Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced new migration rules aimed at restoring confidence in Australia's system by modifying student visas and working holidaymaker policies. Changes include prioritizing visas for workers in construction, agriculture, fisheries, resources, and teaching, adjusting the points test to value trade qualifications similarly to university degrees, and implementing a ballot system with stricter work requirements for backpackers' visa renewals. The article highlights Labor's proposed net overseas migration figure of 250,000 to 300,000 compared to opposition parties’ lower targets, emphasizing the government’s focus on balancing skill needs and regional development.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has unveiled the government’s revamp of Australia’s migration settings, announcing changes to student visas, working holidaymakers and the practice of “visa hopping”.
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Burke → unveil → hopping
Addressing the National Press Club, Burke said the changes would restore confidence in the Australian migration system, breaking his proposal down into the categories “who arrives”, “who stays” and “who leaves”.
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who → address → categories
The announcement comes amid a growing debate with One Nation and the Coalition over the appropriate number of arrivals to the country.
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announcement → come → country
Labor is seeking a net overseas migration figure of between 250,000 and 300,000.
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Labor → seek → 250,000
Pauline Hanson’s party is seeking a radical reduction into negative net migration for three years, before settling at 130,000.
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party → seek → 130,000
The Coalition is pinning its net migration rate to housing completions, between 150,000 and 170,000.
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Coalition → pin → completions
Net overseas migration is the total number of people entering the country minus the number of people leaving.
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migration → enter → people
Here are all the changes Burke revealed on Thursday:
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Burke → reveal → Thursday
Who arrives
-
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Who → arrive → ?
The “points test”, which calculates who can access a skilled visa, has been altered in consultation with Treasury.
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who → calculate → Treasury
The new equation will mean trade qualifications in construction will be worth as much as a university degree.
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qualifications → mean → degree
- Burke will order people with construction, agriculture, fisheries, resources and teaching visas to be prioritised when bureaucrats are assessing who receives a visa.
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who → order → visa
This will add to defence and healthcare workers who were already included in the last ministerial direction.
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who → add → direction
- The government will seek “constructive” conversations with the United Kingdom about the rapid growth of British backpackers travelling to Australia thanks to the free trade agreement.
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government → seek → agreement
Burke said when that agreement was signed there were around 17,000 backpackers from the UK in Australia, which has now risen to just under 80,000.
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which → say → 80,000
- International students will no longer be able to bring family members to Australia.
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students → bring → Australia
Family members of international students who are currently in the country will not lose their visas.
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who → lose → visas
- Working holidaymakers, or “backpackers”, will face a ballot system to access second and third-year visa renewals.
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holidaymakers → work → renewals
Entry to the second-year ballot will require 88 days of regional work, and the third year will require six months of regional work, which is unchanged from the current settings.
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which → require → settings
Second-year places will drop from 57,000 to 45,000, and third-year places will drop from 31,000 to 5000.
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places → drop → 5000
Who stays
- New visitor visas will be subject to a “no further stay provision” to slow the growth of people accessing bridging visas.
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visas → stay → visas
- International students will only be able to have their visas extended for further study if they seek a higher degree after the completion of their course.
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they → have → course
This means after the completion of a bachelor’s degree, a visa can be extended for the study of a master’s degree, but not another bachelor’s or an associate degree.
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visa → mean → degree
- Burke flagged he would like to crack down on spurious asylum claims, saying that 80 per cent of claims currently come from countries where more than 85 per cent of applications fail.
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cent → flag → applications
He said there was a legislative negotiation that would need to take place, and therefore he could not make an announcement on that matter.
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he → say → matter
Who leaves
- The government will update the code dictating how migration agents act, so those supporting “non-meritorious” claims can be sanctioned and deregistered.
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those → leave → claims
- Visa overstayers will be placed in detention centres as they organise their departure in a push towards “behavioural change”.
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they → place → change
The government will fund 100 more compliance officers and 250 additional beds to house overstayers.
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government → fund → overstayers
Existing centres near airports would be utilised, and a former quarantine facility in Melbourne may be repurposed.
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facility → exist → Melbourne
- Burke stressed this would not look like “the sort of operation that some people have seen on TV happening in other countries”, a likely reference to violent ICE arrests of migrants in the United States.
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people → stress → States
The number of overstayers is estimated to be 77,000.
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number → estimate → overstayers
Get across all our coverage
- Burke’s warning: Is Australia becoming a guest worker economy?
- As it happened: Labor unveils immigration overhaul
- What Australians really think: The migration pathways voters want slashed
- Listen: Samantha Selinger-Morris and Brittany Busch discuss One Nation’s immigration plan
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis.
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Morris → get → news
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Subscribers → sign → newsletter
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