MPs and senators will be forced to lodge a declaration that they are not a citizen of any country other than Australia, under a plan announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Monday.

Within 21 days of the Parliament approving the measure, MPs and senators will be required to provide to the registrar of members’ interests a declaration that he or she was not – to the best of his or her knowledge and belief – a citizen of any country other than Australia.

They will also be required to declare the birthplace of their parents.

If they had been a dual citizen, they would need to provide details and evidence of the time and manner in which their foreign citizenship was renounced or otherwise came to an end.

Any member found to have made a false declaration would be found in contempt of the Parliament.

However, Mr Turnbull did not specify the punishment for anyone in breach, saying it would be up to the Parliament to decide the penalty for that MP or senator.

The move comes as the government tries to respond to the raft of dual-citizenship problems that has created chaos, and as Mr Turnbull faces persistent criticism over a perceived lack of leadership on the issue.

Mr Turnbull told reporters that the declaration system was not an audit which he had likened late last week to a “witch hunt”.

“I want to say that this is not an audit,” he told media in Canberra on Monday.

“The obligation is on each member and each senator to make a full disclosure.

“Members and senators have been put squarely on notice now.

“If a member, for example, were to make a statement here [that was]  incorrect or false than they would be committing … a serious breach of privilege.”

Mr Turnbull said the High Court would remain the sole body that determined whether an MP was ineligible to sit in Parliament.

Conservative Liberal Senator Eric Abetz, who last week called for “an audit or similar process”, congratulated Mr Turnbull for his “strong and decisive action to restore the integrity of the Parliament”.

“Today’s announcement is positive and in line with what I have called for over the last week,” Senator Abetz said in a statement.

“I am appreciative that the Prime Minister has taken on board the views of the backbench on this issue.”

Earlier on Monday, former prime minister Tony Abbott demanded that it was time “hard calls” were made.

“Until this matter is resolved I think that it’s going to be an ongoing circus and governments and countries can’t afford to have an ongoing circus of this type,” he told 2GB.

The Senate resolution will be proposed when the upper house sits next week, while a separate resolution will go to the House of Representatives when it sits next on November 27.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten said he was prepared to “meet with Turnbull on Wednesday and engage constructively”.

But he added that any deal had to be “fair dinkum” and satisfy the public that there were “no remaining clouds over the eligibility” of members of parliament.

The full statement of the proposed requirements

The House resolves that one, not later than 21 days from the date of the resolution and in subsequent parliaments being sworn in as a member, each member shall provide to the registrar of members interests a statement containing the following columns:

a) declaration by the member that at that time the member nominated for election to the House of Representatives he or she was not, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, a citizen of any country other than Australia;

b) the declaration that the member, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, is not a citizen of any other country apart from Australia;

c) so far as the member is aware, the place and date of the member’s birth and citizenship which the member held at the time of birth;

d) so far as the member is aware, the place and date of the birth of the member’s parents;

e) whether, to the best of the member’s knowledgeable, the member has ever been a citizen of another country, and if so, which country or countries; and

f) if the member has entered the previous questions in the affirmative, then provide details and evidence of the time and manner in which the member’s citizenship of the other country was renounced or otherwise came to an end that.