New citizenship course

A new Australian citizenship course, Our Common Bond: A Course in Australian Citizenship, has been developed as an alternative citizenship test for a small group of disadvantaged people who are likely to struggle when undertaking a computer-based test, particularly for individuals with low levels of English literacy and schooling.

The citizenship course will be delivered by AMEP Service Providers.  The course will not be available offshore.

Course eligibility

The course is designed to assist people who are likely to face significant difficulty preparing for and sitting the computer-based citizenship test, particularly for individuals with low levels of English literacy and schooling.

You will only be able to do the course after you apply for citizenship.

Entry to the course will be via DIAC referral after application only. You will not be able to self-select to undertake the course instead of the computer-based test. 

Should you consider yourself eligible for the course, please contact the Citizenship Information Line on 131 880, 8.30 am to 4.30 pm Monday to Friday, to discuss your personal circumstances.

Course content

Our Common Bond: A Course in Australian Citizenship is based around the Australian Citizenship Pledge. It will cover information contained in the testable section of the resource book, including topics such as:

• Australia and its people
• Australia’s democratic beliefs
• the responsibilities and privileges of Australia
• government and the law in Australia.

The course will comprise 20 hours of classroom-based tuition over seven sessions, of which sessions two to six are assessable.

The course will be in English only, and will not provide a pathway to citizenship if you do not speak English. However, it will be primarily orally and aurally based, incorporating a number of audio-visual support resources to assist you in understanding important citizenship concepts.

Course assessment

As with the computer-based test, the new course will assess whether you meet the following legal requirements for citizenship:

• a basic knowledge of the English language
• an adequate knowledge of Australia and the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship, and
• an understanding of the nature of your application for citizenship.

In order to successfully complete the course, you will be required to:

• attend all sessions unless you can provide a medical certificate
• participate in basic English in all classroom activities and discussions, and
• complete all assessment tasks and achieve at least 75% in each task.

Will the new test course be easier than the citizenship test?

The course will cover the same information as the testable section of the citizenship test resource book.

You will undertake assessment tasks to show that you meet the same legal requirements for citizenship as those sitting the computer-based test.

The course will assess whether you meet the legal requirement for citizenship that you have basic English, and will not assist you if you do not speak any English to gain citizenship.

For further information on the course, please contact the Citizenship Information Line on 131 880, 8.30 am to 4.30 pm Monday to Friday.