The Federal Opposition has used the annual conference of the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia (FECCA) to attack the Government's proposed citizenship laws.
With the conference looking into the possible changes, the Opposition has termed them detrimental to Australia's multicultural society.
Under the proposed changes, permanent residents would have to wait four years to qualify for citizenship, a big increase from the current one-year wait.
There would also be tougher testing to prove competency in English, with migrants required to record a Band 6 score in the International English Language Testing method.
The annual conference of the Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia in Darwin has been looking at how the laws would affect multiculturalism.
The assistant minister for social services and multicultural affairs, Zed Seselja, says the Government supports diversity but considers an ability to speak English important.
