For over a decade, the Australian citizenship test has remained unaltered. The government has opted to revamp the test and those applying for citizenship now have to answer an extra set of questions in their test. Historically, candidates have had to study the ‘Life in Australia’ booklet, sit the test and then sign the Australian values statement. The new test will see a section on Australian national values integrated into the booklet and questions about the values will feature in the test. This change will come into effect from November 2020.
The format of the test previously consisted of 20 multiple choice questions of which candidates needed to answer 15 correctly out of the 20 to pass. From November 2020, the test will still contain 20 questions in total but will incorporate the five ‘value’ based multiple choice questions, of which the candidates will need to answer the five correctly and achieve an overall score of 75% to pass the test. The questions will refer to issues pertaining to equality, democracy and mutual respect.
The rationale is that these new questions are intended to align with Australian values as an integral part of integrating new citizens into Australia and calls for candidates to understand the country’s values before they commit to citizenship. English language and residency requirements for citizenship will remain unaltered.
During 2019-2020 204,000 people were granted Australian citizenship and during the last five years over 686,000 have gained citizenship.
Our international department have years of experience of moving household effects and vehicles into and out of all parts of Australia. If you would like further information on our services to Australia, please take a look at our dedicated Australia page or contact our international team on 01902 714555 or email sales@burkebros.co.uk.
