What's changed

Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill announced the reforms in a media release dated October 2, 2026, which said they are intended to "curtail visa hopping."

Home Affairs lists 16 visa subclasses whose primary and secondary holders cannot apply for a Student visa in Australia, with no exemptions. They include Working Holiday (subclass 417), Work and Holiday (462), Skills in Demand / Temporary Skill Shortage (482), Temporary Graduate (485), Visitor (600), Training (407) and Temporary Activity (408).

People who already hold a Student visa as the primary applicant can apply for another one in Australia only under six exemptions:

• they need up to 12 more months to finish their main course with the same education provider
• they are sponsored by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) or Defence
• they are applying to study a PhD
• they are applying for primary or secondary school studies
• they have completed their main course and are progressing to a course at a higher Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) level
• their education provider has defaulted

Holders of a Student visa as a dependant cannot apply in Australia as the primary applicant. Student Guardian visa holders can still lodge a further Student Guardian visa application in Australia.

Who's affected

Partners and dependent children can now be included only for PhD students, DFAT- or Defence-sponsored students, students on a foreign government scholarship that fully funds their studies, and nationals of 12 Pacific Island countries or 11 ASEAN member states. Current Student visa holders re-applying under the course-completion, provider-default or onshore course-progression exemptions may include family members already on their visa. Family members must apply at the same time and from the same location as the student.

Home Affairs states that family members cannot apply as subsequent entrants after a Student visa is granted "in any circumstance." The rule applies to all current Student visa holders.

When it takes effect

The rules took effect on October 2, 2026. Applications lodged before that date, including those that included family members, are assessed under the rules in place when they were lodged. Existing Student visas are not affected.

What else changed

From October 2, 2026, an amendment to the National Code for providers of education to overseas students bars a provider from enrolling a student who is transferring from another provider until the student has completed at least 12 months of their principal course, up from six months. The 12-month period applies to transfers on or before June 30, 2027, and the instrument sets six months from July 1, 2027. School students keep the six-month period for their first school course. A provider can enrol a transferring student earlier if the original provider or course is no longer registered, if a sanction stops the course, if the original provider releases the student, or if a government sponsor supports the change in writing.

A Student visa holder who has completed a higher education course and applies for another Student visa in Australia under the course-progression exemption must enrol in a higher education course, at a higher AQF level, delivered by a higher education provider.

The media release states that "similar restrictions will apply" to Temporary Graduate visas. As of October 25, 2026, Home Affairs had not published those rules.

Where it stands

Correction (26 October 2026): an earlier version of this article stated that a new Student visa transfer stream starts on July 1, 2027, and that onshore moves from higher education to vocational education and training (VET) courses are no longer permitted. The transfer stream is described only in the minister's media release; the National Code amendment that took effect on October 2, 2026, sets a six-month transfer period from July 1, 2027. The higher education limit applies to Student visa holders who apply for another Student visa in Australia under the course-progression exemption. The earlier version also omitted the exceptions under which a provider can enrol a transferring student before the period ends.

The minister's media release states that from mid-2027, students changing provider after arriving in Australia will apply through a new Student visa transfer stream and must receive the new visa before starting at the new provider. As of October 26, 2026, no regulation creating that stream had been published.