Men and women have equal rights in Australia, with equal access to education, employment, voting, standing for parliament, joining the Defence Force and the police, and equal treatment in the courts. Discriminating on the basis of gender is against the law. Both men and women may make their own independent choices about personal matters such as marriage and religion. The booklet is unusually specific here, and it is worth learning the specifics rather than the general sentiment.
Most of the values material in Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond is written at the level of principle. This section is different. It names particular rights, gives a concrete example about hiring, and identifies particular conduct that Australian law treats as criminal.
That specificity is a gift for anyone preparing, because it means the questions have definite answers rather than shades of emphasis. It also makes this one of the areas where reading carefully genuinely pays, since all five Australian values questions must be correct to pass.
The rights the booklet names
Men and women have equal rights in Australia and should be provided equality of opportunity to pursue their goals and interests.
The booklet then does something it rarely does — it lists what that means in practice. Both men and women:
- have equal access to education and employment
- can vote at elections
- can stand for parliament
- can join the Australian Defence Force and the police force
- are treated equally in courts of law
Learn that list. It is short, it is specific, and a question naming any one of those five is answered directly by it.
This sits inside a broader statement about equality under the law: Australian society values the equal rights of all people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, race, or national or ethnic origin, and a number of laws protect a person from being treated differently from others.
The booklet adds that the law is applied so that people from different backgrounds are neither given preferential treatment nor discriminated against, and that under Australian law two people can marry each other, including marriage between two men or two women.
Discrimination on the basis of gender
It is against the law to discriminate against a person because of their gender.
The example the booklet chooses to illustrate this is worth quoting closely, because it surprises people: in Australia, it is a right for a woman to get a job ahead of a man if she has better qualifications and skills.
That framing tells you what the principle is actually about. Equality here does not mean identical outcomes or a quota. It means the job goes to the better-qualified candidate, and the fact that the better-qualified candidate is a woman is not a reason to hesitate.
The general rule sits alongside it: a person should get a job based on their skills and experience, not because of their gender, wealth or ethnicity. When an organisation needs to fill a job, the law supports selecting the person with the best skills and experience for it.
Independent personal choices
Both men and women have the right to make their own independent choices about personal matters, such as marriage and religion, and are protected by the law from intimidation or violence.
The word doing the work in that sentence is independent. These are decisions belonging to the individual, and the protection is not only against being prevented from choosing but against being pressured.
Two consequences follow, and the booklet states both plainly.
Violence against a partner is a criminal offence
Physical violence against a spouse or partner is never acceptable, and it is a criminal offence in Australia. The booklet says this in the same breath as the right to make independent choices, which is the connection it wants you to draw: personal autonomy is protected by law, and violence against a partner is a crime rather than a private matter.
Forced marriage and polygamy are against the law
These appear in the section on freedom of religion, where the booklet notes that some religious or cultural practices — polygamy, meaning being married to more than one person at the same time, and forced marriage — are against Australian law and can carry severe penalties, including imprisonment.
That placement matters for the test. It reinforces the rule that religious laws have no legal status in Australia, and that Australian law must be followed by everyone, including where it differs from religious law.
Divorce
Divorce is acceptable in Australia. Either a husband or a wife may apply for a divorce to the courts, even if the other spouse wishes to continue the marriage.
This is a short passage and an easy question to answer wrongly if you have absorbed a general impression rather than the sentence. The point is not merely that divorce is permitted. It is that either party can apply, and that the other party's objection does not prevent the application.
Equality of opportunity and a "fair go"
The companion value is fairness of opportunity, which the booklet calls a "fair go".
Everyone deserves a fair go, and people should not be limited by any kind of class distinction. Everyone, regardless of background, is given an equal opportunity to achieve success, and what someone achieves in life should be the result of their hard work and talents. Ensuring that everyone has the same legal rights is described as an important aspect of fairness in Australian society.
The booklet closes the section on an optimistic note that is itself testable in substance: many new migrants in Australia have become leaders in business, their professions, the arts, public service and sport through their hard work and enterprise.
How this area is tested
Values questions rarely ask you to define equality. They tend to describe a situation and ask whether it is consistent with Australian values, or which value it reflects.
Three habits make those questions easier:
Look for who is deciding. If the scenario involves someone making a choice about their own marriage, religion or career, the answer usually turns on independent personal choice.
Look for whether the law is engaged. Violence against a partner, forced marriage and polygamy are not matters of disapproval in the booklet's framing — they are described as criminal or against the law. A question about them has a legal answer, not a cultural one.
Look for whether merit or category is driving the outcome. If a scenario has someone hired or refused because of gender, wealth or ethnicity, that is the discrimination principle. If someone is hired because they were better qualified, that is the fair go.
Our guide to Australian values questions in the citizenship test covers that question style across the whole values section.
Check yourself
- Name the five things the booklet says both men and women can do equally.
- Is it lawful for a woman to be given a job ahead of a man in Australia? On what basis?
- What does the booklet say about physical violence against a spouse or partner?
- Are forced marriage and polygamy lawful in Australia?
- Can one spouse obtain a divorce if the other does not want the marriage to end?
- What does a "fair go" mean, and what should determine what a person achieves?
If any of those needed a guess, that is the entry for your revision list. The rights of an Australian citizen overlap with this material and are worth revising in the same session.
Before the test
This section rewards precision more than most. Learn the list of five, learn the hiring example as the booklet states it, and learn the three sentences about violence, forced marriage and divorce as sentences rather than impressions.
Home Affairs publishes the booklet and updates it periodically, so read the current edition on the official website rather than relying on a summary, including this one.