Failure rate of Australian citizenship test revealed
More than 80 people a week are failing the test to become an Australian citizen because they don’t understand key Australian values.
Data obtained by News Corp reveals 10,225 applicants failed the Australian citizenship test since the five revised questions were introduced in November 2020.
To pass the test, an applicant is required to answer all five of the values questions correctly, and obtain a mark of at least 15 out of 20.
Questions include examples about freedom of expression and speech, tolerating others, whether people should learn English, the importance of equality, the rule of law and how people should contribute to the community.
More than 96 per cent of those that failed the test answered a values question incorrectly.
A Home Affairs department spokesperson refused to reveal which questions were stumping applicants to “protect the integrity” of the test.
“An applicant who failed the test within this reporting period may still pass, at a subsequent test sitting,” the spokesperson said.
More than 326,000 applicants who sat the Australian citizenship test during the same period passed.
New figures released during Senate estimates show the largest cohort of people failing the test over the past five years were those aged 31-40.
More than one in 10 people who did not pass were born in India, with those born in Afghanistan and Iraq making up 8 per cent each.
One in five unsuccessful applicants since 2018 held a Five
Year Resident Return visa.
These were followed by people on partner visas, refugees and employer nomination scheme visas. The citizenship test resource booklet is available in at least 40 languages.
The Home Affairs department said it was working to reduce the backlog of citizenship applications with its on-hand caseload currently under 100,000 applications for the first time in more than five years.