Tony Burke’s migration overhaul: what he said, which visas it hits, and what to do now
The Home Affairs Minister used the National Press Club today to set out how Australia will get net overseas migration from about 300,000 down to 225,000. His speech was titled “The work of managing the migration program: who arrives, who stays, who leaves.” This page goes through every measure, visa by visa, with a checker for your own situation, worked examples, and what to do this week.
Nothing announced today is law yet, and almost all of it applies to future applications. The big changes are a ban on family members for new student and graduate visas, a rule that students can only move up the qualification scale, a no further stay condition on every new visitor visa, ballots for second and third year backpacker visas, faster processing and more points for construction and other priority trades, and a return to detaining and removing people whose visas have expired.
If you were going to lodge an application that today’s rules allow, lodge it now. If you are unlawful or on a bridging visa after a refused protection claim, get advice before the Department finds you.
From 300,000 a year to 225,000, without touching the permanent program
Net overseas migration was 292,100 in the year to March 2026. The government has set 245,000 for this financial year and 225,000 for 2027-28. Burke’s own framing: cuts made too deep would trash services and the economy, but migration has to soften enough for housing to catch up.
Every lever pulled today is a temporary visa lever. The humanitarian program stays at 20,000. The permanent skilled and family programs were not cut.
Pick your situation and see what changes, and what to do about it
Two questions. The answer tells you whether you are affected, why, what to do now, and how firm the change is.
Before today and after today, for every visa the speech touched
Student visa (subclass 500)
Announced todayPartners and dependent children could be included in the application, or apply later as subsequent entrants. 45,991 family visas were granted this way in 2024-25.
A student could enrol in a new course at any level and apply for a further student visa onshore.
Financial capacity checked against a set amount; genuine student test applied.
No family members on new student visa applications. Exceptions: PhD and certain research courses, Pacific and ASEAN nationals, and, per the international education sector, sponsored students. Families already here stay.
A further student visa only for a course above the qualification already completed. Extensions for legitimate reasons and transfers within a course still allowed.
Closer scrutiny of funds, with a focus on countries where refusal rates are rising. An expression of interest system for student visas is planned but needs Parliament.
Our read. Student numbers are untouched. This is a change to who comes with the student and how long the student pathway can be stretched. If a family member has not applied yet, that application is the one to lodge this week.
Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485)
Announced todayPartners and dependent children could be included, or join later.
Post-study work rights of two to three years depending on qualification, plus an extra year for Indian graduates under the trade agreement.
No family members on new 485 applications, with the same exceptions as students.
Length, eligibility and the India concession unchanged. Burke: the government is not about to undermine free trade agreement commitments.
Our read. For a graduate with a partner overseas, the 485 was the visa that brought them together in Australia. That stops for new applications. Lodge combined applications before the instrument commences.
Visitor visa (subclass 600)
Announced todayMost visitor visas were granted without condition 8503, so a visitor could apply onshore for a partner, student or other visa and move to a bridging visa.
Some visitor visas already carried 8503, mainly sponsored family stream and higher risk cases.
No further stay (8503) on all newly granted visitor visas. The holder cannot apply for most other visas in Australia unless the condition is waived for compelling and compassionate circumstances beyond their control that arose after grant.
Existing visitor visas without 8503 are not changed. Pre-speech reporting also mentioned shorter tourist stays; that was not confirmed today.
Our read. This is the measure that reaches partner visa families. The visitor-then-820 route has been the way overseas partners avoided years apart. For new visitor visas it closes. For anyone holding a visitor visa now without 8503, it is still open until that visa expires.
Working Holiday Maker (subclasses 417 and 462)
Announced todayFirst-year visa, then a second year after 88 days of specified regional work and a third after six months. About 57,000 second-year and 31,000 third-year visas granted last year.
UK citizens exempt from the specified work requirement since the UK trade agreement; UK backpacker numbers rose to about 80,000.
