Proud friend: Seven-year-old Alexandra Stennett of Castle Hill congratulates her friends on gaining their Australian citizenship at a ceremony in Castle Hill on Thursday. She came along to give moral support to nine-year-old Luke Pattison (right) and Kieran Pattison, 11, who also live in Castle Hill. Picture: Mike Sea
The Hills Council has increased the number of citizenship ceremonies it hosts from every three months to every two.
This was done to cater for the growing number of applicants, a spokeswoman said on the council’s Facebook page.
‘‘Any further increases in the number of ceremonies [will be] subject to Parliament sitting days and the availability of local members to attend the various ceremonies,’’ she posted.
‘‘At our ceremonies we have 110 people affirm their allegiance to Australia every two months and in January and September increase this number to 160.
‘‘Unfortunately, the size of our venues determine the amount of people we can have.’’
She said if citizenship was urgently required, the Department of Immigration should be contacted.
‘‘You may be able to go to another location,’’ she said.
‘‘The letters of invitation to a citizenship ceremony come directly from the Department of Immigration. Council does not determine who is placed on each ceremony list.’’
Hills Council held its last citizenship ceremony on Thursday, in time for Australia Day.
More than 160 Hills residents from 29 countries became Australian citizens at the ceremony in the Castle Grand, including Luke and Kieran Pattison, 9 and 11, from Castle Hill.