who by the law of
that country acquire that Citizenship by birth;
• Australian Citizens who acquire the
Citizenship of another country automatically
by legislation of that country, for example,
through marriage.
This situation is a major anomaly in that some
Australian Citizens, estimated to be around
4.4 million, are able to lawfully possess more
than one Citizenship, while those who start
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