🇦🇺 Migration Program Announcement Home Affairs Minister Tony...
@gregormendel (1D ago| Updated 3H ago)🇦🇺 Migration Program Announcement
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke outlined a migration shake-up at the National Press Club on 17 September 2026, aimed at easing housing pressures while keeping workers Australia needs. DHA Minister Tony Burke livestream link here.
Useful Links: - SBS News Live Updates - Brisbane Times - ABC News Article
Here are the main takeaways from ABC’s live coverage:
🔹 Skilled visa processing priorities Burke announced an update to Ministerial Direction 119, naming health, construction, agriculture, fisheries and teaching as priority sectors (we have to wait for updated 119, these are broad remarks). This concerns processing priorities—not an announcement of extra skilled invitation places. Points system might also adjust to bring more parity between trade and higher qualifications.
🔹 Restrictions on student and graduate visa dependants International students would largely be restricted from bringing family, with Burke outlining changes covering student and graduate visas. Exceptions would include people from Pacific and ASEAN countries, and certain courses such as PhDs. He said families already in Australia with family members attached to their visas would not be split up.
🔹 Further study must move up the qualification ladder The government plans to restrict “visa hopping” through successive courses at the same or a lower qualification level. Burke gave moving from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s as an acceptable example of progression.
🔹 “No Further Stay” on future visitor visas Burke announced that all future visitor visas would carry a No Further Stay provision, restricting options to apply for another visa while in Australia. He said the change would apply to future visas, not retrospectively to families already here.
🔹 Fewer second- and third-year working holiday visas Normal processing speeds would be restored for primary working holiday applications, but extensions would tighten: • Second year: a limit of 45,000. • Third year: a 5,000-place ballot.
Burke also said Australia would honour its free trade agreement commitments.
🔹 Stronger action on visa overstayers The government plans 100 additional compliance officers and 250 additional detention beds, and is considering repurposing a former Melbourne quarantine facility.
The broader message: Burke said migration remains a strength for Australia, but numbers need to ease so housing can catch up. He also recognised that moving from study to a graduate visa, then into a skills-shortage job and eventually citizenship, can be a legitimate pathway—not automatically “visa hopping”.
⚠️ These are announcements from today’s speech. Commencement dates, detailed exemptions and the final rules need to be checked against official Home Affairs updates before making visa decisions.
Source: ABC News live coverage
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This is what he said about MD119 (transcript):
"the next thing with respect to who arrives are two things that we're doing that will help speed up some of the processing that I'm able to do as a result of the other things that I'll announce the first is ministerial direction 119. this is a ministerial direction which determines the priorities under which we process visas. at the moment we've got a a single one where we have almost identical rules for both the permanent program and the temporary program, which has meant sometimes when we can't get someone through on the permanent we also can't get them through on the temporary due to processing order. what we'll be doing is updating that, and adding to the priority list, in full: construction agriculture fisheries resources and teaching"
This potentially reads to me that offshore applicants in these areas (and I would assume healthcare too) may be bumped up a bit. Whether thats to tier 3, or these categories have a tier 1/2 style arrangement, who knows...
The reason I say that is because construction and teaching are already tier 3 - so why say them again? Also, the real "priority" are law enforcement and defence. He also mentions not being able to get people on temp and vice-versa, which is an offshore nod
Timestamp 18:45 - https://www.youtube.com/live/naPBpCRX0qo
Tony Burke announced an update to Direction 119 'adding construction, agriculture, fisheries and teaching.' Since teaching and construction were already Priority 3 onshore under the July instrument, does this update actually create an offshore priority tier for teachers (e.g., an offshore Subclass 491), or does offshore teaching remain in Priority 5?
We'll have to wait for an updated 119 to know for sure.
What is the update to MD119? Teaching and construction are already priority?
if/when they update 119, Ill share here.
What is the probability of the changes to update MD119 @gregormendel
@gregormendel Hope there is some good news for offshore 190 and 491 applicants. Waiting since 14 months.
DONT think so. .. elections in 2028. they will cut the numbers moree. hardly any 491 grants from last 4-5 months.
what a incompetent government. 1. higher number of student visas. 2. higher number of temporary graduate visas. 3. lots of invitations to permanent visas. and then they struggle to keep the numbers down.
International students would effectively be banned from bringing family members to Australia under a long-awaited overhaul of the immigration system, to be unveiled by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke tomorrow.
Could this be the reason why we are seeing 190 grants slower/lesser this week compared to last week ?
lets hope they release an updated 119 soon, to remove all doubt.
I hope so too!