Australian Citizenship Values Questions: 5 Hardest Based on 10,000 Student Attempts

The Australian citizenship test includes five Australian values questions. You must answer all five correctly and score at least 75% overall to pass. This guide gives you the five values practice questions learners find hardest, based on 10,087 anonymised learner records.

These are questions from our practice bank, not questions taken from the live Department of Home Affairs test. Use them to learn the ideas in Part 4 of Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond.

The values rule in plain English

The test has 20 multiple-choice questions and runs for 45 minutes. To pass, you must get at least 15 questions correct and answer all five Australian values questions correctly. One wrong values answer means you do not pass that sitting, even if your total score is 19 out of 20.

The Department says its practice test is only a sample and the questions will be different on test day. Study the ideas, not a memorised list of answers.

What the learner data shows

We checked an anonymised snapshot of 10,087 learner-question records from 632 learners. Each record is the latest stored result for one learner on one values practice question.

Learners had a current incorrect result on 7.2% of those records. This is not an official test failure rate. It shows which questions in our values practice bank need the most attention.

The five hardest values practice questions

The first and third questions test the same rule from different angles. Australia has no official national religion, religious laws have no legal status, and every organisation must follow Australian law. The second answer comes directly from Part 4 of the booklet: the age of sexual consent is 16 or 17 depending on the state or territory.

Questions four and five test equality and mutual respect. Men and women have equal rights. Racism, violence and intimidation conflict with Australian values and law.

The Australian values you need to understand

• Australian law applies to everyone.
• Government power comes from people voting in a parliamentary democracy.
• People have freedom of speech, association and religion within the law.
• All people are equal under the law. Men and women have equal rights.
• A fair go means equal opportunity based on effort and ability, not wealth or background.
• Disagreements should be peaceful. Violence and intimidation are not acceptable.
• People should show mutual respect, contribute to the community and help those in need.
• English is the national language, and people living in Australia should make an effort to learn it.

Read Part 4 in the official Our Common Bond booklet before your test. The Department's preparation page also links to its sample test and English-language learning support.

How to answer values questions

Read the instruction word first

Words such as TRUE, FALSE, NOT and EXCEPT can reverse the task. Find that word before you compare the options.

Check every answer against Australian law

Freedom does not mean a person or group can ignore the law. An option that puts a religious rule, organisation or personal belief above Australian law conflicts with the Rule of Law.

Look for the value behind the scenario

Ask whether the situation is about peaceful disagreement, equality, freedom, mutual respect or following the law. Name the value before choosing an answer.

Do not rush

You have 45 minutes for 20 questions. Read the question again before you submit. I used this check when I sat and passed the current Australian citizenship test.

A short study plan

1. Read Part 4 of Our Common Bond.
2. Write one plain-English sentence for each value.
3. Take the Australian Values practice test.
4. Review why each wrong option conflicts with the booklet.
5. Mix values questions into a full mock-exam routine.
6. Review the hardest questions from all four test sections.

The free Our Common Bond study guide is available in English and 12 other languages. The real test is in English, so use the translation to understand the topic, then check the English wording.

Methodology

The snapshot includes the latest stored correct or incorrect state for each learner-question pair across question IDs 241 to 280, the 40 Australian values questions in the app. It contains no names, email addresses or user-level rows. Every included question has at least 177 learner-question records. This measures current stored mastery, not every attempt ever made and not the official test failure rate.

A miss rate is the number of current incorrect records divided by all current records for that question. The newest source record was updated on 3 September 2026 AEST.

Sources

• Department of Home Affairs: Prepare for the citizenship test
• Department of Home Affairs: Australian Citizenship, Our Common Bond, testable section
• Pass Australian Citizenship anonymised question-progress aggregate, queried 3 September 2026
• Pass Australian Citizenship question bank, values question IDs 241 to 280

Last checked: 3 September 2026