Australian citizenship test 2026: format, pass mark and the values rule

You have permanent residence, your four years are nearly up, and between you and the citizenship ceremony sits a 20-question test. This guide covers what the Department of Home Affairs actually asks for: the format, the rule that sets five questions apart, the appointment, and how to prepare from the one booklet every question is based on.

The format at a glance

That is more than two minutes a question, enough to read each one twice. Do that: a single word, such as "mainland" or "represents", can change the answer. The official practice test gives three options per question. If you would rather listen, the Test Facilitator can give you headphones or read the questions aloud.

Why 19 out of 20 can be a fail

The pass rule has two conditions, and you have to meet both:

1. at least 15 correct answers out of 20;
2. all five Australian values questions correct.

So nineteen out of twenty, with the one mistake on values, is a fail. Fifteen out of twenty, with all five values questions right, is a pass. On the other fifteen questions you can miss up to five; on values, none. And answer every question: a blank cannot score.

Most values questions look like common sense. The tricky ones sit on the exact limits the booklet sets: freedom of speech within the law, equality of men and women, violence, marriage, the age of consent. See our guide to Australian values questions in the citizenship test.

Who sits the test, and who does not

The test is part of applying for citizenship by conferral, the usual route for permanent residents. The general form, 1300t, is for permanent residents aged 18 to 59 who meet the residence requirement, intend to live in Australia or keep a close link with it, and are of good character. Residence in short: 4 years in Australia on a valid visa immediately before you apply, the last 12 months as a permanent resident, no more than 12 months away in total and no more than 90 days in the last year. Check your dates with the residence calculator; special conditions apply to some New Zealand citizens.

Home Affairs says most applicants aged 18 to 59 on the day it receives the application sit the test. You generally do not if you are 17 or younger or 60 or over when you apply, or if you have a permanent or enduring physical or mental incapacity (with evidence from a registered health practitioner) or a permanent loss or substantial impairment of hearing, speech or sight. Those applicants may have an interview instead.

The appointment: what to bring and what happens

A letter gives the date, time and place, and it can come soon after you apply: Home Affairs says to be ready before you lodge. Tests are held at departmental offices in most capital cities and at some Services Australia (Centrelink) offices. Allow up to an hour. To change the date, follow the letter: Form 1300t warns that not attending can lead to refusal.

Bring an original photo ID, such as an Australian driver licence, a passport or an Australian proof of age card, and the letter, printed or on your phone. Certified copies and electronic images of the ID are not accepted, and without photo ID the appointment is moved to a later date. Arrive 10 minutes early; children are not allowed in the test centre. Staff discuss your application, confirm your identity and take your photo, then you sit the test.

You sit it alone: no phones, smart watches or other devices, no notes, no talking except to the Test Facilitator, who can show you how to use the device, use it for you, read the questions aloud or select the answers you say. Breaking the rules can cost you the test and the application.

An Assisted Test gives 90 minutes instead of 45 if you asked for it in your application (question 16 of Form 1300t) and have completed at least 400 hours of English tuition under the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), or have a physical or cognitive impairment that prevents you from sitting the standard test even with the Facilitator's help.

If you pass and your application is approved, the invitation to a citizenship ceremony arrives about four weeks before it. You become a citizen when you make the pledge.

If you do not pass

Home Affairs is clear about this: it does not affect your visa, you can keep living in Australia, and it books another appointment for you at no extra cost. If you do not pass after three appointments, it may refuse your application.

Use the time to find what went wrong. Short on the overall mark? Practise the topics where you guessed. A slip on values? Read Part 4 again in full.

Our Common Bond: the one booklet you need

Home Affairs says it plainly on its preparation page: "All test questions are based on the OCB resource booklet." Only the testable section counts, four parts and a glossary:

• Part 1, Australia and its people: First Peoples, settlement, states and territories, national days, symbols.
• Part 2, Australia's democratic beliefs, rights and liberties: freedoms, equality, responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.
• Part 3, Government and the law in Australia: the Constitution, the Head of State, parliament, courts, police.
• Part 4, Australian values: the Rule of Law, freedoms, equality, a "fair go", mateship, English, loyalty to Australia.

Download the current file rather than using an old printout: the current one names King Charles III as Head of State.

In your language. The test is in English only, but the testable section is available in 40 community languages, among them Arabic, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Hindi, Nepali, Spanish, Urdu and Vietnamese. Prepare in your language, sit the test in English.

