The 1901 Immigration Restrictions Act
NOT IN THE TEST This part is worth reading, but the citizenship test never asks about it.
A ‘White Australia’ policy became law when the Immigration Restrictions Act was passed in December 1901. It restricted immigrants from working in Australia and restricted the immigration of ‘non- white’ people.
People with a non-European background had to sit a dictation test of 50 words in a European language. Members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the barrister William Ah Ket and leading Chinese businessmen made public protests, but this did not succeed in changing this law.
Migrants from Europe were prominent in the newly federated Australia. However, the cultural contributions of Chinese, Indians, Pacific Islanders and peoples from the Middle East were already part of Australia’s social identity.
Dorothea Mackellar (1885–1968)
Dorothea Mackellar is a poet who is best known for her poem My Country, first published in 1908, which immortalised the line ‘I love a sunburnt country’. Her poetry is regarded as quintessential bush poetry, inspired by her experience on her brothers’ farms near Gunnedah, North-West New South Wales.
In 1968, Dorothea was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her contribution to Australian literature.
From Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, the official booklet