About 100 people attended a rally outside Parliament House on August 26 to protest against the proposed new citizenship law.
Speakers denounced the plan to make permanent residents wait four years before applying for citizenship, and the proposed university-level English language test.
Lebanese migrant Dalal Smiley said many migrant women will be "forever locked out of society" by the language requirement.
Federal shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the new law will keep many migrants from becoming citizens and having the right to vote.