For the past three years, Ms Bonello Sullivan has been lobbying the Australian Parliament on behalf of all those Maltese who were compelled to renounce their Australian citizenship under Maltese law.

Statistics from the Department of Immigration in Malta revealed that 1,994 Maltese have renounced their Australian citizenship. The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs in Australia also confirmed that Malta had the largest percentage of renunciations.

These welcome changes to the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 will come into force in 2005 after the Australian Federal elections. Previous amendments to the Citizenship Act in 2002 only allowed Maltese under 25 years of age to regain their citizenship.

Now, after much lobbying to remove the age limitation and other restrictions, amendments to the Citizenship Act have been made to allow those Maltese who lost their Australian birthright and/or right by descent through renunciation the right to apply to resume their Australian citizenship and/or birth-right.

During his speech to the Australian Institute on 7 July, the Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister Gary Hardgrave said: “The changes I will announce this evening focus on maintaining the integrity of our national unity and the status which comes from becoming an Australian citizen while broadening eligibility to welcome back into the family many of those who may have lost their birthright while living overseas. Australian Citizenship law and policy has changed over time, in line with our diverse population and society, to remove discriminatory provisions and unnecessary barriers. Some countries require or have in the past required Australian citizens living in their country to renounce their Australian citizenship between the ages of 18 to 21 to retain their citizenship of that other country and access certain benefits and services.

“Malta was one of these countries.

“In February 2000, Malta amended its law to allow for dual citizenship, but before then thousands of Australian citizens living in Malta, many returning after the Second World War with their Australian born children, had to renounce their Australian citizenship at the age of 18 to access entitlements and services such as free tertiary education; employment in the public service, armed forces, banks, etc; purchase of property and access to social security benefits. These further commonsense changes will benefit people who wish to resume their Australian Citizenship and regain access to their Australian heritage.

“The changes will also mean removal of the age limits for registration of citizenship by descent and give children of former Australian Citizens access to their Australian heritage,” Mr Hardgrave said.