Since the beginning of 1993 there has been a move by the Australian immigration authorities to improve the standard of English language skills of some migrants, particularly those family members who will need to find a job soon after arriving in Australia. Migrants coming into the country with poor English skills have less chance of finding work and will be slower at settling into the community. This costs money for the Australian public.

All adult migrants are required to give details about their English language skills. In addition, you are now required to give more accurate details about the standard of your language proficiency.

English Assessment
English language skills are now assessed in four categories:

Reading - ability to read and understand texts on familiar topics. (This would not include technical language from another profession.)

Writing - you can write well enough to communicate ideas and information, but you make some grammatical or spelling errors. Computer skills help enormously these days.

Understanding - you can understand spoken English, unless it is technical language from another profession.

Speaking - you can speak fluently, but you know you make a few errors.

If you have English skills to the above standard, it is called functional English, and is required for all employment where you must deal with the Australian public on a professional level.

If your English is functional or better you will not be able to take the language tuition under the Adult Migrant English Program. There will be no visa charge for your English tuition either.

If you are applying as the principal migrant for a Skilled Independent or Business Skills visa, your English will be assessed at interview to see if it is at the required level for your skill, and to credit you on the points test. Some business classes, when you will not have to deal with the public or require English for your profession, can achieve a high enough score on the points test without good English.

If you are applying under Skilled Migrant - Australia Linked - regional family subclass (where you have family you are joining in an area that is outside Australia's metropolitan zones), your visa (principal migrant) will be refused if you do not have functional English.

If you are applying as the principal migrant in an application for a Skilled Independent visa, or a Skilled Migrant - Australia Linked visa, your English will be assessed to make sure you can speak well enough to fulfill your employment requirements. If you have a professional skill dealing with the public, you must have functional English. In practice, if your English is not functional you probably won't score high enough in the points test.

Evidence of your English Ability
When you fill out your application forms, you will have to note how well you can speak English, and how good your adult family members' English is. You may be asked to verify these claims by providing details of your school and university education, the results of the Australian Assessment of Communicative English Skills Test (Access Test), or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test.

In some visa classes your English will be tested at interview. If there is any doubt about your English skills, you will be asked to sit the Access Test.

It is important for you and adult family members to be able to speak good English when you look for a job and settle in Australia. The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs will take trouble to assess your English ability.

Charges
When your English has been assessed, if you or adult family members have less than functional English, you will have to pay Adult Migrant English Program charges for the following visa classes:

If you are applying in the other sections of family reunion, you will not be asked to pay the English Education Charge, no matter what standard of English you have. If your English is below the functional standard, you will be entitled to up to 510 hours of tuition at an Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) course, to bring you up to this level. You must enrol within three months of your arrival in Australia. It makes no difference whether you have come in on one of the sections where payment is required, or not.

Occupations requiring English
If you apply to enter Australia as a Skilled Independent Migrant, you must be able to communicate in English to fit with your job skills. For example, if you are a nurse, you must be able to speak to patients. This is mandatory, and not part of the points test.

The occupations requiring English list (ORE) contains those occupations where you must be able to communicate effectively in at least 3 out of the 4 functional skills - reading, writing, speaking and understanding.

The ORE list came into operation on 1 July 1997.

Managers and administrators
Professionals
Associate professionals
Tradespersons and related workers
Secretaries and personal assistants
Waiters

The following are occupations where such a high standard of English is not required.