This Australian Citizenship Day, advocates are urging the Morrison government to address the country's backlog of citizenship applications.
More than 8,000 people around Australia will become citizens on Tuesday, but the latest figures show that there are upwards of 198,000 in the queue.
CEO of the Migration Council Australia Carla Wilshire told SBS News the backlog had reached "a historic high" over recent years.
"Yes, it has come down slightly [this year], but it is absolutely significant in terms of previous decades and Australia's model of migration," she said.
"It's critically important ... that significant resources are devoted to getting this backlog down.
A citizen ceremony earlier this year that included refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi Source: AAP
"Citizenship is fundamental in terms of people's sense of belonging in Australia and when you run a significant migration program, what we want to do is make sure people are fully tied in and committed to Australia, both in the short term and the long term of their lives."
Ms Wilshire also voiced concern around processing times for citizenship applications.
How long it is currently taking to process Australian citizenship by conferral. Source: Department of Home Affairs
While there have been improvements in recent years, Department of Home Affairs material states 90 per cent of applications for citizenship by conferral still take 24 months to be processed.
"Often people's lives are on hold in different ways ... The prolonged waiting has an effect on people," Ms Wilshire said.
'80 per cent increase'
In 2017-2018, Australian citizenship approvals hit a 15-year low of just 81,000, but numbers are on the rise.
In a statement supplied to SBS News, the Department of Home Affairs said there had been an "80 per cent increase in citizenship applications approved in 2018-19 compared to the previous financial year".
"More than 145,000 migrants had their citizenship by conferral applications approved in 2018-19, up from 81,000 in 2017-18," the statement said.
More than 8000 people from almost 130 nations are set to become Australians. Source: AAP
"In addition to an 80 per cent increase in the number of people approved for Australian citizenship, the government has also halved the time between an applicant attending a citizenship interview and the finalisation of their application."
In the statement, Minister for Immigration David Coleman said, "I have been working over the past 12 months to ensure citizenship applications are managed as efficiently as possible, while also maintaining the integrity of the program".
"We have invested $9 million into our systems and staff, established a task force to focus on complex cases, and increased the number of citizenship appointments available for applicants to attend interviews and sit the citizenship test," he said.
Federal government material says Australian Citizenship Day "recognises the importance of Australian citizenship - it is a day to welcome new citizens to our community at ceremonies across the country".
David Coleman said the government is investing in how citizenship applications are processed. Source: AAP
"This year we will confer the largest number of citizens for Australian Citizenship Day celebrations due to government efforts to reduce the citizenship application processing times."
More than 8,000 people from almost 130 nations are expected to become Australians on Tuesday.
Since 1949, Australia has welcomed more than five million new citizens.
