From Earning the Privilege of Citizenship to Understanding its Responsibilities: An Update on Australian Citizenship Testing

Abstract

On 24 November 2007, a new Labor Government with Kevin Rudd as prime minister came into power in Australia. Within 5 months, in April 2008, the new Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, announced the formation of an independent Committee to review the citizenship test implemented by the Howard Government on 1 October 2007. In Chapter 9 of this book, Emily Farrell discusses the debates that surrounded the introduction of this testing regime, arguing that it was chiefly the then Government that determined the form and content of the test introduced, with other voices, such as those of community groups and experts, sidelined. To some degree, those other voices are being brought back into the debate through the Australian Citizenship Test Review Committee’s consultations with the wider community. This chapter outlines the findings and recommendations of the Committee based on the report ‘Moving Forward … Improving Pathways to Citizenship’ (2008, henceforth ‘Report’). It will also discuss the Government’s response to those findings.