Australia Migration Changes: What's in Effect (Oct 2026)

Last Updated: 8 October 2026

On 17 September 2026, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke set out changes to skilled, student, graduate, working holiday and visitor visas. Some have since started. Most are announced intentions without a published start date. This page keeps the two groups apart, so you can see what applies today and what to keep an eye out for. 

Holding or planning a Student or Temporary Graduate visa? You can speak to a migration agent before you lodge anything.

Where Each Change Stands

Student Visa Update (2 October 2026): Family Members and Onshore Applications

From 2 October 2026, new rules apply to Student (subclass 500) and Student Guardian (subclass 590) visas.

Family Members

• Most applicants can no longer include a partner or dependent children.
• Inclusion may still be possible for PhD students, students sponsored by DFAT or Defence, foreign government scholarship recipients, and eligible students from Pacific or ASEAN member countries.
• Current Student visa holders cannot add family members after the visa is granted.
• Family members already in Australia may be included in a later onshore application. The main applicant and family must be in the same location when the application is lodged.

Applying from Inside Australia

Most holders of other temporary visas, such as working holiday visas, generally cannot apply for a Student or Student Guardian visa while in Australia. They need to be outside Australia when they lodge and when the visa is granted.

Current Student visa holders can still apply in Australia for another Student visa in these circumstances:

• They need up to 12 more months with the same provider to finish their main course.
• They are sponsored by DFAT or Defence.
• They are studying for a PhD.
• They are in primary or secondary school.
• They are moving to a higher AQF level (higher education must be followed by higher education), or from school to a non-AQF course, or from a non-AQF course to an AQF course.
• Their education provider has defaulted and they cannot continue.

Current Student Guardian visa holders can continue to lodge a further Student Guardian application in Australia.

Separately, non-school students are in a 12-month provider transfer period from 2 October 2026 to 30 June 2027. A new transfer stream is announced for 1 July 2027.

Temporary Graduate Visa (485): What Is and Is Not Confirmed

Ministerial statements indicate similar family restrictions are intended for Temporary Graduate visas, and that families already in Australia would not be separated.

At the time of writing, we found no start date or legal instrument for these 485 rules. The Home Affairs Student visa fact sheet does not mention the 485. Until Home Affairs publishes detail, the rules for including family on a 485 depend on the Home Affairs 485 pages and the date you apply.

Points Test Changes for Trade Qualifications

The government has said it is working with Treasury on a new points test for the 189, 190 and 491 visas. Housing trade qualifications are expected to receive points close to those for a university qualification. No start date, points table or list of qualifying occupations has been published.

This is separate from the broader points test rewrite, which is not expected to commence before mid-2027.

Skilled Visa Processing Priorities: Directions 121 and 122

The processing update announced on 17 September took effect on 19 September 2026 as Ministerial Directions 121 and 122. They replaced Direction 119.

• Direction 121 covers temporary skilled visas, such as the Skills in Demand (482) visa.
• Direction 122 covers provisional and permanent skilled visas, such as the 189, 190 and 491.

The highest priority tier covers construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and resources, plus law enforcement and defence interests. Priority affects the order of processing. It does not affect how an application is assessed.

Working Holiday Maker Visas: Ballot for Years Two and Three Announced

Home Affairs lists a ballot for second and third year working holiday visas, with a regional work requirement. No start date has been published. The announced limits are:

Home Affairs reports that most working holiday applications are being processed in about three months on average. Published times are a guide only, and applicants are advised to wait for a grant before booking travel.

No Further Stay Condition for Future Visitor Visas

Home Affairs lists a No Further Stay condition for all visitor visas. It is reported to apply to visas granted in future, not those already issued, and no start date has been published. In general, it limits applications to stay longer once in Australia.

Visitors may wish to plan the length of a trip around the dates on their visa. Our [LINK: Visitor Visa Checklist] covers the three essentials.

Changing Courses: What the Rules Say From 2 October

The earlier announcement referred to "visa hopping". The rules now in place are more specific than a single direction of travel.

A current Student visa holder can apply in Australia for another Student visa when moving to a higher AQF level, with higher education followed by higher education. Other onshore options are listed in the Student visa section above. Outside those circumstances, a further Student visa application generally needs to be lodged from outside Australia.