Data reveals rising number of migrants applying for Australian citizenship

Despite Peter Dutton vowing to review the pathway to Australian citizenship in November last year, it has been revealed that the number of people who applied to become fully-fledged Aussies increased massively over the past year.

Department of Home Affairs data seen by Starts at 60 revealed that 239,413 people applied for citizenship by conferral – the pathway commonly used by those who already possess permanent resident status – in the last financial year.

This figure is up by 17.5 per cent from the previous year when 203,793 applications by conferral were lodged by hopeful citizens, according to statistics published by the federal government in response to a Senate estimates question on notice.

However, despite more people applying, the number of approved applications has decreased by almost 50 per cent, with the backlog reaching 244,431 in November, compared to 106,950 outstanding in July 2017.

The increased backlog comes after Dutton promised to “look at the way in which people are on a pathway to citizenship” at the end of last year, with the department now assessing factors such as past criminal behaviour more closely.

Read more: Majority of Aussies want to ‘keep the date’ for Australia Day.

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman confirmed the number of citizenship applications finalised in the last six months of 2018 had increased by 83 per cent compared with the same period last year.

“Between July and December 2018, almost 73,000 citizenship applications were finalised,” he said in a statement. “This is compared to almost 40,000 during the same period in 2017.”

Coleman also confirmed that 16,200 people are set to take part in citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day on Saturday, which is an increase of 4,000 compared to last year.

“Australia Day is by far the most popular day to become a citizen,” Coleman said. “Australia Day is an opportunity for all Australians, whether they are citizens by birth or by choice, to unite as a nation and celebrate what’s great about Australia.

“Australian citizenship is the common bond that unites all Australians while respecting diversity.”

On Friday, it was announced that a specific task force has also been established within the Department of Home Affairs which will focus on complex citizenship cases with $9 million being invested in the recruitment and training of extra staff to ensure citizenship applications are managed as efficiently as possible.

In August last year it was announced that the Department of Home Affairs would recruit an additional 150 members of staff to deal with the rising number of applications.

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