Australia to bar foreign students from bringing spouses and children in bid to cut migration to 225,000 by 2028
MacroRegulation
The Australian government is preparing measures to bar foreign students from bringing their spouses, partners and children to live in the country while they study, and to tighten rules on switching visa categories for temporary visa holders, in an effort to control migrant numbers amid pressure on housing, infrastructure and social cohesion. Reports say Tony Burke, Australia's Minister for Home Affairs, is due to speak at the National Press Club this afternoon, where he is expected to announce a plan to cut net overseas migration to 225,000 by 2028, down from the current level of around 300,000. At present, spouses or partners of foreign students can work in Australia, with the number of hours depending on the level of the course the student is enrolled in, and students can also bring dependent children under the age of 18. The move comes after One Nation, a far-right party whose popularity has been rising steadily, announced earlier this week that it would cut the number of temporary visa holders by as many as 750,000 within three years. Official data shows net migration in the year ending 30 June 2025 stood at 306,000, more than half of them foreign students, a further decline from 429,000 in 2024 and from a record high of 518,000 in 2023.
