All members of the Australian Parliament are required to make, before taking their seat in Parliament, an oath or affirmation of allegiance before the Governor-General of Australia. The requirement to take the oath is set out in section 42 of the Australian Constitution and the wording of the oath and affirmation are set out in the Schedule to the Constitution. The oath is: The affirmation is: "A.B." is to be substituted with the name of the person swearing or affirming, and the reference to Queen Victoria is to be substituted with the name of the current monarch of the United Kingdom, who is simultaneously the monarch of Australia.
Upon taking office, a Governor-General designate is required to take the above Oath of Allegiance as well as a separate Oath of Office, in the presence of the Chief Justice or another Justice of the High Court. In addition to swearing the Oath of Allegiance upon becoming a member of parliament, the Prime Minister, ministers and parliamentary secretaries also recite an Oath of Office upon entering office. The wording of this oath is not prescribed within the constitution and is ultimately determined by the prime minister of the day. Traditionally, the oath has repeated the swearing of allegiance to the sovereign, although this is not required. The current Oath of Office is:
Armed forces
The oath taken by a member of the navy, army or air force is: The affirmation:
The wording of the Oath of Allegiance taken by newly naturalisingAustralian citizens has changed over time. Australian nationality was created by the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948, which came into effect on 26 January 1949. British subjects could become Australian citizens after one year's residence in Australia as an immigrant by registration, and there was no requirement to attend a citizenship ceremony or take an oath of allegiance. Non-British subjects, on the other hand, were required to apply for naturalization, which had stricter requirements, including a five-year residency. They were required to attend a citizenship ceremony and swear an oath of allegiance, which was: In 1966, the Holt Government added the clause "renouncing all other allegiance" to the oath, though there was no requirement for new citizens to formally take steps under the law of their former country to renounce the previous citizenship. In 1973, the Whitlam Government ended the preferential treatment for British subjects from 1 December 1973 and inserted a reference to the "Queen of Australia", to become: In 1986, the Hawke Government removed the renunciation requirement and the requirement for candidates to state their names, the wording becoming: In 1994, the Keating Government replaced the oath with a Pledge of Commitment to Australia and removed the reference to the Crown: The prospective citizen has the option of making the pledge with or without the words "under God". There have been no changes since.
There is also a variant known as the Australian Citizenship Affirmation that was first recited at Galston Park in NSW on Australia Day 1999 that reads: The Department of Home Affairs encourages use of this affirmation by school students and members of the general public including on such occasions as Harmony Day, Refugee Week, Australian Citizenship Day and Australia Day.
