Australia Revises International Student Visa Policy After Legislative Cap Blocked

The new directive introduces a tiered visa processing system to manage enrolments, drawing mixed reactions from the university sector.

The Australian government replaced its failed legislative cap on international student enrolments with a new directive, Ministerial Direction 111 (MD111).
MD111 introduces a tiered visa processing system, prioritizing up to 80% of each university's indicative international student cap before switching to standard priority processing.
The previous policy, MD107, faced criticism for disproportionately benefiting large metropolitan universities and disadvantaging regional institutions.
University sector reactions are divided, with regional universities welcoming the change, while the Group of Eight (Go8) universities criticized it as confusing and flawed.
Recent data shows international student arrivals have decreased significantly, with 207,000 arrivals in 2023-2024, down from 278,000 the previous year.