Celebrating 75 years of Australian citizenship in 2024

 

Saturday, 3 February 2024, marks a key milestone of the first Australian citizenship ceremony held 75 years ago.

On that day in 1949, seven people from seven nations became the first Australian citizens by conferral. This took place at a ceremony held at Albert Hall in Canberra.

These seven new citizens represented each state of Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. They hailed from some of Australia’s largest migrant source countries at the time – Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Spain and Yugoslavia.

The Albert Hall ceremony was held after the new status of ‘Australian citizen’ was created on
26 January 1949. This was when the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 came into effect. Before then, there was no legal status as an ‘Australian citizen’.

Jan Jandura Pucek had the honour of becoming the first naturalised Australian citizen during the ceremony. Jan was originally from Czechoslovakia and worked as a eucalyptus distiller in the Tidbinbilla region of the ACT.

To learn more about Jan’s story in our special video featuring Jan’s son, John Jandura, visit Citizenship stories.

During 1949, almost 2,500 people from over 35 countries became Australian citizens. Most were migrants from Italy, Poland, Greece, Germany and Yugoslavia.

Since then, over 6 million people have been granted Australian citizenship by conferral. They come from more than 200 nations across the globe. These citizens contribute to a strong, united and more prosperous Australia.

Today, the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 provides for a shared identity through citizenship. It unites all Australians while respecting our diversity.

 

To find out more about becoming an Australian citizen, including eligibility and the application process, visit Immigration and citizenship.