Second-year visas: ballot, 45,000 places. Third-year visas: ballot, 5,000 places.
Specified regional work requirement stays. UK citizens remain exempt under the trade agreement. Processing already slowed to around three months from July.
Our read. The first year is untouched, so the backpacker workforce arrives as before. The cut lands on the people who stay a second and third year, which is where horticulture and hospitality employers will feel it this summer.
Skilled and employer-sponsored visas
Announced todayPoints test rewarded university qualifications more than trade qualifications.
Processing priority under the existing ministerial direction, with offshore applicants outside priority sectors waiting more than a year in some cases.
Housing and construction trade qualifications get a points uplift equal to a university degree.
Now in force. Ministerial Directions 121 and 122 replaced Direction 119 on 19 September 2026. They put construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources at the front of the queue, and they also reorder undecided applications already lodged. See our guide to Directions 121 and 122. Nothing announced on 482 eligibility, labour market testing or the permanent program size.
Our read. Burke’s line was that the government has brought in zero yoga teachers and the claim it favours them over tradespeople is wrong. The practical effect is a two-speed skilled program: fast for the sectors named, slow for everyone else.
Partner visas (subclasses 820/801 and 309/100)
Reported, awaiting detailPartners of citizens and permanent residents often entered on a visitor visa, lodged the 820 onshore, and waited on a bridging visa with work rights and Medicare while the application was processed, often for years.
The offshore 309 required the applicant to be outside Australia at lodgement and, for most, at grant.
No further stay on new visitor visas blocks the onshore lodgement for future visitors unless waived.
August reporting said Burke wants partners and children of citizens and residents to wait offshore until the permanent visa is granted, with conditions to prevent the visitor route. Former officials warned of legal challenge. No partner-specific instrument was announced today.
Our read. For our clients this is the most important line in the speech. The 309 is unchanged, the 820 is unchanged, but the way most couples got into the 820 queue while living together in Australia is being shut for new visitor visas. Couples already here on a visitor visa without 8503 should lodge now.
Protection claims and bridging visas
Partly needs ParliamentAbout 1,580 protection claims a month lodged onshore, roughly 90 per cent refused. Around 37,000 refused claims waiting at the Administrative Review Tribunal. Bridging visa work rights continued through review and court stages, in some cases for eight or nine years.
413,000 people on bridging visas in June 2026, up from 130,450 in 2017.
Faster tribunal review, more compliance resources, and sanctions including deregistration for agents who encourage claims without merit.
Removal of work rights from refused claimants during review was considered by cabinet and remains a legislative proposal. Burke framed it as a lever the government would use if Parliament allowed.
Our read. Genuine claims are not the target and the humanitarian intake stays at 20,000. The target is the claim lodged as a fifth visa after four others ran out. If that is your file, the review hearing is the last realistic chance to put the case properly.
Unlawful non-citizens and compliance
Announced todayAbout 77,000 people in Australia without a visa. Since 2015 the practice was largely to grant bridging visas and wait, with detention reserved for character and security cases.
Return to the pre-2015 model: a direction to leave, then short detention and removal for people who refuse. 100 more compliance officers, 250 more detention beds, the former Mickleham quarantine facility in Melbourne under consideration. Burke: targeted enforcement, not mass deportation.
Our read. The people who lose most here are those who leave it until they are located. A voluntary departure on a bridging visa E keeps future visa options open. A removal carries a re-entry ban.
Three rules that decide almost every case
- Future applications, not existing visas. Burke said families already here will not be broken up, and no further stay applies to visitor visas granted after the change. A visa you hold today keeps its conditions until it expires.
- Lodged applications are usually decided on the rules at lodgement. That is how migration regulations normally commence. The transitional provisions in each instrument will confirm it, and that is the first thing we will check when they are registered.
- Regulation now, legislation later. Everything announced today can be made by the minister, and can also be disallowed by the Senate. The expression of interest system for students and the removal of work rights from refused protection claimants need Parliament and do not exist yet.
