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Australian citizenship: new changes to citizenship bill to be introduced this month

Source: SBS, 07/06/2018


The Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the
Requirements for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures) Bill 2017
is set to make a comeback.
The bill has been assigned ‘a priority status’ by Home Affairs
Minister Peter Dutton’s department and will be introduced to the
Parliament this month.
Greens Senator Nick McKim raised the subject at the recent Senate
Estimates hearing of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation
Committee on May 22nd, where Department of Home Affairs Deputy
Secretary of Policy, Ms Linda Geddes said the bill had been assigned
‘a priority status’ and will be introduced `in the winter
parliamentary sitting period`.
The winter parliament session for June 2018 is scheduled for 18 to 21
June and 25 to 28 June but the bill has not yet been listed on the
notice paper for Senate Business.
When contacted by SBS Hindi, a spokesperson from the Department of
Home Affairs did not confirm the date but said, `The timing for the
introduction of legislation is a matter for Government.`
SBS Hindi has written to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and is
awaiting his response.
Greens Senator Nick McKim
Senator McKim, who has been vocal in his opposition to the bill, told
SBS Hindi that he has not seen a copy of the new legislation but said
he will continue to oppose the proposed changes to the bill which make
it harder for migrants to become Australian citizens.
“We will be opposing the new bill and will work with other Senators to
block it in the Parliament,” he said.
Last year, the Turnbull government’s first attempt to pass the bill
failed after staunch opposition from Labor, the Greens, and the Nick
Xenophon Team.
The legislation makes several changes to citizenship requirements.
They include changing the period of permanent residency from one year
to four, a modest English language requirement, a new values test, and
stronger character checks.
Potential citizens will also need to demonstrate their integration
into the community, including by `behaving in a manner consistent with
Australian values`.
The amended bill, which makes the wait longer and eligibility tougher
for migrants, was struck down after the government missed the deadline
in the Senate, thus striking off the bill by default on October 18th,
2017.
The new requirements which were published on the Home Affairs website
have recently been taken down.
The spokesperson from the Department of Home Affairs did not explain
why they have been taken down but said, `Information regarding any
changes to Australian citizenship requirements will be available on
the Department’s website.`
Migrants rejoice as citizenship bill is struck down
Migrants heave a sigh of relief as the citizenship bill was struck
down - as announced by Tony Burke in Parliament this afternoon.
Over 200,000 citizenship applications awaiting outcome
The citizenship backlog today has reached alarming numbers with more
than 200,000 applicants awaiting the outcome of their applications.
“The number of citizenship applications on hand as at 30 April for
conferral is 209,826,” a member of the Home Affairs Department told
the Senate Estimates Hearing in May.
Senator Nick McKim, who has called the proposed changes ‘hateful and
divisive’, says this is due to the department ‘not allocating enough
resources’ to process pending applications.
“The huge backlog of 200,000 means the department is not allocating
enough resources.
“It is already too hard and taking too long to get citizenship. The
government needs to make it easier,” he said.


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