Lenore Taylor Political editor Tuesday 2 June 2015

Victorian backbencher Dr Sharman Stone says new citizens should be required to take a course and pass an English language test

There is not a English-language test under current citizenship requirements, but would-be citizens are required to pass a test with questions about Australia, which requires a basic knowledge of English. Photograph: David Crosling/AAP

Would-be Australian citizens should be required to take an English-language course and prove basic conversational ability, according to a government backbencher who says many people are acquiring citizenship with almost no English.

The government’s citizenship discussion paper released last week has hit the headlines because of the cabinet stoush over provisions to strip foreign fighters of Australian citizenship, but it also raises questions that Victorian backbencher Dr Sharman Stone put to the Coalition party room last week.

According to Stone, more people are presenting at citizenship ceremonies in her electorate of Murray unable to speak any English.

“They are often people from Middle Eastern countries and very often women,” she said. “I am particularly concerned about women from cultural backgrounds that prefer them to stay at home, this might be their only chance to be allowed to learn English.

“By not requiring basic English-language skills as a requirement of citizenship I think we are missing opportunities to help these new citizens get the skills that will help them get a decent job, or help their children in school and ultimately we are risking that they become alienated and discontented.”

There is not a separate English-language test under current citizenship requirements, but would-be citizens are required to pass a test with questions about Australia, which requires a basic knowledge of English.

According to Stone this system is not always working, and new citizens should be required to take a course and pass a specific language test.

“Right now it is an expectation. I think it should become a clear requirement.”

Her concerns are included in the discussion paper released last week, which is supposed to inform a national conversation, lead by former Howard government minister Philip Ruddock and parliamentary secretary to the minister for social services, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.

The paper describes the current citizenship test and says the government is considering “standardising English-language requirements, to ensure new citizens have adequate language ability, taking into account particular circumstances such as age”.

Would-be Australian citizens must learn English, says Coalition MP | Australia news | The Guardian