News & Insights
There was a period of time when it was possible to lose Australian citizenship if a person acquired citizenship of another country.
Section 17 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 (now repealed) provided that Australian citizens over the age of 18 who took voluntary action to acquire the nationality or citizenship of a foreign country would automatically lose their Australian citizenship. This occurred by operation of law, meaning the loss was automatic and did not require any decision or notice by the Government to you.
Until 3 April 2002:
- Australian citizenship was lost if a person did an act or thing,
- where the sole or dominant purpose, and the effect, was to acquire foreign citizenship,
- regardless of whether the person or the Department was aware of the legal consequence.
Key points to note:
- The law operated automatically and retrospectively. The Department may not have records showing the loss, and you may not have been aware of the loss of your citizenship.
- On 4 April 2002, section 17 of the old Australian Citizenship Act was repealed, allowing Australian citizens to hold dual citizenship without losing their Australian citizenship status.
- However, this change did not apply retrospectively to restore citizenship lost this way.
Usually people were not informed that they lost their Australian citizenship this way.
Often people have only found out about this loss of Australian citizenship years later, when they apply for citizenship by descent for a child born outside Australia.
Finding out about losing your Australian citizenship this way can feel overwhelming and frightening.
Often, the only solution is to apply to resume your Australian citizenship.
At MSM Legal, our experienced migration lawyers and migration agents can help you through this process.
Contact us today for expert support and peace of mind.
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