Official Australian Citizenship Practice Test, Podcast and Booklet

Yes, there is an official Australian citizenship practice test. The Department of Home Affairs runs it at citizenshippracticetest.homeaffairs.gov.au. It has 20 multiple choice questions and a 45-minute limit, like the real test, but the questions are samples only.

The practice test is one of four preparation resources Home Affairs lists on its Prepare for the citizenship test page. This post explains each one, where to find it, and what Home Affairs says about paid apps and courses. Everything here comes from Home Affairs pages, which are listed at the end.

Official resources at a glance

Home Affairs says you should read Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond, and that you "can also" listen to the podcast, do the practice test and use the AMEPOnline citizenship modules.

On cost: Home Affairs calls AMEPOnline "our free AMEPOnline website". The pages for the booklet, the podcast and the practice test don't mention any fee.

How the official practice test works

The practice test's welcome page sets out the rules. You "will have 45 minutes to answer 20 multiple choice questions." During the test you can:

• answer the questions in any order
• skip questions and come back to them later if you are unsure.

You cannot:

• refer to books, notes or other written materials
• use mobile phones or other electronic devices.

To pass, the practice test uses the same two conditions as the real test: you must answer all 5 Australian values questions correctly (5/5) and get at least 15 out of 20 (75%) overall. Our post on the Australian citizenship test pass mark explains why a score of 19 out of 20 can still be a fail.

The practice test page also reminds you that "The test is conducted in English only," even though the booklet is translated.

Our Common Bond: the booklet the test is based on

Home Affairs states: "All test questions are based on the OCB resource booklet." OCB is short for Our Common Bond. The Our Common Bond page has the testable section to download in English, and says the booklet "has all the information you need to help you pass the test."

For what is in each part of the testable section, see our guide to the Our Common Bond testable section.

Is Our Common Bond available in Hindi and other languages?

Yes. Home Affairs says Our Common Bond "is available in 40 community languages," and the page links the testable section in each one. Hindi is on the list. The full list on the page is:

Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian, Burmese/Myanmarese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Croatian, Dari, Dinka, French, German, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Karen, Khmer, Kirundi, Korean, Macedonian, Nepali, Nuer, Persian/Farsi, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

The translations are for study only. The test itself is in English.

Is there an official Our Common Bond audio version?

Yes. Home Affairs publishes the Our Common Bond podcast. The page says it "presents the main points in the testable section" of the booklet. There are 5 episodes:

1. Introduction
2. Australia and its people
3. Australia's democratic beliefs, rights and liberties
4. Government and the law in Australia
5. Australian values

Each episode has an audio link and a transcript on the page. The page also links to the series in podcast apps (it lists iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts).

So if you have read that there is no official audio or no official translation of Our Common Bond, that is not correct. Home Affairs publishes both. Note that the podcast presents the main points of the testable section; Home Affairs doesn't describe it as a word-for-word reading of the booklet, so read the booklet too.

AMEPOnline citizenship modules

AMEPOnline is the online part of the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). On the prepare page, Home Affairs says the AMEPOnline citizenship modules "help English language learners engage with the OCB resource booklet content through characters, storylines, and interactive learning material and activities."

The AMEPOnline citizenship category lists four modules, Module 1 to Module 4. The AMEPOnline home page describes the Citizenship course as "English for the Australian citizenship test", for Levels 3, 4 and 5.

The AMEP program page says you can "Learn English at your level for free at AMEPOnline," and that there is also an app on the App Store and Google Play. If you want to build your English skills more broadly, Home Affairs suggests you consider enrolling in the general AMEP program. The AMEP itself is "a free service to help eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants," and that page explains who is eligible.

What Home Affairs says about paid apps and courses

This is the exact statement on the Prepare for the citizenship test page:

"The Department does not endorse or recommend any external courses that claim to help you prepare for the citizenship test, including paid external apps."

The transcript of the Home Affairs video on the Learn about the citizenship test page goes further:

"You should only use test resources available on the Home Affairs website."

That covers every third-party product, including ours. The official resources above are the authority on what the test covers, so start there.

A simple order for using the official resources

This is our suggestion, not a Home Affairs rule:

1. Read the testable section of Our Common Bond in English. Use a translation alongside it if that helps you understand.
2. Listen to the podcast to review the main points, for example while commuting.
3. If you are still learning English, work through the AMEPOnline citizenship modules.
4. Do the official practice test to get used to the format and the 45-minute limit.

Extra practice alongside the official resources

If you want more practice questions after the official ones, we make the AU Citizenship Test: Values app. It has 630+ questions written from Our Common Bond and mapped to its four testable parts, a Values Drill, and 40 timed mock exams marked with both pass rules. You can also try two free mock exams in your browser: mock exam 1 and mock exam 2. It is not endorsed by Home Affairs and is not a replacement for the booklet.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official Australian citizenship practice test?

Yes. Home Affairs runs one at citizenshippracticetest.homeaffairs.gov.au. It has 20 multiple choice questions and 45 minutes, and it is a sample test only.

Are the practice test questions the same as the real test?

No. Home Affairs says "The questions will be different on the day of the test."

Is there free citizenship test practice in Australia?

Yes. Home Affairs describes AMEPOnline as free, and its pages for the practice test, booklet and podcast don't mention any fee.

Is there an Our Common Bond audio version?

Yes, as a podcast. The official Our Common Bond podcast has 5 episodes covering the main points of the testable section, each with a transcript.

Is Our Common Bond available in Hindi?

Yes. Hindi is one of the 40 community languages that the testable section is available in on the Home Affairs website.

Can I take the citizenship test in my own language?

No. Home Affairs says "The test is conducted in English only." The translations are for preparing only.

Does Home Affairs recommend any paid apps?

No. Home Affairs says it "does not endorse or recommend any external courses" for the test, "including paid external apps."

Sources

• Department of Home Affairs, Prepare for the citizenship test: the four official resources, AMEPOnline description, test in English only, questions based on the booklet, practice test is a sample, non-endorsement statement.
• Department of Home Affairs, Australian citizenship practice test: 20 questions, 45 minutes, what you can and cannot do, pass conditions, sample test only.
• Department of Home Affairs, Read Our Common Bond booklet: PDF downloads, 40 community languages and the language list.
• Department of Home Affairs, Listen to Our Common Bond podcast: 5 episodes, transcripts, podcast apps.
• Department of Home Affairs, Learn about the citizenship test: "free AMEPOnline website" and "only use test resources available on the Home Affairs website" (video transcript).
• Department of Home Affairs, AMEPOnline citizenship courses: Modules 1 to 4, "English for the Australian citizenship test", Levels 3, 4 and 5.
• Department of Home Affairs, AMEP: About the program: AMEP is a free service, AMEPOnline is free, AMEPOnline app.

All quotations were checked against these pages in October 2026.