PerthNorg

Australian passports don't prove citizenship!

From today a new ruling has come in affecting applications for passport renewal. Where in the past, having an old passport was proof enough of citizenship, you now have to provide either your Australian birth certificate or proof of citizenship papers. If your old passport expired more than 12 months ago, then that is not proof enough of Australian citizenship.

So effectively the government is saying that its own passports do not prove you are an Australian citizen. It's madness.

Let me just share with you what I was told today in a bid to get a passport for an unexpected trip overseas next week. I have an old passport that expired a couple of years ago, but I've not had my citizenship papers for years (I had my passport, which I thought proved I WAS a citizen).

In order to get a passport under the new rules that came into effect from today (just my luck) I have to get proof of citizenship papers. This is the best bit - it will take four weeks to get them and eight weeks if I apply from WA (WTF). So effectively if you have been an Australian citizen for a number of years (it's been close to 14 for me) it will now take up to two months to get a passport renewed if you don't have your citizen documents. Chances are like me, many people don't have those documents once they get a passport. I was only ever asked to show them on my original passport application and since then I have never been asked to show them again (the passport proved I was a citizen).

Australians born here are also now affected, but you can walk into the relevent department and get a birth certificate that day.

Everyone I spoke to at DFAT, conceded it was a ridiculous situation. And yes, my holiday is looking less and less likely.

DFAT information here.