The number of available hours through the Department of Home Affairs’ Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) is to increase to make it easier for new migrants to learn and improve their English language skills.
Announced by Acting Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Migrant Services, Alan Tudge, the program is also set to become more flexible in order to provide opportunities and ways for more people to learn English.
“Migrants in Australia will be able to access more than the current standard 510 hours available through the AMEP,” Mr Tudge said.
“Better English language skills improve a person’s chance of getting a job, helps them be more involved in the community and lets people fully participate in our democracy,” he said.
“Only 13 per cent of those with no English skills are in work compared to 62 per cent of those who speak English well.”
“As we face unprecedented challenges, English is also important for our social cohesion.”
Mr Tudge said that currently people only completed about 300 of the 510 hours available and only 21 per cent left with a functional level of English.
“The classes are not compulsory and while we may consider additional incentives for people to take up classes in the future, there are no new requirements to be tested, or achieve a certain level of English,” he said.
He said the changes would mean more migrants would be able to access free English tuition, for longer, and until they reached a higher level of proficiency.