It is the commencement date in each instrument, which has not been published. Between now and then the current rules apply. That window is the reason to lodge now rather than wait to see the detail, provided the application is complete and genuine. A rushed application that fails on funds or genuineness is worse than no application.
Six people, and what today means for each of them
The nurse in Manila with a husband and two children
She has an offer for a Bachelor of Nursing in Melbourne starting February 2027 and planned to bring her family. Under the new rules the family cannot be included. Nursing is not a stated exception; only PhD and research courses, Pacific and ASEAN nationals, and sponsored students are. The Philippines is an ASEAN member, so she may fall inside the ASEAN exception. That is the question to settle before she pays a deposit.
The couple in Brunswick, one on a visitor visa
He arrived from Colombia in July on a visitor visa without condition 8503 to be with his Australian partner. They were planning to lodge the 820 in November when the relationship evidence was stronger. His visa is unaffected, but the route is closing. Lodge the 820 before the visitor visa expires and before any instrument commences. Do not leave and come back on a new visitor visa; it will carry 8503.
The master’s graduate moving to a diploma
She finished a Master of Business in Sydney and enrolled in a Diploma of Leadership to stay on a student visa while she looked for sponsorship. That is the definition of visa hopping the speech targets. A further student visa for a lower course is now unlikely. Her options are a 485 if she still qualifies, employer sponsorship, or a course genuinely above her master’s, which means a doctorate.
The engineering student with her family already here
Her husband and daughter arrived with her in 2025 on subsequent entrant visas. Burke said families onshore will not be broken up. Nothing changes for them while her current visa runs. When she applies for a 485, the family will be a new application, and new 485 applications exclude family, so the safe course is to lodge the 485 with the family included before the instrument commences.
The backpacker in Mildura counting 88 days
He is a German citizen finishing specified work on a citrus farm in October and expected a second-year visa as of right. He now enters a ballot for one of 45,000 places. He should document every shift, apply the day the ballot opens, and ask his employer about a 482 if his role is on the list, because a third year is down to 5,000 places.
The carpenter in Auckland with a Certificate III equivalent
He has been in the offshore skilled queue for 14 months with a points score that missed the last invitation rounds. Trade qualifications in housing now score like a degree, and construction is a priority sector. He should update his expression of interest as soon as the points change takes effect and look at state nomination in Victoria.
Four reasons the government went this way, in the Minister’s own numbers
Net migration is still around 300,000
Net overseas migration was 292,100 in the year to March 2026. The government has committed to 245,000 this financial year and 225,000 in 2027-28. Burke’s argument is that housing supply cannot catch up unless migration softens, while saying plainly that migration did not cause the housing shortage and that cuts made too deep would trash services and the economy.
Three million temporary visa holders
The pressure is not the permanent program. It is the people on temporary visas who stay by moving from one visa to the next. Bridging visa holders reached 413,000 in June 2026, up from 130,450 in 2017. Student visas on hand rose from 383,910 to 528,000 over the same period, working holiday visas from 146,340 to 225,650.
Protection claims as a last visa
About 1,580 protection claims are lodged onshore each month and around 90 per cent fail. With review and court stages the process can run eight or nine years, all of it with work rights. Nearly 37,000 refused claims sat at the tribunal in June. Burke described a system where the incentive is to lodge and wait, and named the agents who sell that advice.
Regulation because Parliament would not
Burke wanted legislation giving the government more direct control over net migration. Talks with the Coalition broke down. The Greens say Labor is chasing Pauline Hanson’s vote; parts of the Coalition will not give Labor cover. So every measure today is one the minister can make by regulation or direction, which also means each can be disallowed by the Senate, and each will arrive as an instrument with its own start date.
Same permanent program, a much shorter temporary one
- 17 September 2026
The speech
Measures announced at the National Press Club: student and graduate family ban, qualification scale rule, no further stay on visitor visas, working holiday ballots, skilled priorities and points uplift, compliance surge. All to be made by regulation or ministerial direction. No commencement dates.
