Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke used a National Press Club address in Canberra on 17 September 2026 to unveil what the government describes as the most significant tightening of Australia's visa system in a decade. The changes span student visas, working-holiday programmes, employer compliance and migration-agent regulation, and are designed to bring net overseas migration down to 245,000 in the current financial year and 225,000 by 2027–28.
The overhaul arrives at a time when the SkillSelect pool continues to expand. Department of Home Affairs data for August 2026 shows 180,651 Expressions of Interest in the subclass 189 pool and 414,019 in the subclass 190 pool. The 189 pool grew by 5,401 in a single month and is up 40,992 — or 29.4 per cent — over the past twelve months, underscoring the scale of demand the government is seeking to manage.
Visa-hopping and overstayers targeted
Burke said people who overstay their visas will be taken into detention, reviving a policy that was in place before 2015. The government plans to recruit 500 additional compliance officers and add 1,250 detention beds, including by repurposing former COVID-19 quarantine facilities in Victoria. The Department of Home Affairs estimates there are approximately 77,000 unlawful overstayers in Australia at present, according to figures cited in the minister's address.
Student visas and working holidays reshaped
A suite of changes will affect international students and those on graduate visas. They will no longer be able to bring family members to Australia, with limited exceptions including for PhD candidates. The only pathway for foreign students to extend their stay will be by transferring to a higher-level course — for example, from a bachelor's to a master's degree. A ballot system will also be introduced for second- and third-year working-holiday makers required to work regionally. Second-year places will be capped at 45,000, down from 57,000, and third-year places at 5,000, down from 31,000. British citizens will remain exempt from regional work requirements under the Australia–UK free trade agreement.
Skilled workers in key sectors prioritised
Burke argued that migration remains critical to housing construction and essential services, singling out construction workers, healthcare staff and educators as priority cohorts. The August 2026 SkillSelect data reflects ongoing demand in these areas: Registered Nurses nec recorded the largest single-month increase in the 189 pool, rising by 719 to reach 7,188 total EOIs, while Carpenter entries climbed by 490 to 1,182 and Secondary School Teacher grew by 412 to 2,647. Conversely, Chef (-154), Civil Engineer (-101) and Civil Engineering Draftsperson (-83) saw declines over the same period.
Burke rejects 'mass migration' framing
During a lively Question Time exchange that followed the address, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor pressed the government on immigration numbers, noting that more than 1,100 people were arriving in Australia each day. Burke responded that making cuts "too deep, too hard in the immigration system" would "trash the Australian economy" and said the reforms were calibrated to "give housing a chance to catch up". He rejected claims that Australia is experiencing mass migration, arguing the debate has been distorted.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre described the changes as "a dark day for multicultural Australia", warning that the expanded detention regime risked doubling the country's immigration detention capacity. The government maintains the measures are necessary to restore integrity to the system while preserving migration's contribution to economic growth.
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