The Assistant Treasurer, Senator Nick Sherry, launched a commemorative $1 coin celebrating Australian citizenship and marking the 60th anniversary of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1949.

The coin, the first of an annual release, portrays the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and the words ‘Australian Citizenship’.

“Just sixty years go, most people living in Australia were regarded as British subjects.”

“That all changed on Australia Day, January 26, 1949, when people born here automatically became Australian citizens under the Nationality and Citizenship Act.”

Since the first citizenship ceremony took place on February 3, 1949, at Albert Hall in Canberra, more than four million migrants have made the pledge of commitment to Australia.
The Greek community has been one of the most committed ethnic groups to take up Australian citizenship.