 "Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the arrival of US officials on Saturday REUTERS")
The federal government today announced three broad changes to the criteria for Australian citizenship. These are:
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a new residence requirement;
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a new process for determining an applicant’s integration into the community; and
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changes to the citizenship test.
Citizenship is an important mechanism to foster integration and make people feel fully connected and committed to Australia. There is a risk, however, that if citizenship is too hard to attain, a two-tier system of permanent residency will develop in Australia: those who are full citizens, and those who failed to become citizens – though they are permanent residents.
Change in residence requirement
The proposed