- Coming weeks
Instruments registered
Each measure arrives as a legislative instrument or an amended ministerial direction on the Federal Register of Legislation, with its own commencement date and transitional rules. This is when we learn whether a lodged application is protected and exactly which courses and nationalities are exempt. Watch for a Senate disallowance motion on the family ban.
- Summer 2026-27
First effects
Working holiday ballots run for second and third years, harvest employers feel the second-year cut, visitor visas issued from commencement carry no further stay, new student visas are granted without family. Offshore skilled processing stays slow outside priority sectors.
- 2027 sittings
What needs Parliament
An expression of interest system for student visas, removal of work rights from refused protection claimants during review, and any direct power over net migration all need legislation the government does not yet have the numbers for.
- 2027-28
The target year
Net overseas migration is meant to reach 225,000. The humanitarian program stays at 20,000. The permanent skilled and family programs were not cut today. Australia after this speech is a country that still takes the same number of permanent migrants and far fewer long-stay temporary ones.
What did not change
- Student visa numbers and the 485 graduate visa length and eligibility.
- The India trade agreement concession for graduates.
- The 482 Skills in Demand visa, labour market testing and the 186.
- The offshore partner visa (309) and the onshore partner visa (820) themselves.
- Parent visas and the permanent migration program.
- The humanitarian program at 20,000 places.
- First-year working holiday visas.
What comes next
- Legislative instruments with commencement dates and transitional rules.
- The exact list of exempt courses and nationalities for the family ban.
- Ballot mechanics and opening dates for working holiday second and third years.
- The points test amendment for housing trades.
- A Senate response, including possible disallowance motions.
- Any partner visa specific measure from the August reporting.
Five things to do this week, and who should be careful
Lodge what you were going to lodge anyway
Every measure applies to future applications. A complete, genuine application lodged before commencement is decided on today’s rules in almost every case. That applies to subsequent entrant family applications, combined 485 applications, onshore partner applications from visitor visa holders without 8503, and parent applications from visitors already here.
Read the conditions on the visa you hold
The single fact that decides most of these situations is whether your current visa carries condition 8503. Check VEVO. If it does not, you have options until the visa expires. If it does, the waiver test is narrow and the offshore route is usually the honest answer.
Stop treating the next course as the plan
The qualification scale rule ends the sideways enrolment. If your plan to stay was another diploma, replace it with a real one: a 485 if you qualify, sponsorship, state nomination, or a course genuinely above the one you have.
Document specified work and skills now
Backpackers need every day of the 88 or the six months provable before the ballot. Tradespeople need a skills assessment in hand before the points uplift lands, or the uplift does nothing.
Get advice before the Department writes to you
Overstayers, refused protection claimants and anyone whose visa hopping route has closed are the people the 100 new compliance officers exist for. A voluntary departure or a properly prepared review case is a decision you make; a removal is one made for you.
Who should be careful
- Prospective students with partners or children, outside PhD, research, Pacific, ASEAN or sponsored streams.
- Current students whose partner or child has not yet applied to join them.
- 485 applicants who planned to add a partner after grant.
- Overseas partners of citizens and residents planning to enter on a visitor visa and lodge onshore.
- Anyone on a visitor visa with a plan to apply for another visa in Australia.
- Students enrolled in, or considering, a course at the same or a lower level than one they have completed.
- Working holiday makers relying on a second or third year.
- Refused protection visa applicants on bridging visas, especially those advised to lodge as a last resort.
- Anyone unlawful in Australia, however long ago the visa expired.
- Migration and education agents whose files include any of the above.
Permanent residents and citizens. Holders of granted visas whose families are already here. Anyone with a lodged application that includes everyone it needs to include. Employers in construction, health, teaching, agriculture, fisheries and resources, who will find the queue moving faster than it has in two years.
What people have asked us since the speech
Did Tony Burke cut the number of international students?
