Summary

Blue-covered booklet entitled 'The Australian Citizenship Act 1948', published in 1982. The booklet is a review by the Human Rights Commission of the 1948 Australian Citizenship Act, per the Human Rights Commission Act 1981. Reporting on human rights aspects of the Citizenship Act, it was prepared in response to proposed government amendments to the Act. Key areas of concern include: definition and use of term 'alien'; citizenship application requirements; loss of citizenship; oath/affirmation of allegiance renunciation; discrimination via preferential treatment on basis of national origin, sex or marital status. It lists recommendations for change.

Appendices include relevant sections of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948; Racial Discrimination Act 1975; Migration Act 1958; and various international covenants.

Physical Description

10 pp plus cover, staple-bound, blue cover with Commonwealth of Australia crest and Australian flag at masthead; white title text.

Significance

This acquisition is drawn from material selected from the Ecumenical Migration Centre library collection at the Immigration Museum Discovery Centre by Maria Tence and Moya McFadzean. The items selected are considered to be more appropriate as heritage collection than library material.

Acts, Agreements, Bills, Amendments & International Covenants: This material provides an insight into the evolution of national and international policy relating to immigration and human rights which is hardly represented in the collection at all. The Migration Agreement with Malta is significant in representing numerous agreements that were signed between the late 1940s and 1970s to encourage immigration to Australia from selected countries. The Human Rights Commission reviews demonstrate the process of amending immigration and settlement related legislation and the role of the Commission in that activity during the 1980s. The Parliamentary debate regarding the Ethnic Affairs Bill records the road to establishing another instrument in the government management of immigration and ethnic affairs at a state level. The International Covenants document represents a key international agreement to which Australia is a signatory, which has implications for national immigration, multicultural and human rights legislation in Australia.

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