Old age pension records

[Andcarred]

Hi All,

JM I don't understand your statement that there was no Australian citizenship until after Ww2.  My Swedish grandfather was granted Australian Citizenship in the early 1900s.

And carried

[majm]

Hi All,

JM I don't understand your statement that there was no Australian citizenship until after Ww2.  My Swedish grandfather was granted Australian Citizenship in the early 1900s.

And carried

Naturalised as a British Subject ...  is different from Australian citizenship .  Australian citizenship commences with the Federal legislation in 1948,  ... and until that became law in 1949 there was no such thing as Australian Citizenship.  Similar in the other British Dominions ... as the Empire declined,  so its grip loosened.  Final separation not until 1986 and Australia Act.  This is when the issues re dual citizenship commence for federal pollies.  Until then  if British Subjects they were eligible because that was paramount,  but once UK joined EU then it needed to separate/divorce from its dominions ... now with brexit .... well the head of state for Australia is the Queen of Australia and she appoints her representative ... the governor general,  and because she is Queen of Australia by Australian legislation, (and UK too) if she were to abdicate the UK throne,  she would also need permission from Australia ... likely similar citizenship laws and dates and rules in NZ and Canada and etc.

So no such thing as national citizenship until 1949 ...  it was promoted in Australia as a reward for serving the Empire in WWII .. read up on Menzies v Evett and the founding documents for the United Nations ...

JM

[majm]

That is the short version ...

JM   

[majm]

Here's a live link to the Federal parliament's webpage about Australian Citizenship ... including from the first intro paragraph :

Australian citizenship was created through the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948, and came into effect 26 January 1949, soon after the post-war mass migration program was launched (in 1945).[1] Prior to 1949, Australians could only hold the status of British subjects. The development of Australian citizenship has been intertwined with immigration since Federation. This relationship has developed formally through government administrative structures and has been demonstrated in the way that changes to citizenship law have reflected changes in immigration policies. The success of the migration program has been consistently linked to citizenship outcomes for migrants.
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/0910/AustCitizenship

JM

[Andcarred]

Hi JM,

Thanks for that explanation.  I guess there is not that much difference because once you were a naturalised Australian you could then qualify for pension, vote and get an Australian passport (when they came in).

Andcarred

[majm]

I think there's actually a huge difference between being a British Subject and being an Australian Citizen, and obviously so too does the High Court of Australia, for in very recent times it has ruled quite a number of those elected to the 45th Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia as ineligible based on the federal Constitution's Section 44 i
......
Section 44 of the Constitution sets out restrictions on who can be a candidate for Federal parliament. Simply put, the following cannot be eligible to be a Member of the House of Representatives or the Senate ... The Section in part reads:

44. Any person who -

(i.) Is under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign power:

So prior to the Australia Act of 1986,  those with UK or NZ dual citizenship status, were NOT in breach of that section (the UK was not yet a foreign power!) but AFTER 1986, that's when the UK became a foreign power in respect of Australia.

If you were to write  'I guess there is not that much difference because once you were a naturalised British Subject, you could then qualify for pension, vote and get an Australian issued British Passport'  ...... but until 1949, there was NO such status as Naturalised Australian.  You wrote about your Swedish ancestor being granted Australian citizenship in the early 1900s...  That is simply not possible.    Foreigners were those who were NOT British Subjects either by birth or naturalisation.   

JM

[majm]

From that live link I offered earlier …  (reply #12)
.....

The Naturalisation Act 1903 introduced the conditions by which ‘aliens’ could be granted naturalisation by the Commonwealth and attain the rights and privileges of British subjects. This Act also precluded persons from Asia, Africa or the Pacific Islands from applying for naturalisation.
[/i]
JM

[majm]

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/3d68c56307742d8fca257090002029cd/8e72c4526a94aaedca2569de00296978!OpenDocument

THE BEGINNINGS

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed on I January 1901 by federation of the six States under a written constitution which, among other things, authorised the new Commonwealth Parliament to legislate in respect of age and invalid pensions. In the event, the Commonwealth did not exercise this power until June 1908 when legislation providing for the introduction of means-tested 'flat-rate' age and invalid pensions was passed. The new pensions, which were financed from general revenue, came into operation in July 1909 and December 1910 respectively, superseding State age pension schemes which had been introduced in New South Wales (1900), Victoria (1900) and Queensland (1908) and an invalid pension scheme introduced in New South Wales (1908).

The new pension was paid to men from age 65. It was paid to women at age 60, but not until December 1910. The age pension was also subject to a residence qualification of 25 years which was reduced to 20 years shortly after introduction. A residence qualification of five years applied to the invalid pension.

In 1912 the Commonwealth introduced a maternity allowance. This allowance was a lump sum cash grant payable to a mother on the birth of a child.


JM

[Andcarred]

Hi JM,

My grandfather's Certificate of Naturalisation was issued on 22 December 1902, the condition being he had resided in New South Wales for 5 years and intended to keep residing there,    The Certificate was issued by the NSW Government under the Naturalization and Denization Act of NSW, 1898.

Andcarred