Australian Citizenship Test Booklet: Our Common Bond Summary
See which parts of the citizenship booklet are tested, with PDF page numbers and study notes for every topic.
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The Australian citizenship test booklet is Our Common Bond, the official Home Affairs book on which every test question is based, and its testable section is Parts 1 to 4. This page lists the official statements about the booklet, each with a source link and the date it was checked, 2026-10-26, so you can confirm them yourself.
Use it to see which parts of the booklet are tested, match a topic to PDF and printed page numbers, check the languages and licence, and open the official PDF. The study notes below the tool cover each topic in our own words, so check exact wording against the official file before the test.
How to use the Our Common Bond Summary
- Scroll through the list. Each item starts with its statement in bold.
- Read the short quote under a statement where one is shown. It is taken from the official source.
- Click the Source link to open the Home Affairs page the statement comes from.
- Check the “(checked 2026-10-26)” date beside each item. It shows when that statement was verified against the source.
- Compare the statement with the study note for the same topic further down the page, then open the official PDF to read the full wording.
The tool is a plain list. It has no search box, filters or sorting, so use your browser’s find command (Ctrl+F on Windows, Cmd+F on a Mac) to jump to a word such as “voting” or “Parliament”.
Each statement was checked against the page it links to on 2026-10-26. Official pages change, so open the Source link before you act on a date, an amount or an eligibility rule, and follow your own appointment letter if it differs from what is shown here.
Use the page tables to turn a PDF page into a printed page, because the official PDF page numbers differ from the numbers printed on the pages by two.
Which parts of the booklet are tested?
The testable section of Our Common Bond is Parts 1 to 4 of the book. The official booklet says that everything you need to know to pass the citizenship test is in those first four parts. In the PDF file the testable section runs from page 8 to page 46, and it ends with a glossary of key words. The tables below use PDF page numbers; the printed page number is the PDF number minus 2.
| Part | PDF pages | Printed pages |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1: Australia and its people | 9-18 | 7-16 |
| Part 2: Australia’s democratic beliefs, rights and liberties | 19-24 | 17-22 |
| Part 3: Government and the law in Australia | 25-34 | 23-32 |
| Part 4: Australian values | 35-41 | 33-39 |
| Glossary of the testable section | 42-45 | 40-43 |
The pledge of commitment is printed on PDF page 6, before Part 1, so it sits outside the testable section.
Study notes by topic
These notes are written by Citizenship Drill in its own words and adapted from Our Common Bond, Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0. Printed page = PDF page minus 2. Check the exact wording in the official PDF.
| Topic | Part | PDF pages | Key point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples | Part 1 | 10-11 | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were Australia’s first inhabitants and hold the oldest continuous cultures in the world. |
| Early settlement, the gold rush and migration | Part 1 | 10-11 | European settlement began when the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain arrived on 26 January 1788, and Captain Arthur Phillip became the first Governor of New South Wales. |
| States, territories and capital cities | Part 1 | 12-13 | Australia has six states and two mainland territories, and Canberra (in the ACT) is the national capital. |
| Welcome to Country, Australia Day and Anzac Day | Part 1 | 14-15 | A Welcome to Country is given by an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander custodian of the local area, usually as the first item of an event, while anyone can give an Acknowledgement. |
| Flags, Coat of Arms, national flower, colours, gemstone and anthem | Part 1 | 16-18 | The Australian National Flag (blue, white and red) has the Union Jack, the seven-pointed Commonwealth Star and the Southern Cross; two more flags are also recognised: the Aboriginal Flag (black, red, yellow) and the Torres Strait Islander Flag. |
| Democratic beliefs | Part 2 | 20 | Australia is a parliamentary democracy: power comes from the people, who elect representatives that must answer to them at elections. |
| Freedoms and equalities | Part 2 | 21-22 | Australians have freedom of speech and expression, association and religion, but must always obey the law and respect the same freedoms in others; protests must be peaceful. |
| Responsibilities and privileges of citizenship | Part 2 | 22-24 | Citizens must obey the law, vote in federal, state/territory elections and referendums, defend Australia if needed and serve on a jury if called. |
| Voting and having your say | Part 3 | 26 | Citizens aged 18 or over must enrol and vote in federal, state and territory elections and referendums; not voting without a good reason can mean a fine. |
| Federation and the Constitution | Part 3 | 27 | Before 1901 there were six self-governing British colonies, which caused problems with trade, transport, law enforcement and defence. |
| Separation of powers, Head of State and Governor-General | Part 3 | 28-29 | The Constitution splits power between the legislature (Parliament makes laws), the executive (Prime Minister, ministers and Governor-General put laws into practice) and the judiciary (independent judges interpret and apply laws). |
| Parliament, government and how laws are made | Part 3 | 29-32 | The Australian (Federal or Commonwealth) Parliament has two Houses: the House of Representatives (over 150 members, seats by population) and the Senate (76 senators: 12 per state and 2 each for the ACT and NT). |
| Three levels of government | Part 3 | 30-31 | Australia has federal, state/territory and local government. |
| Courts, police and important laws | Part 3 | 33-34 | Courts and judges are independent, people are innocent until proven guilty, everyone may have a lawyer, and juries of randomly chosen citizens decide guilt while judges set penalties. |
| Australian values | Part 4 | 36-41 | Australian values rest on freedom, respect, fairness and equality of opportunity, and Australian law applies to everyone in Australia, even when it differs from religious or cultural rules (for example, polygamy and forced marriage). |
| Glossary of the testable section | Glossary | 42-45 | The glossary explains key words used in the test book, such as democracy, coalition, electoral roll, magistrate, mateship, secular and Rule of Law. |
How this tool works and where the numbers come from
Every fact on this page comes from Our Common Bond (Home Affairs, testable section) or the Home Affairs citizenship pages named below, checked on 2026-10-26. Practice questions are original, adapted from Our Common Bond (CC BY 4.0), and are not the official test questions.
Sources
Check yourself: common questions
What is Our Common Bond?
Our Common Bond is the official booklet Home Affairs uses for the Australian citizenship test. Its Parts 1 to 4 form the testable section, and all test questions are based on the book. The topics are Australia and its people, democratic beliefs, rights and liberties, government and the law, and Australian values.
Is Our Common Bond available in other languages?
Yes. The testable section is available in 40 community languages, while English is the test language. Check the Home Affairs page for Our Common Bond to find the translated version you need.
How many pages is the testable section?
The testable section runs from PDF page 8 to PDF page 46 of a 50-page file. Counted inclusively, that is 39 pages. Because printed page numbers are 2 lower, the same section is printed pages 6 to 44.
Is there an official practice test?
Yes. Home Affairs offers an official practice test at citizenshippracticetest.homeaffairs.gov.au. Its questions differ from the real test, so use it for practice. Home Affairs does not endorse external courses or paid apps.
Can I reuse the Our Common Bond PDF?
Most of the material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, so you can reuse it with credit. The Commonwealth Coat of Arms is excluded from that licence. The copyright page reads (c) Commonwealth of Australia 2020, and the PDF was updated in 2024. The book’s photos are credited to stock libraries and are not reused on this page.
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