Our Common Bond study guide: how to study for the Australian citizenship test

Everything the citizenship test asks comes from one free booklet, Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond. Home Affairs says on its preparation page that "All test questions are based on the OCB resource booklet", and the booklet says all the information you need is in its first four parts. So you are not short of material. The work is remembering it, in English, on the day.

What the testable section covers

The testable section runs from page 7 to page 43 of the current English file: four parts and a glossary.

Five of the 20 test questions are on Australian values, and Home Affairs requires all five to be right, as well as at least 15 correct overall. That makes Part 4 the shortest part with the highest stakes. Part 2 covers many of the same freedoms and rights, so read the two close together.

Download the current English file rather than relying on an old printout. The current one names King Charles III as Head of State and prints the anthem line "For we are one and free".

A three-week plan

Aim for about half an hour on most days. Every session has the same shape: read a few pages, close the booklet, say or write what you remember, then check. Begin each session with a few questions on what you studied before.

Week 1. Part 1 over three days, starting a list of dates and numbers as you go. Part 2 over the next two. On day six, answer questions on both parts without the booklet, then reread only what you missed.

Week 2. Part 3 in two halves: pages 23 to 28 (Federation, the Constitution, the Head of State, parliament), then pages 29 to 32 (levels of government, parties, courts, police). Then two days on Part 4, read slowly, with Part 2 beside it. End the week with mixed questions on all four parts.

Week 3. Mixed questions every day, with values questions every day. Two or three full mocks: 20 questions in 45 minutes, checking both pass conditions. Read the glossary once. In the last days, go back only to the pages behind your mistakes.

Only two weeks? Fold weeks 1 and 2 together and keep week 3. The mixed practice at the end is the part not to skip.

Test yourself instead of rereading

Rereading feels productive, because each pass is smoother than the last. Memory research points the other way. In a 2006 experiment, Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke gave students short prose passages. One group read a passage four times. Another read it once and then tested themselves three times by writing down what they remembered. Five minutes later the rereaders were ahead, 83% against 71%, and felt more confident. A week later the order had reversed: 40% for the rereaders, 61% for those who had tested themselves.

In 2013 John Dunlosky and colleagues reviewed ten common study techniques. Two received their highest rating: practice testing and practice spread out over time. Rereading, highlighting and summarising were rated low.

One honest limit: these studies were done with students and school or university material, not with this test. They show which way to lean, not what score you will get. In practice:

• Turn headings into questions. "Who is Australia's Head of State?" "What is a double majority?" Answer aloud before you read the section again.
• Use the glossary backwards. Read the example sentence, cover the term, and name it.
• Answer before you look. With practice questions, choose first, then read why each wrong option is wrong.
• Come back after a gap. Return to a part a few days later and test yourself before rereading it.

The booklet in your language, and on audio

Home Affairs publishes the testable section in 40 community languages, from Arabic and Chinese to Spanish and Vietnamese. The test is conducted in English only. A translation helps you understand a page, but the test will say "Governor-General" and "referendum", not the words in your language. Read a part in your language first, then the same part in English, and keep the English term next to its meaning.

The official Our Common Bond podcast has five episodes, an introduction and one for each part, each with a transcript. Use it as a second pass, after reading. Home Affairs also runs free AMEPOnline citizenship modules for people learning English, and an official practice test designed to look and feel like the real one, with different questions on the day.

The traps: dates, numbers and names

Many questions turn on one detail, with near misses as the wrong options. Keep these on one page and test yourself on it.

Dates

• 26 January 1788: the First Fleet arrives, and Australia Day is 26 January (pages 8 and 13).
• 1851: the gold rush begins in New South Wales and Victoria (page 8).
• 1 January 1901: Federation, and the Constitution comes into effect (pages 9 and 25).
• 25 April: Anzac Day, after the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 (page 13).
• 1967: the referendum in which more than 90 per cent voted 'Yes' (page 25).

Numbers

• Between 65,000 and 40,000 years ago: the archaeological record of Aboriginal peoples' arrival (page 8). Page 13 says "approximately 65,000 years", so learn the range.
• Six states and two mainland territories, and a seven-pointed star on the flag (pages 14 and 28).
• 76 senators: 12 for each state, two each for the ACT and the Northern Territory (page 28).
• Double majority: a majority of voters nationally and in a majority of states, so at least four of six (page 25).
• 18: the age from which citizens must vote (page 21).

Names

• Head of State: the King of Australia. Governor-General: his representative in Australia. Prime Minister: leader of the Australian Government (pages 26 and 27).
• Premier: leader of a state government. Chief Minister: leader of a territory government (page 28).
• Governor: the King's representative in each state. In the Northern Territory, an Administrator appointed by the Governor-General (page 28).
• Tasmania is the smallest state, Victoria the smallest mainland state, Western Australia the largest (page 11).
• A local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander custodian performs a Welcome to Country; anyone can deliver an Acknowledgement of Country (page 12).

Practise with questions

Start with our 15 practice questions with answers, then sit our free 20-question practice test: five of its questions are on values, and each answer shows the booklet sentence it comes from.

Our app, Australian Citizenship Coach, is built on the same two ideas. Its 20 topics are split into 104 rules that you learn one at a time, and each rule comes back after a break as a new question, timed by FSRS, an open-source scheduling algorithm. It is in English, like the test. One session a day and the first topic are free; Premium adds unlimited mock tests, all 20 topics, flashcards and mistake review. The app is ours, made by X Maximus Labs, S.L., an independent company. It is not a Home Affairs product, and Home Affairs does not endorse any external app: the booklet, podcast and practice test above are free and official.

Sources

• Department of Home Affairs: Prepare for the test. Questions based on Our Common Bond; English only; podcast, practice test, AMEPOnline.
• Department of Home Affairs: Learn about the citizenship test. 20 questions, 45 minutes, at least 15/20 and 5/5 on values.
• Department of Home Affairs: Our Common Bond in 40 community languages, and the podcast.
• Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, testable section, © Commonwealth of Australia 2020, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Page numbers are the printed ones; word counts are ours.
• Roediger, H. L., and Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. Summary from Washington University.
• Dunlosky, J., and others (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1). Summary from the Association for Psychological Science.

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