Audio and practice. The Our Common Bond podcast covers the testable section in five episodes, with transcripts. The official practice test is designed, Home Affairs says, to look and feel like the real one, with different questions on the day. AMEPOnline has free citizenship modules built around the booklet.

How to prepare: understand, test yourself, come back

Rereading feels productive but is a weak way to remember. A 2013 review of ten study techniques by John Dunlosky and colleagues rated practice testing and practice spread out over time highest, and rereading and highlighting low. For this test, that means three steps.

1. Understand. Read one part at a time. If it helps, keep the official translation beside the English, but learn each term in English: the test will say "Governor-General" and "referendum", not the word in your language.
2. Test yourself. After each part, answer questions on it without looking, and read the explanation for every option, not only the right one.
3. Come back. Return to each topic a few days later, and again after that. In the last week, sit full mocks: 20 questions, 45 minutes, both pass conditions checked.

Separate these pairs early, because they often sit side by side as options:

• Head of State (the King), Governor-General (his representative in Australia), Prime Minister (leader of the government);
• Welcome to Country (performed by a local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander custodian) and Acknowledgement of Country (anyone can deliver it);
• Premier (leads a state government) and Chief Minister (leads a territory government).

Three questions from our bank, explained

These come from our own bank, written from the testable section: practice questions, not questions from the real test, which Home Affairs does not publish.

1. A quiz master asks teams to choose the smallest state overall, rather than the smallest mainland state. Which state should the teams select?

• A. Victoria
• B. Tasmania
• C. South Australia

Answer: B, Tasmania. "Tasmania is the smallest state", while Victoria "is the smallest of the mainland states" (p. 11). The question turns on one word, mainland; our bank also has the mirror question, where the answer is Victoria.

2. Which office holds the position of Australian Head of State?

• A. The King of Australia
• B. The Prime Minister
• C. The Governor-General

Answer: A. "Australia's Head of State is the King of Australia, His Majesty King Charles III" (p. 26). The Governor-General is his representative, appointed on the Prime Minister's advice. The wrong options are the two offices most easily confused with the right one.

3. A custom from a person's home country conflicts with an Australian law. What should the person do?

• A. Follow the Australian law
• B. Follow the familiar custom
• C. Alternate between both rules

Answer: A. Part 4 opens with this idea: "Australian laws apply to all people in Australia. This means regardless of your background or culture, you must follow Australian laws" (p. 34). It is a values question, so there is no margin for error.

Practise free, then with our app

Our free Australian citizenship practice test has 20 questions, one from each topic, so five are on values, as in the real test. Under every answer is the sentence of Our Common Bond it comes from. No sign-up.

Our app, Australian Citizenship Coach, has the full bank: 424 questions on all four testable parts, 116 of them on values, in English like the test. Under each answer: why it is right, what is wrong with each other option, and the booklet sentence with its page. The mock test is 20 questions in 45 minutes and checks both pass conditions. Free every day: one session, either a study session or a ten-question test, and the first topic. Premium adds unlimited mock tests, all 20 topics, flashcards and mistake review. Details on the app page.

The app is made by X Maximus Labs, S.L., an independent company, not by Home Affairs. Home Affairs does not endorse or recommend any external courses, websites or applications (Form 1300t adds "including paid external apps"), and the booklet says everything you need for the test is in it. Keep the free booklet, podcast and practice test at the centre of your preparation.

Sources

• Department of Home Affairs: Learn about the citizenship test. 20 questions, 45 minutes, 15/20 and 5/5 values, no extra cost, who sits the test, the appointment, test rules, Test Facilitator, Assisted Test, what happens if you do not pass.
• Department of Home Affairs: Learn about the citizenship interview and test. Computer or tablet; who may have an interview instead.
• Department of Home Affairs: Prepare for the test. English only, questions based on Our Common Bond, practice test, AMEPOnline, no endorsement of external apps.
• Department of Home Affairs: Our Common Bond, 40 community languages; Our Common Bond podcast, five episodes.
• Department of Home Affairs: Form 1300t, Application for Australian citizenship, general eligibility, design date 09/26. Eligibility, residence requirement, length of the appointment, Assisted Test request, note on paid external apps.
• Department of Home Affairs: Information for registered health practitioners. Exemption for permanent or enduring incapacity.
• Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, testable section, © Commonwealth of Australia 2020, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Pages ii, 11, 26 and 34.
• Dunlosky, J. and others, Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013.

Rules change. Check the Home Affairs website before you apply or attend your appointment. Last checked 9 November 2026.