Labor unveils long-awaited plans to trim immigration, targeting students’ families and visa overstayers
Foreign citizens staying in Australia without a valid visa face new enforcement measures to force them to leave the country, with Labor’s changes to immigration also set to prevent international students extending their stay indefinitely.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has unveiled long-awaited changes to immigration rules, promising to bring down net overseas migration (Nom) to 245,000 this financial year, and 225,000 in 2027-28.
On Thursday, the ABS confirmed the Nom had eased to 292,000 in the year to March from 299,000 in December.
Burke said the government would implement new compliance measures to ensure people without valid visas leave the country, and update skilled visas lists to prioritise sectors including healthcare, construction, education and law enforcement.
Applicants in defence, resources, agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing could also receive improved consideration under the changes.
Ahead of an address to the National Press Club in Canberra, Burke said so-called visa hoping by international students would be restricted, and visas for family members of students would be restricted.
Last year Australia issued more than 337,000 international student visas, of which about 45,000 went to dependents or family members of the primary applicant.
Under the latest changes, the vast majority of students will be required to come alone.
Dodgy migration agents face new penalties for helping visa rorters, and a new “no further stay” condition will be added to all visitor visas, to ensure they can only be used by genuine short term visitors and don’t provide a pathway for individuals to stay in the country.
Amid concerns from the agriculture sector that the growing arms race in immigration policy could create workforce shortages and even delay some harvesting and processing ahead of Christmas, Burke said Labor would change working holidaymaker visa rules to introduce a ballot system for years two and three, where there will be a regional work requirement.
He said processing times for working holidaymaker visa applications would be stabilised to three months.
It’s unclear how this change would affect UK working holidaymakers, who are not subject to caps or regional working requirements.
The character test would also be updated to reflect Australia’s stance on stamping out hatred and family violence.
Ahead of the speech, Burke said Labor would continue control of the migration system, but would treat individuals with the fairness and decency that Australians expect.
“The government supports immigration but is opposed to anyone rorting the immigration system,” he said.
“Almost everyone who comes to Australia is a good guest in our country. These reforms are to ensure that our migration system can be better targeted to the current needs of Australia.”
Burke’s speech is the latest push by Labor to control the politics of immigration, coming as One Nation surges in the polls and as community sentiment about the number of overseas arrivals influences politics around the country.
The Nom has fallen in seven consecutive quarters since September 2023. It is forecast to fall lower than pre-Covid levels by 2027-28.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said on Monday her party would cut the number of temporary migrants in Australia by more than 750,000 over three years, singling out international students and family members of skilled migrants for some of the toughest treatment.
Business groups, universities, the aged care sector and farmers have all warned Labor, the Coalition and One Nation that major changes to overseas arrivals could slow the economy, and even hurt some essential services.
Albanese had tried to secure Coalition support for Labor’s plans, but Burke this week threatened to go around parliament if the Greens and the Coalition oppose the changes.
He had been due to announce the new settings in a major address scheduled more than a month ago, but the speech was cancelled amid debate inside cabinet about the scale and the cost of the changes.
Before the announcement, the opposition leader, Angus Taylor, was dismissive of Labor’s changes, saying the government was offering only “more of the same.”
“They have overreached on every single one of their targets, their targets are too high and Australians are being let down,” he said.
Taylor said the Coalition disagreed with Labor’s approach and wouldn’t offer bipartisan support to the government on legislative changes.
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