Changes and Continuities Australian Citizenship
from the White Australia Policy to Multiculturism and Beyond
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The year 2009 marked the 60th anniversary of Australian citizenship. Before 26 January 1949, the status of 'Australian citizen' did not exist, and people born in Australia were British subjects. To date, more than four and a half million migrants from over 200 countries have chosen to become Australian citizens.1 This study examines the changes and continuities in Australian citizenship, from the White Australia Policy to multiculturalism and beyond. It presents a historical overview of social, cultural and political concepts including White Australia Policy (WAP), immigration, citizenship, ethnic minorities, power and multiculturalism. It argues that the key historical struggles in the evolution of Australian citizenship consist in a conflict over who to exclude and who to include in the nation and in notions of citizenship. The contradictions between the policy and the ideology of citizenship, and between multicultural policy and practice, are a result of the continuous struggle with the legacy of history that currently influences and arguably governs Australia's cultural diversity. I further argue that Australia's long experience of the White Australia policy continues to guide significant political, social and moral aspects of citizenship. Citizenship continues to meet significant challenges, including unspoken assumptions from earlier times, such as the privileging of white, European, English-speaking inhabitants and their status as the 'default' version of the Australian citizen. From the perspective of minority groups, citizenship does not bring equality, but continues to be used as a tool for exclusion. This study has found that some early assumptions relating to citizenship survive, with slight variations. It argues that the Citizenship Act 2007, which introduced a test to determine citizenship eligibility, has similarities with the 'European Language Dictation Test' which was in force from 1901 to the 1960s. Both favour assimilation over multiculturalism.
The legacy of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 survives in the testing and selection criteria of the Citizenship Act 2007. It examines the history of social and political attitudes to WAP and to multiculturalism reflected in changes and continuities in both the meaning and process of Australian citizenship.
Immigration is of paramount importance. Statistics2 show that of Australia's estimated population (21.4 million people) one quarter were born overseas (5.5 million people). Assimilation, from the1940s to 1970s, drew its rationale from the White Australia Policy, which simply meant the denial of cultural difference; differences from the White culture/ race were not allowed or accepted. By the 1970s, the gradual abandonment of assimilation and the introduction of multiculturalism had begun. Multiculturalism can be defined in a number of different ways when used in different contexts: as policy and practice, everyday life, or ideology.
To conclude, equality of membership and inclusiveness of citizenship rights continue to be restricted by the legacy and at times enforcement of the history of the WAP, which contributes to the inequality of status and perception in Australia. Because of significant social complexities, it was found that citizenship does not bring equality to all Australian residents, nor does it change people's ethnicity.
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Bio: Laila graduated
from UOW with a BSc (Psychology and Sociology). She is currently a Post-graduate
Research candidate in the School of Social Science-Media and Communication
(UOW). Born in Alexandria-Egypt, she migrated to Australia in 1976 and became a
proud Australian citizen in 1979. She is currently working as a Community
Program Officer-Partnerships and Planning (Illawarra Region), and has worked at
the State Government Department of Human Services- Community Services since
1998, and worked extensively for/with migrants and refugees in the human
services sector.
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1 Prime Minister Mr Kevin Rudd in his speech on Australia Day 26th January 2009, during the ceremony of Citizenship 60th celebration
2 30th June 2008 ABS publications. Information Paper: Population Concepts, Australia 2008, cat. no.3107.0.55.006. Ch 4 p 26
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