I think you may be referring to this from the DIMA employment site:
Eligibility "To be eligible for engagement to the Australian Public Service (APS), applicants must be Australian citizens. However, in some limited circumstances, applicants who have permanent resident status may be offered employment pending the granting of citizenship."
I guess this is referring to people who are eligible, and have applied for Citizenship, but haven't been granted Citizenship yet. Otherwise, how else can they be employed with Australian Public Service (ie Federal Government), when the law clearly requires them to be Citizens, as DIMA themselves have quoted above?
Wasn't that my point as well?
I don't think this has as much to do with one's right to employment (as someone said earlier), as it has to do with putting the right person in the right job.
As I mentioned earlier, jobs with heavy client interaction should have people who are fluent in English, unless they are interpreters or translators, and do not need to be as fluent in English.
People dealing with employees representing Australian Government Departments have a right to be able to understand them, and be understood! It's as simple as that.
I don't blame the people performing those jobs as much as I blame the people who interviewed them, and put them in those positions - as they should know better! People not fluent in English simply should not be in positions where they need to speak clearly, and understand what is said by fluent speakers, on a regular basis.
No apologies necessary. Just was curious if the Federal Government employed non-citizens. Citizenship seems mandatory for the Australian Public Service (APS). The only exceptions I know of are the military (which is not part of APS) and contractors.
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