Adelaide: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended the federal government’s student visa crackdown during a visit to the city on 29 September, after Adelaide University reported a shortfall in overseas enrolments. The changes, announced by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke at the National Press Club on 17 September, stop most international students and graduate visa holders from bringing partners or children to Australia. Exemptions remain for Pacific and ASEAN nationals and for certain courses such as PhDs.
The Announcement
Under the change, “we will no longer be allowing the attaching of family members for international students or for graduate visas”, Mr Burke said in the address, which was titled “The job of managing the migration program”. Families already in Australia are not affected: “we’re not going to be breaking up families onshore”, he said. Further measures will tighten the rules for students after they arrive. Course transfers within the same institution or at the same level will require a fresh visa, and progression is allowed only up the qualifications scale: “You can go up the qualification scale, but only up the qualification scale”, Mr Burke said. Future visitor visas will carry a “No Further Stay” condition, and places for second and third year working holiday visas will be allocated by ballot.
The Numbers
Dependant visas, which allow partners and children to accompany international students, accounted for about 10 per cent of higher education student visas granted in 2025/26. More than 70 per cent of offshore student dependant visas last financial year, or 10,448 visas, went to applicants from Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka. Net overseas migration is running at about 292,000, against a government target of 245,000 this financial year and 225,000 a year from 2027/28. The international education sector is worth about $54 billion and supports around 250,000 jobs, according to figures reported by The PIE News.
The Adelaide Flashpoint
On 29 September, the Prime Minister told reporters in Adelaide: “I haven’t seen those figures, but international students do come to Australia” and “we need to make sure there’s integrity in the system, and that’s what we’re doing.” South Australia is the first flashpoint of the change. Adelaide University has reported losing thousands of overseas enrolments. StudyAdelaide has spent $1.9 million on overseas promotion between February 2025 and September 2026, funding two campaigns of about $990,000 each on Google and TikTok. One of those campaigns delivered over 251 million TikTok impressions. At least $1.25 billion is pledged across four Adelaide CBD student accommodation projects, and South Australia is running at 7.5 students per available bed. The InDaily report on 29 September quoted StudyAdelaide chief executive Jane Johnston, State Development Minister Chris Picton, Adelaide University deputy vice chancellor Jessica Gallagher and Student Accommodation Council executive director Adele Lausberg.
The Sector’s Warning
Universities and the international education sector warned the change would cost enrolments. IEAA chief executive Phil Honeywood said: “We will definitely lose talented young people as a result of today’s announcement.” Universities Australia chief executive Luke Sheehy said: “You can’t set a sustainable level with one hand and make it harder to get there with the other.” Independent Higher Education Australia and the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) were also quoted by The PIE News. CAPA welcomed the exemption for PhD students and wants it extended to research master’s students.
What Is Still Unsettled
Several questions remain unanswered. No start date and no complete exemption list had been published at the time of reporting. Student planning levels are unchanged, so the change affects who students can bring to Australia rather than how many are taken. Mr Burke denied the package was a response to political pressure on migration, saying: “The government supports immigration but is opposed to anyone rorting the immigration system.”
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Sources: Tony Burke MP (speech transcript), https://www.tonyburke.com.au/speechestranscripts/transcript-national-press-club-address-17-september-2026; The PIE News, https://thepienews.com/australia-to-restrict-student-dependants-amid-warnings-of-talent-loss/; InDaily, https://www.indailysa.com.au/news/just-in/2026/09/29/pm-weighs-in-on-adelaide-student-shortfall
Photo: MDRX, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Illustrative: the international arrivals area at Melbourne Airport, Victoria. This photograph is not from the events described in the article.