Changes in the Australian citizenship test prove controversial.
The Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship are having to defend changes to their controversial Australian citizenship tests today.
The tests, introduced by the previous conservative government, quizzed immigrants on their knowledge of Australia. Now the Department of Immigration and Citizenship want to make it more relevant to today.
The current test questions applicants on their general knowledge of the country, including questions about famous cricketers. The new test will focus on the concepts of the Australian Citizenship Pledge including Australian rights and laws.
The test will also have two parts, a testable and non-testable section. The non-testable section will include information about Australia’s history, culture, sport and famous Aussies such as Dick Smith.
Senator Chris Evans, himself an immigrant to Australia from the UK, stated yesterday: “All prospective citizens should understand those concepts so all of the questions in the new citizenship test focus on the commitments that new citizens make in the pledge.�
“The test is also designed to assess whether applicants have a basic knowledge of the English language and will be conducted in English only.�
The test will take around 45 minutes to complete and the pass mark has been raised from 60% to 75%.
Critics of the tests condemned the changes as a waste of money and claim that they do not help immigrants to Australia integrate into society. Furthermore they believe that the tests discriminate against those migrants from a non-English speaking background.
The new test is expected to replace the old one as early as October. Applicants can find out more information on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s website.
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