The new test includes questions on domestic violence, genital mutilation and child marriage which are illegal in Australia. The AGE points out that these changes to the question would not make any difference to the attitudes of permanent residents.
Citizenship applicants will need to demonstrate a higher level of English proficiency. The paper, however, says this ridiculous hurdle would actively discriminate against immigrant women, who typically have lower English proficiency than their spouses. And it suggests that it would be far better to improve resources and accessibility for English language education.
The paper also raises a question about the governments genuine aim of changes to the citizenship requirements, arguing if the government wants to ensure malpractices such as family violence are viewed by all our citizens as unacceptable, than a one-off test where it's all too easy to parrot the answers required cannot be a solution.
The AGE emphasizes that immigration has been an Australian success story and points out that we need an informed debate in order to ensure that immigration continues to be a huge benefit for this community.
