Last year I became an Italian citizen through marriage to an Italian Australian. The process legally was very easy: register our marriage with the Italian consulate, pay a relatively small fee, obtain an Australian federal police check and wait.
The waiting took much longer than it should have, but that was due to issues with the Italian bureaucracy, not Italian law. I then attended a ceremony where I swore an oath (in Italian) 'to be faithful to the Italian Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Italy'. That was it — no residence requirement, no citizenship or language tests — benvenuto all'Italia.
Compare this with the proposed Australian process. There several elements — the residence requirement, language test, assessment of integration, citizenship test, character test, the ceremony and 'pledge of allegiance to Australia'.
The current residence requirement is four years lawful residence in Australia of which the last 12 months must be as a permanent resident. The proposed changes mean you need to be a permanent resident for four years before you can apply. This means that the time people spend here on a temporary visa, such as a temporary spouse visa, student or 457 work visa, does not count for the residence requirement.
This is a major change because it is common now for many people to spend varying times in Australia before they become a permanent resident. It would be possible for example to be in Australia for say four years before you become a permanent resident. The time you wait for immigration to decide the permanent visa, which can be many months, or years in some cases, also does not count.
The original 1948 Citizenship Act had a five year residence period, but back then, there were very few people living here for long periods as temporary residents. You came to Australia to live, not for a temporary period to work. Prior to 1948 there were no Australian citizens, we were then 'British subjects'.
The new language test will be a requirement for all who apply. The test level will be a high one, such as IELTS 6, which is equivalent to university entrance requirement. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection stated that people from English speaking countries such as the UK, Ireland, Canada, the USA and new Zealand will be able to get exemptions from language testing.
The justification for this major change is that 'English language proficiency is essential for economic participation