One Nation’s plan to slash Australia’s international student intake could help reduce a growing temporary visa appeals backlog, but has prompted a warning that it could “decimate” the university sector.
The proposal, unveiled as Labor prepares to announce migration reforms, would cut the number of temporary visa holders and overstayers by more than 750,000 over three years.
International student visas would bear the largest reduction, with annual grants falling from more than 290,000 to 115,000. Visas for family members accompanying students would also be scrapped.
Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said universities had been pushed into relying on overseas student fees to balance their finances.
“The types of changes proposed will decimate an industry that employs 250,000 Australians and crucially keeps our public universities afloat,” he told AAP.
Student visa appeals add to migration backlog
Rising numbers of international students and their families staying in Australia on bridging visas have contributed to net overseas migration exceeding government forecasts in recent years.
The number of appeals lodged with the Administrative Review Tribunal has surged as the Home Affairs department increased refusals of student visa applications. The total number of migration and refugee cases under assessment almost doubled between July 2024 and July 2026.
Labor legislation passed earlier this year changed the way student visa appeals are heard, with the aim of speeding up decisions and reducing the backlog.
Since restrictions on in-person hearings took effect on June 1, the tribunal has recorded an improvement in the balance between new appeals and completed cases. Between July 2025 and the end of May 2026, 2.4 appeals were lodged for every case finalised. That fell to 1.8 in June and 1.1 in July.
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the changes had allowed the Administrative Review Tribunal to finalise more cases than its predecessor.
However, the tribunal cautioned that the figures did not account for seasonal changes in processing times, with work typically slowing over Christmas and increasing towards the end of the financial year.
The student visa backlog nevertheless reached 53,608 cases by the end of July.
Immigration expert Abul Rizvi said the changes represented only a limited improvement. “I don’t think that solves the problem in the way that the government needs to,” he said. “It’s just a small improvement on a big problem.”
Mr Honeywood acknowledged that a minority of international students were believed to be exploiting the system, and said successive federal governments had introduced measures to address the issue.
“Unfortunately that has developed a lawyers’ picnic that allows any number of appeals and the Albanese government are finding ways to reduce appeal rights for non-genuine students,” he said.
One Nation has also promised to end what it calls “visa-hopping” by preventing students from applying for repeat visas and requiring most applications to be made from overseas.
