Citizenship ceremonies

The pledge contains the words you will read out in the presence of the Presiding Officer in order to complete your Citizenship requirements.

Two versions of the pledge are available to view at the Department of Home Affairs website.

Children 16 and under DO NOT have to attend a ceremony in order to receive their certificate. Their certificate can be given to their attending parent.

However, children are more than welcome to attend with their parents and take part in the proceedings.

To facilitate registration, please bring a form of photo identification - a driver's licence is ideal, otherwise, your passport OR 3 documents with your name, address and signature (e.g. bank statements, credit cards, bills)

If you wish to take the pledge as an Oath - you may also like to bring a holy book with you.

• Depending on ceremony numbers, we ask you arrive 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to your ceremony start time.
• Check-in is required at the allocated registration desk.
• Seating is allocated for the conferee only - guests are situated in the designated guest area.
• The ceremony will commence with formalities and speeches.
• Speeches are followed by conferees taking the pledge of commitment - this is done collectively as a group.
• You will be called forward to receive your official citizenship certificate and have a photograph taken.
• The ceremony concludes with the National Anthem.

Depending on conferee numbers, a ceremony can take anywhere from 1 hour to 90 minutes.

Smart casual clothing is recommended. You are also welcome to wear national/traditional dress.

You are welcome to take photographs at the ceremony.

However,  we ask  you are mindful when sharing photos on social media as other ceremony participants may not consent to their photo being shared publicly.

Council's official photographer will also take photos on the day and these may be used in Council's corporate documents - such as the annual report. If you would prefer that Council DOES NOT use or release your photographs to anyone other than you, please advise Council prior to the ceremony.

A copy of these photos will be provided to you.

Conferees will be allocated a designated seat are seated together for the duration of the ceremony.

Family, friends and guests are situated in the designated guest seating area.

If you have small children attending  and require them to be seated with you, please let us know prior to the ceremony.

Yes.  Guests are welcome to attend the ceremony.

Please contact us on 02 4988 0245 prior to the ceremony and we can assist you.

Council has no authority to arrange urgent or fast-tracked ceremonies please contact the Department Home Affairs Telephone (homeaffairs.gov.au) to discuss your circumstances.

Furthermore, the Department of Home Affairs advises:

In order to maintain the integrity and fairness of the ceremony allocation process, ceremony allocations are performed by order of approval date only. Please note there is no option to ‘fast-track’ or ‘expedite’ your ceremony.

Urgent ceremonies are only approved in exceptional and very limited circumstances. In order to qualify for an urgent ceremony you are required to provide full details along with supporting evidence to demonstrate your exceptional circumstances.

One or more of the below criteria would need to be met before any consideration can be made:

• Visiting a close family member who is terminally ill (with evidence)
• Attend a funeral of a close family member
• Receive urgent medical treatment that cannot be received in Australia
• Attend legal proceedings in person
• Accompany a sick/elderly relative for one of the reasons above
• Defence force personnel
• Clients who will work for the Australian Government who need to be an Australian citizen to be employed
• Clients who need to be an Australian citizen to be employed for a job they have been offered who have been waiting more than six months for a ceremony. This does not apply to applicants who are currently employed with a company and require citizenship for additional duties
• Eligibility for HECS-Help study loans when it has been more than six months since date of approval

Note, the following types of circumstances are not considered genuinely urgent or compelling:

• Overseas travel for employment, holidays, visiting family, or weddings
• Pre-purchased airline tickets, cruise tickets or overseas accommodation
• General entry-level employment requiring Australian citizenship
• Expired travel documents or do not want to pay for a Resident Return Visa
• Eligibility for building grants
• Eligibility for HECS-Help study loans when it has been less than six months since date of approval