Migrants who wants to become permanent Australian residents and citizens may have to pass an English test as a requirement. 

According to the Turnbull government, a primary school-level English test is in consideration to ensure that Migrants have the skills to integrate into society and engage with the economy and education before they permanently reside in Australia. 

“Everyone should recognise we all have a vested interest in being able to converse and engage in the national language,” Malcom Turnbull said. 

Multiculturalism and Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge said that the new test will be Australia-based with more “reasonable and basic” conversational English, instead of the usual international exams. 

“If you have a lot of people not speaking the language then you start to get social fragmentation and we don’t want to see that happen,” Mr Tudge said.  

“We want people to be able to interact with one another, work together, play together and continue to contribute to Australian society,” he added. 

According to the figures released by the Coalition, up to 820,000 permanent residents in Australia had little or no English in 2016. 

This number has increased as Mr Tudge said that the number is at a “concerning situation” with the numbers “close to a million”. 

He added that the revised citizenship reforms will hopefully be passed by this year. The Bill is expected to be presented to the Parliament after more consultations.