An accelerated citizenship program adopted by Wyndham council is expected to minimise the number of people waiting to become Australian citizens.
The quicker ceremonies will scrap formal photos with the mayor/presiding officer, limit guests to small children and will no longer include catering, in an effort to increase the amount of conferees that will fit in the room and boost the number of ceremonies held on scheduled days from three to four.
The new program was unanimously agreed upon at a council meeting in December 2022, following the submission of a petition in October, signed by 84 signatories who called for the urgent arrangement of a single ceremony to clear the backlog of citizens waiting to be conferred.
Councillor Sahana Ramesh said council’s role in holding the ceremonies was an integral aspect of council’s services to the community.
“We want our new residents, our new Australian citizens, to be welcomed in the best possible way and not have, as their first experience, being treated a bureaucratic number,” she said.
Cr Ramesh said council had been regularly increasing the capacity of the ceremonies over the last few years, increasing from 2600 people per year to about 5000.
“However, here in Wyndham we are the destination of choice for many, many new migrants and even 5000 per year is not enough,” she said.
Based on the predicted January waitlist and projected average approvals per month, council estimates the number of people requiring a ceremony in 2023 could be in excess of 15,000.
Cr Ramesh said the condensed event option would better cater to the needs of residents.
Cr Josh Gilligan said that while he supports the need to increase the amount of conferees, he does not support the quicker ceremonies.
“For some people we’re talking [waiting] a decade, a decade and a half, this is a historic moment in their life and to deprive them of the opportunity to have family there, I think is a mistake,” he said.
“To deprive those people of the opportunity to have a photo and participate in the ceremonial components that make these ceremonies a great and wonderful thing, is a mistake.
“I don’t support the accelerated program … but I do support in essence the resolution … namely to get through the backlog … but let’s find a better way than what is proposed here.”
Council officers also recommended the citizenship ceremony program be further developed to include smaller midweek events, and the potential to use larger scale venues such as Eagle Stadium, to expedite numbers.
