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Australia targets students as it aims for 225,000 net migration
BBC News··18 Sept
Australia announced stricter migration rules on Thursday aimed at international students, visa hoppers and backpackers. Foreign students will no longer automatically bring families, with exemptions for Pacific and South East Asian applicants and PhD students. Working holiday second-year places move to a 45,000 ballot, down from 57,000 last year. Net overseas migration is targeted at 225,000 by 2028.
Prism
What It Means For You
- Students already in Australia keep family pathways under the exemptions Burke described.
- British working holidaymakers are not affected because of the UK free trade agreement.
- Third-year working holiday ballots fall to 5,000 from 31,000 who qualified last year.
What's Happening
- Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said immigration needs a high level of control.
- Students extending stays must move to a higher qualification, not a lower course.
- ABS figures showed population grew 1.4 percent in the year to March 2026, to 27.9m.
What Changes for Visas
- Working holiday visas cover ages 18 to 30 for 12 months, with optional second and third years.
- Net overseas migration in that ABS period was 292,100, the BBC reported.
- One Nation proposed capping net overseas immigration at 130,000 and cutting temporary visas.
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