Arya News - The long-awaited new migration rules, which also target “visa hopping” by international students who switch courses to stay in the country, come as Australia`s ruling Labor Party attempts to stem surging support for anti-migrant populist Pauline Hanson.
SYDNEY – Migration curbs announced by Australia’s ruling Labor Party on Sept 17 will target international students and working holidaymakers, but a new ban on foreign students bringing family members to the country will not apply to those from ASEAN nations including Singapore.
The exemption is due to the Australian government’s efforts to boost ties with its regional neighbours.
The long-awaited new migration rules, which also target “visa hopping” by international students who switch courses to stay in the country, come as Labor attempts to stem surging support for anti-migrant populist Pauline Hanson.
The government intends to cut the overall migration intake from the current level of about 300,000 a year to 245,000 in the year from mid-2026 to mid-2027, and to 225,000 in the following 12 months.
But these reductions are a far cry from those planned by Hanson’s One Nation party, which on Sept 14 announced plans to reduce the annual migrant intake to 130,000 and cut the number of temporary visa holders such as international students and family members of skilled migrants by 750,000 over the next three years. Australia currently has about three million temporary visa holders.
Announcing the changes on Sept 17, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said excessive cuts to migration such as those proposed by One Nation would “trash the economy”. He said the government supports immigration, but opposed anyone trying to exploit the 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.”
Opinion surveys show strong public support for restricting migrant numbers due to concerns about the pressure on the nation’s inadequate housing supply and strained social services.
A survey published by the Sydney Morning Herald on Sept 14 found 31 per cent of voters support One Nation’s approach to migration, 24 per cent favour Labor’s approach, and 19 per cent favour the Liberal-National Coalition, which wants to cut migration to less than 200,000 a year, while 26 per cent supported other approaches or were undecided.
Exemptions for ASEAN and PhD students
One of the major new curbs is the ban on international students bringing family members to the country. But this ban will not apply to students from Pacific and ASEAN states. There will be other limited exemptions such as students doing PhDs.
The chief executive officer of the International Education Association of Australia, Phil Honeywood, explained that this exemption was “part of the government’s regional strategic policy to provide supportive policy settings for our neighbours in the region”.
Karis Chua, a 21-year-old from Singapore who has been studying law and business in Canberra since 2024, told The Straits Times that she did not have dependents but was pleased that Singaporean students who do will still be able to bring them to Australia.
She said she understood the government’s need to control migration but was sorry for students from affected countries who may not be able to bring their family members. “I have a lot of respect for mature students who continue to study with their family,” she said. “I also understand where the government is coming from. Immigration has been the biggest topic in Australia for a long time.”
For students who are not from Pacific or ASEAN states, Honeywood said that the ban on bringing family members would be “difficult” for some students and may discourage those with partners and children from applying.
Liang Weihong, a Chinese student completing a PhD at Sydney University and the president of the International Student Representative Council of Australia, told ST that the ban risks leaving international students feeling “unwelcome”.
“If a student comes here, they will be anxious and not know whether, if they fall in love with another student, they will get a visa after they leave,” he said. “If a student is here, they should think of Australia as a welcoming place where they are part of the country and are good for the country’s cohesion.”
In the first half of 2026, Australia granted 337,427 student visas, including 45,991 which were for dependents or family members.
The government will also target “visa hopping” by ensuring that students cannot switch courses unless they are adding to their qualification, such as moving from an undergraduate to a graduate degree.
Honeywood said he supported the visa-hopping measures, which he said were not targeted at university students but students at vocational colleges who switch courses purely to try to improve their migration outcomes. “We support efforts to get rid of non-genuine students,” he said.
Burke said to the National Press Club: “Seeking a migration outcome as part of Australia’s export of international education will come to an end.”
Changes in working holiday, skilled visa programmes
The government also announced it will tighten the working holidaymaker scheme which allows visitors from a range of countries – including Singapore – to visit for up to 12 months and undertake short-term work and study.
Only 45,000 working holidaymakers a year will be allowed to stay for a second year – down from 57,000 – and 5,000 will be allowed to stay for a third year, down from 31,000. These places will be assigned by ballot.
The government also said its skilled visa programme will prioritise those who have skills in construction, agriculture, fisheries, mining and teaching.
While Australia’s unemployment rate has remained relatively low at 4.5 per cent, the country faces serious skills shortages in these sectors.
Innes Willox, CEO of the Australian Industry Group that represents the nation’s employers, said the government’s new migration measures provided “clarity” but warned that the overall political push to cut migration could cause prolonged skills shortages and lead Australia towards “economic mediocrity”.
“We currently have real labour and skills shortages impacting… housing construction, energy projects, data centre builds, developing defence and national security capability and delivering the Brisbane 2032 Olympics,” he said. “We can’t afford migration to become a political race to the bottom.”
Tania Constable, CEO of the Minerals Council of Australia that represents the mining industry, also welcomed the changes in the skilled visa programme, saying in a statement that “there are critical skills we simply cannot always find here in the numbers or timeframes needed”.