No. Student visa numbers were left where they are. What changed is who can come with a student: new student and graduate visa applicants will not be able to attach partners or dependent children, with exceptions for PhD and certain research students, Pacific and ASEAN nationals and, according to the international education sector, sponsored students. In 2024-25, 45,991 of the 337,427 student visas granted went to family members.
My family is already in Australia on my student visa. Do they have to leave?
No. Burke said the government is not going to break up families onshore. Families already attached to a visa and already here are not affected. The change applies to future applications.
When do the changes start?
No start dates were given. Every measure announced today is to be made by regulation, which means a legislative instrument registered by the Department of Home Affairs, usually with a commencement date a few weeks out. Until an instrument is registered the current rules apply. We will update this page as each instrument lands.
Does the visitor visa change stop me applying for a partner visa in Australia?
For visitor visas granted after the change, yes in most cases. A no further stay condition (8503) stops the holder applying for most other visas while in Australia, including the onshore partner visa, unless the condition is waived for compelling and compassionate circumstances that arose after the grant and were outside your control. Visitor visas already granted without 8503 are not changed. The offshore partner visa (subclass 309) is unaffected.
Is the 485 graduate visa being cut?
Not its length or eligibility. Burke confirmed the free trade agreement with India, which gives Indian graduates an extra year, will be honoured. The change to the 485 is that new applicants will not be able to include family members, with the same exceptions as students.
What is visa hopping and why is it being stopped?
The pattern where a person finishes one course and enrols in another at the same or lower level, or moves from a student visa to a visitor visa and back, or lodges a protection claim after every other option is exhausted, mainly to keep living and working in Australia. Students will now only be able to move up the qualification scale, visitor visas will carry no further stay, and non-genuine protection claims are being targeted.
What happens to backpackers?
First-year working holiday visas are unchanged. Second-year visas are capped at 45,000 places by ballot, down from about 57,000 granted last year, and third-year visas at 5,000, down from about 31,000. The specified regional work requirement stays, except for United Kingdom citizens, who are exempt under the UK free trade agreement.
Which skilled workers benefit?
Construction and housing trades get a points uplift equal to a university degree in the skilled points test, and processing priority under the updated ministerial direction goes to construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, fisheries and resources. Everyone else in the offshore skilled queue keeps waiting, in some cases more than a year.
I overstayed my visa. Am I going to be detained?
Burke said the approach used before 2015 will return: people whose visas have expired will be directed to leave, and those who refuse may be detained briefly and removed. There are 100 more compliance officers and 250 more detention beds. He called it targeted enforcement, not mass deportation. If you are unlawful, getting advice before the Department finds you is the difference between leaving on your own terms and being removed with a re-entry ban.
Is anything on this page law yet?
Not yet. Everything here was announced or reported on 17 September 2026 and will take effect through instruments that have not been registered. Treat it as a forecast to plan around, not a rule to rely on, and check with us before you act on it.
- ABC News, 17 September 2026, Labor to unveil delayed migration overhaul targeting temporary visas
- SBS News live blog, 17 September 2026, Major migration changes unveiled
- ABC News, 16 September 2026, Family visas for foreign students targeted in migration crackdown
- The Koala News, 17 September 2026, Burke unveils migration changes targeting students, workers and visa hopping
- The Indian Sun, 17 September 2026, India post-study visa concession stays as Burke vows to honour trade deals
- Indian Link, 17 September 2026, Student visa changes target visa hopping and families
- IBTimes Australia, 17 September 2026, Burke unveils long-delayed migration overhaul
- ABC News, 7 August 2026, Looming migration overhaul to target visa overstayers whose asylum claims rejected
- ABC News, 5 August 2026, Former officials warn Labor’s unfinished plans to reduce migration laced with risk (partner visas)
- National Press Club of Australia, event listing, The Hon Tony Burke MP, 17 September 2026
If today changed your plan, let us look at it before the instrument lands
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