Australia's Student Visa Overhaul: Can You Still Take Your Family With You?

News · 2026-09-16 · 4 min read

If you are planning to study in Australia and hoped your partner or children would come too, the rules may be about to change. Here is what is known so far, and what to do about it.

Most students may have to go alone

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke is due to announce wide reforms this Thursday at the National Press Club. They are expected to make it much harder for international students to bring a spouse, children or other relatives to Australia. The plan moves several visa categories away from open-ended, demand-driven settings and toward numbers the government controls.

The scale is large. Last year Australia granted more than 337,000 student visas, and about 45,000 of them went to accompanying family members. Under the new approach, most students will be expected to come on their own.

The migration targets behind it

The government wants Net Overseas Migration (NOM) to fall from roughly 305,000 to 225,000 within two years, while still making room for about 185,000 permanent migrants each year. NOM has in fact been falling for seven quarters in a row since late 2023, and forecasts suggest it may drop below pre-pandemic levels by 2027-28.

Political heat and a delayed speech

Growing support for One Nation, driven mostly by public worry about migration numbers, has pushed Labor to act on plans it had held back for weeks. The National Press Club speech was first booked more than a month ago, but it was cancelled at the last minute because cabinet could not agree on how far the changes should go.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tried last week to reach a deal with Opposition Leader Angus Taylor for bipartisan support in parliament, but the talks collapsed. If legislation is out of reach, Labor may rely on regulations and departmental directions instead, especially with Albanese leaving for the UN General Assembly in New York this Friday.

Beyond Family Visas: Removals and Visa-Hopping

The reforms are also expected to cover:

Visa-hopping: shutting loopholes that let people on expired visas switch into other visa categories to stay longer
Removals: simplifying appeals so unsuccessful applicants leave sooner
Unlawful non-citizens: nearly 111,000 people were somewhere in the deportation or review pipeline as of July, so expect more attention here

Who is pushing back

Independent Senator David Pocock wants the debate to move past headline numbers and toward a proper 10-year migration strategy that balances skills needs with housing and environmental pressures.
Business groups, speaking through ACCI chief Andrew McKellar, say the real problems are housing supply and skills shortages, and cutting migration will fix neither.
One Nation wants far deeper cuts: 750,000+ fewer temporary migrants over three years. Universities, aged care providers and both major parties have called that plan economically harmful.

Steps to take before you lodge

If bringing a partner or children was part of your study plan, the chance to do it under today's rules may be shrinking. Before you commit:

Follow Thursday's announcement for detail on which visa subclasses are affected and when the changes start.
Think about timing. Applications lodged before new rules take effect may be grandfathered under existing settings.
Look at other routes. Skilled migration or partner visas may give more stability than student dependent visas from here on.
Speak to a registered migration agent before making decisions you cannot undo about study plans that depend on your family coming along.

For South African families, the groundwork is the same either way: keep passports current, get certified copies of birth and marriage certificates from a commissioner of oaths, and apply for SAPS police clearance certificates early if they are requested. Things are moving fast, so check official updates as Burke's full announcement and the legal detail come out.

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