Our Common Bond
Our Common Bond in your language, the test in English
Check first which version of the test is likely for you. Further down, look up whether the booklet is published in your language.
Independent, non-government site: tests, applications and appointments are handled only on the Home Affairs website.
Which version of the test applies to me?
Likely format
Standard test
| Time allowed | 45 minutes |
| Language | English only, with a listen option |
| Assisted test offered with | a request for help, plus 400 AMEP hours or an impairment |
Home Affairs publishes the testable section of Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond in English and in 40 community languages, among them Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Dari, Hindi, Nepali, Persian, Spanish, Tamil, Urdu and Vietnamese. The translations exist to help people prepare, but the citizenship test itself is conducted in English only and all its questions are based on the booklet. On the day, the computers and tablets have headsets so a candidate who cannot read English can listen to each question. Applicants who asked for help in their application and completed at least 400 hours of English tuition under the Adult Migrant English Program, or who have an impairment needing extra time, may be offered an Assisted Test lasting 90 minutes instead of 45. The sensible method is to understand the facts in your own language, then learn them in English, because the English wording is what you will see on screen.
Is the booklet published in my language?
Testable section in this language
Yes
| Language of the test itself | English only |
| Listening on the day | headsets let you hear each question |
| Translations available | 40 community languages |
Learn the facts in your language, then revise the key words in English.
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How questions and dates are built
The 40 languages
The Home Affairs Our Common Bond page offers the testable section for download in the following community languages, in addition to English:
| Languages A to K | Languages K to Z |
|---|---|
| Albanian | Kirundi |
| Amharic | Korean |
| Arabic | Macedonian |
| Bosnian | Nepali |
| Burmese/Myanmarese | Nuer |
| Chinese Simplified | Persian/Farsi |
| Chinese Traditional | Portuguese |
| Croatian | Russian |
| Dari | Serbian |
| Dinka | Sinhalese |
| French | Somali |
| German | Spanish |
| Greek | Swahili |
| Hakha Chin | Tagalog |
| Hindi | Tamil |
| Indonesian | Thai |
| Italian | Tigrinya |
| Japanese | Turkish |
| Karen | Urdu |
| Khmer | Vietnamese |
The tool further down this page lets you pick a language and confirms whether a translation exists. If yours is missing, the English edition, read alongside the podcast, is the route the department offers.
Why the test stays in English
Home Affairs gives four aims for the test, and the first is to show a basic knowledge of the English language. That is why the translations are a study aid only: the department makes the facts accessible in other languages, then checks them in English. There is no separate language exam for citizenship, so the test does both jobs at once. The page on English and the Assisted Test explains the expected level and the support available in the test room.
A bilingual study method
- Understand first. Read one part of the booklet in your language, without notes, so the ideas are clear.
- Read the same part in English. Keep the translation open beside it and underline the English words for each key fact: names of institutions, numbers, titles.
- Build a word list. The English glossary at the end of the testable section has 52 entries with example sentences; these are the words the questions use.
- Practise only in English. Use the practice sets on the study pages, starting with Part 1, so that you recognise facts in the form they will take on screen.
- Listen. If reading is slow, practise with listening too, since you can choose to hear the questions on the day.
Words that translate badly
Some English terms in the booklet carry an Australian meaning that a translation may soften. Learn these in English even if you studied everything else in your language: fair go (equal opportunity, not equal income), mateship (helping each other in hard times), Royal Assent (the Governor-General's signature that turns a Bill into law), electorate (a district that elects a member of the House of Representatives), secular (separate from religion), double majority (the two conditions of a referendum) and Rule of Law (nobody is above the law). Each appears in our explanations, so meeting them in practice questions fixes them quickly.
Support on the day
The tool at the top of this page estimates whether the standard test or the Assisted Test is likely. In both, the test is in English, headsets are provided, staff can help you read the screen or use the equipment, and nobody may come in to help you. Children are not allowed in the test centre, and you need an original photo identity document; the test day page has the full checklist.
Free means free
Every resource mentioned here is free from Home Affairs: the booklet in English and in translation, the podcast, the official practice test and the AMEPOnline modules. The department states that it does not endorse paid external products claiming to help with the test. Our own practice questions are free too, written from the English testable section under its open licence.