What it does
This instrument authorises certain categories of persons to receive the pledge of commitment from people becoming Australian citizens, as required by subsection 27(5) of the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. Without such authorisation, a pledge would not be validly administered and the applicant would not become a citizen. The instrument replaces the earlier instrument LIN 20/084, which it repeals. Section 4(1) provides that each class of persons listed in Schedule 1 is authorised to receive the pledge. However, section 4(2) creates a significant ministerial override: the Minister may disqualify a person from receiving the pledge if the Minister is satisfied that the person has received, or is likely to receive, a pledge in a way inconsistent with the character of a citizenship ceremony as non-commercial, apolitical, non-partisan and secular. This disqualification power is triggered by a written notice from the Minister. The instrument is taken to have commenced retrospectively on 8 September 2020 for most provisions, with the repeal of the earlier instrument commencing on registration. That retrospective commencement means that any pledges received between September 2020 and the registration date by persons who were not authorised under the earlier instrument but are authorised under this one are retrospectively validated. The practical effect is continuity: councils, mayors, MPs, department officials, diplomatic staff and others who had authority under the previous regime retain it, while the instrument tidies up the classes and adds the ministerial discretion to exclude. The instrument does not create any new substantive duties on citizenship applicants; it is purely procedural for the ceremony administrator. The key mechanical change from the prior instrument is the explicit codification of the ministerial power to disqualify an otherwise authorised person, which gives the Minister direct control over the conduct of ceremonies without needing to amend the list itself. That is a notable expansion of executive discretion in a process that is meant to be apolitical.