A discussion of current second language testing trends and practices in Australia focuses on the use of performance assessment, providing examples of its application in four specific contexts: an occupational English test used for to assess job-related English language skills as part of the certification procedure for health professionals; performance tests developed to assess the language skills of second language teachers; an oral interaction test for tour guides; and English-as-a-Second-Language tests for prospective university students. Issues discussed in these contexts include how tasks are selected for inclusion in the tests, what really gets assessed in a performance test, whether overall language proficiency can be assessed with a performance test, whether such assessment can be fair, whether abilities other than productive performance can be tested, and the advantages and disadvantages of this form of testing. Contains 19 references. (MSE) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education)