The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applicable in all states and territories of Australia.

After federation as a Dominion within the British Empire in 1901, Australia was granted more autonomy over time and gradually became independent from the United Kingdom.

[12] Denizens were not considered aliens, but could not pass subject status to their children by descent and were barred from Crown service and public office.

After Britain established marital denaturalisation for British subject women who married non-British men in 1870, New South Wales adapted its rules to match this in 1875.

The other Australian colonies did not adopt this in legislation but in practice, women who married foreign men were automatically stripped of British subject status throughout Australia.

[16] The Federal Council of Australasia, created in 1885, was a first attempt at forming a unified governing body in the region and consisted of four Australian colonies (Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia), along with Fiji.

[18] Regulations regarding non-European migrants varied by colony but clearly favoured immigrants of European descent over members of any other ethnic groups.

[24] The federal government continued and extended restrictions on persons of non-European descent as part of its White Australia policy.

Dominions that adopted this Act as part of local legislation were authorised to grant subject status to aliens by imperial naturalisation.

[30] Australia's version of the common code regulations contained extensive measures for revoking British subject status from naturalised persons.

[32] By the end of the First World War, the Dominions had exercised increasing levels of autonomy in managing their own affairs and each by then had developed a distinct national identity.

[33] Women's rights groups throughout the Empire pressured the imperial government during this time to amend nationality regulations that tied a married woman's status to that of her husband.

Combined with the approaching independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, comprehensive nationality law reform was necessary at this point to address ideas that were incompatible with the previous system.

[40] All British subjects who were born, naturalised, or resident for at least five years in Australia automatically acquired Australian citizenship on that date.

[51] All British subjects under the reformed system initially held an automatic right to settle in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

[52][53] Non-white immigration into the UK was systemically discouraged, but strong economic conditions in Britain following the Second World War attracted an unprecedented wave of colonial migration.

[56][53] Britain somewhat relaxed these measures in 1971 for patrials, subjects whose parents or grandparents were born in the United Kingdom,[55] which gave effective preferential treatment to white Commonwealth citizens.

[65] Further reforms in 1984 fully abolished British subject status in Australian law[60] and removed remaining gender imbalances in nationality regulations.

While British subjects could not have been considered foreign at the time of federation, the severing of constitutional ties with the United Kingdom created a definitive separation between the two countries; British citizens have since been considered subjects of a foreign power and are ineligible to serve in the Parliament of Australia under section 44 of the Constitution of Australia.

[43] However, concerns over an influx of unintended immigration and the perceived exploitation of nationality law by illegal migrants to gain residence in Australia created the impetus for ending unrestricted birthright citizenship in 1986.

[71] Naturalisation candidates have been required since 1993 to recite a citizenship pledge in which they commit their loyalty to the country of Australia, rather than swear an oath of allegiance to the Australian monarch.

[77] Queensland attempted to preemptively counter German colonial interests in the Pacific by annexing Papua in 1883, though this was met with disapproval from imperial authorities.

[87][85][86] Despite their status as British subjects/Australian citizens, Papuans of indigenous descent did not have an automatic right to reside in mainland Australia and were required to apply for that separately.

[96] The Nationality and Citizenship (Burmese) Act 1950 addressed this discrepancy, removing British subject status from persons connected with Burma.

Individuals born in the country since that date receive Australian citizenship at birth if at least one parent is a citizen or permanent resident.

[104] Members of the Australian Commonwealth Games team and holders of distinguished talent visas have also been eligible for special residence considerations since 2021.

[108] New Zealand citizens are generally exempt from immigration restrictions under the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement and fall under unique regulations.

A child born in Australia between 1 September 1994 and 26 February 2001 to a New Zealand parent with an SCV or permanent visa is an Australian citizen by birth.

Children born between 1 January 2022 and 30 June 2023 to SCV holders who are later granted the subclass 189 visa between those dates retroactively acquire Australian citizenship by birth.

Citizenship may be involuntarily deprived from individuals who fraudulently acquired it, or from dual citizens who actively serve in the military of another country at war with Australia.