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Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke yesterday announced migration reforms that will expand skilled visa priority processing to the agriculture, resources, and fisheries sectors.
The minister also indicated that the construction and teaching sectors will be added for priority processing.
Eligible onshore skilled visa applicants in construction and teaching already receive high-priority processing under Ministerial Direction 119, behind defence and law enforcement.
The government is yet to confirm whether priority processing will also be extended to offshore skilled applicants in construction and teaching.
The minister also indicated that the updated direction would provide separate priority processing orders for temporary and permanent skilled visa applications.
We expect Ministerial Direction 119 will soon be updated with the new skilled visa priority processing order needed to implement the changes.
Other migration reforms
Alongside its targeted approach to skilled migration, the minister announced several other reforms as part of its broader effort to reduce Net Overseas Migration (NOM).
This includes:
- Restoring processing times for the Work and Holiday Visa program to normal for some applicants
- Independent skilled migration points test to add greater weight to people with housing and construction trades
- Tighter rules for backpackers, international students, and visitors
- Tougher measures against visa overstayers
Despite the delay in announcing these measures since last month, the minister claimed the changes had been formalised internally within government by February 2026 and were not a response to recent pressure from other parties.
Work and Holiday Maker Program (Subclasses 417 and 462)
Visa processing
Government visa processing of Subclass 417 and 462 Work and Holiday Maker applications will return to standard timeframes for applicants who have already met the regional work requirements needed to qualify for a second or third visa.
What is the “Regional Work Requirement” for Work and Holiday Maker Visas?
Existing rules require the below to apply for the following:
Second-year visa: 88 days (three months) of work in eligible industries and regions.
Third-year visa: Six months of work in eligible industries and regions while holding the second Work and Holiday Maker Visa.
Eligible regional industries generally include agriculture, fisheries, construction, and mining. Certain tourism and hospitality roles may also be included.
For employers, the change may accelerate the need to pursue sponsorship pathways earlier, as the ballot system will make it harder to rely on second and third-year Working Holiday Visa extensions to retain workers.
For UK applicants, who are exempt from regional work requirements under the Free Trade Agreement, processing will remain slower to manage strong growth in the cohort, which has increased from around 17,000 pre-COVID to 80,000 people currently onshore.
Read more about the slowing down of Work and Holiday Visa processing.
Ballot system
A ballot system will be introduced for second and third year Work and Holiday Maker Visas, requiring applicants to compete for a reduced number of places.
Applicants will still be expected to complete the existing regional work requirement.
- Year Two ballot will be capped at 45,000 places (down from 57,000 this year).
- Year Three ballot will be capped at 5,000 places (down from around 31,000 this year).
Independent Skilled Visas
Points test to give greater weight to people with housing trades
A new points test will be introduced to qualify for independent skilled visas (such as the 189, 190 and 489 visas).
Qualified tradespeople in high-demand occupations, such as housing and construction trade qualifications, will receive points broadly equivalent to those awarded for a university qualification.
The changes will provide greater support to critical industries facing workforce shortages.
Visitor Visas
No further stay (Condition 8503)
A ‘No Further Stay’ condition will apply to all new visitor visas, preventing holders from applying for most other visas while in Australia, except for protection visas.
The change will not affect existing visitor visa holders or visitor visas that have already been granted.
The measure is expected to strengthen the Genuine Temporary Entrant requirement by reinforcing the expectation that visitors leave Australia before their visa expires.
It is also intended to provide consistency for visitors from all countries by reducing the number of people arriving in Australia who then apply for another visa onshore, including for a partner visa.
But while the change may create a more equitable waiting period for onshore and offshore partner visa applicants, we expect it will not reduce overall processing times. Under Ministerial Direction 110, partner visa applications lodged onshore are currently prioritised ahead of those lodged offshore.
Under the new arrangements, the minister indicated that offshore partner visa applicants may find it easier to obtain longer visitor visas to spend time with their partner in Australia.
Student and graduate visas
Adding secondary applicants
Most international students and graduate visa holders will no longer be able to include secondary applicants such as family members on their visa applications.
Current visa holders with secondary applicants already included on their visas will not be affected.
Exemptions will continue to apply for students from Pacific and ASEAN countries, as well as PhD students.
Course transfers
Students will continue to be able to apply for a new visa to progress to a higher qualification level, such as moving from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s degree, but a transfer to a lower-tier education provider will be required to lodge a new visa application.
This is already reflected in existing policy settings and visa condition 8202.
Visa overstayers
Stronger enforcement measures will target an estimated 77,000 visa overstayers, with the government returning to a pre-2015 approach of detention followed by voluntary departure.
The measures are intended to encourage compliance and deter visa overstaying. The minister said the model had previously delivered a broader deterrent effect, while emphasising that the approach would not involve raid-style enforcement.
The current status of Net Overseas Migration
The minister also clarified the current status of Australia’s Net Overseas Migration (NOM).
Australian Bureau of Statistics data released yesterday showed a Net Overseas Migration (NOM) figure of 292,100 in the year to March 2026, down from 309,500 a year earlier and 47 per cent below the post-pandemic peak, according to the minister.
Australia’s population grew by 392,700 over the same period to 27.9 million.
The government is targeting a NOM of 245,000 in 2026-27 and 225,000 annually from 2027-28, and the minister says migration is already tracking below its forecast for the current financial year.
Further migration reforms
The minister said the reforms did not go as far as he would like, noting that any move away from the migration program’s demand-driven model would require legislative change.
When asked what would happen if Net Overseas Migration were reduced further in line with other political party proposals, he argued it would undermine the health and aged care sectors and limit the supply of construction workers needed to help address housing shortages.
The minister said the government would prefer to pursue additional reforms through legislation and would continue seeking Coalition support. In the meantime, it would rely on ministerial directions and regulatory changes to advance its migration agenda.
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