Transcript of Episode 1 – Introduction
Hello and Congratulations on choosing to become an Australian citizen.
Australian citizenship is a privilege offering enormous rewards. By becoming an Australian citizen, you are joining a unique national community. Our country has been built on the contributions of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the democratic institutions we inherited from Britain, and migrants from all over the world.
The Australian citizenship test
The Australian citizenship test is designed to assess whether you have an adequate knowledge of Australia, its democratic system, beliefs and values, and the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.
This podcast will help you prepare for the citizenship test. It includes the most important points from the testable section of the resource book ‘Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond’, which is all the information you need to pass the citizenship test.
We expect that most prospective Australian citizens will have the literacy skills necessary to complete the citizenship test without help. Text-to-speech technology, which you can use to listen to the questions and choice of answers, is also available.
There are 4 parts to the testable section:
- Part 1 – Australia and its people
- Part 2 – Australia’s democratic beliefs, rights and liberties
- Part 3 – Government and the law in Australia, and
- Part 4 – Australian values
The citizenship test consists of 20 randomly selected questions, including five questions on Australian values. To pass the citizenship test you must answer all 5 of the values questions correctly, with a mark of at least 75 per cent overall.
The Australian citizenship ceremony and the Australian citizenship pledge
If you pass the citizenship test, processing of your application will continue. If your application is approved, you will be invited to attend an Australian citizenship ceremony.
When you attend your Australian citizenship ceremony, you will make the Australian Citizenship Pledge. In doing so, you are making a public commitment to Australia and accepting the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.
This is the pledge you will make:
From this time forward, under God,*
I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,
whose democratic beliefs I share,
whose rights and liberties I respect, and
whose laws I will uphold and obey.
* A person may choose whether or not to use the words ‘under God’.
