Smileless Is it actually enshrined in law that Australian-born applicants for teaching posts have priority over naturalised citizens?
I don't know about Australian law (DD is a teacher over there) we have the ludicrous situation in the UK where an EU nurse does not have to take an examination in English at their own expense before they can work in the NHS but Australian born nurses have to pay to take an English examination to prove they can speak English before they can work here in the NHS. £550 I believe.
We have always welcomed foreigners Apart from native Australians who were there first so has Australia!! Most Australians originate from all over the world, went for opportunities and to try for a better life. 
Although I agree their present stance on refugees and would-be illegal migrants is something that needs to be addressed.
From Ana's link:
A system designed for Welsh schools to assess their pupils’ skills in English will be used by schools in England from September to decide the proficiency levels of pupils who speak a different language at home.
Currently, analysis of EAL pupil performance is binary. A child taking SATs at primary school with only basic comprehension can be in the same category as a child who speaks English fluently, simply because they both speak another language at home.
Sameena Choudry, founder of Equitable Education, which offers consultancy on reducing achievement gaps between ethnic groups, says: “EAL pupils are not homogenous. You could be comparing a fully bilingual child, daughter of a German banker, with somebody who has just come from the Czech Republic with a Roma background, or a second or third generation child where another language is spoken in the house.”
It does not sound at all sinister, rather it seems to be designed to help and make allowances in SATS assessments for children whose first language is not English.
I know from a friend how difficult it is to teach a multi-lingual class of infants in English, with the additional task of teaching them Welsh.
I hope you don't mind me using that Ana, not everyone likes links.