The Rights and Obligations of Immigrant Citizens and Non-Citizens in Australia

Abstract

The history of modern Australia goes back only to 1788, when the first British colonists arrived. In 1901 Australia became a self-governing entity through Federation and the adoption of a Constitution. However, this did not mean full independence, since Australia remained a dominion within the British Empire. Nor did Federation create the Australian citizen, since the Constitution did not mention citizenship and Australians were to remain British subjects until 1949. Even then, despite the introduction of its own citizenship, Australia continued to lack some of the trappings of nationhood: for instance a foreign monarch is still head of state (though this seems likely to change soon). Unlike most modern countries, therefore, it is impossible to state precisely when the Australian nation-state was born.

This contribution is partly based on work done by the authors as part of a project entitled Intercultural Relations, Identity and Citizenship with funding from the Volkswagen Foundation (Hannover) and the Australian Research Council. It is also partly based on work done for the Comparative Citizenship Project of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Research assistance was provided by Colleen Mitchell, who also prepared the tables in this chapter.