Most international students going to Australia will no longer be able to take a partner or children with them. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke set out the change on 17 September 2026 in an address to the National Press Club in Canberra.
The number of student visas is not being cut. What is being removed is the second visa that a student’s family member travels on.
What Australia Announced
Burke spoke at an event the National Press Club lists as “The work of managing the migration program: Who arrives, who stays, who leaves”. He used it to explain how the government intends to bring net overseas migration down from about 300,000 a year to 225,000 by 2028.
Student dependants are one piece of that. Australia granted 337,427 student visas in the last financial year, and 45,991 of those went to partners and children rather than to students, ABC News reported.
The change is expected to be made by regulation rather than by new law, which would let it start sooner. Burke has said he would rather legislate, and would use other levers if parliament does not back him.
No start date has been published. The Department of Home Affairs has not put out the rule itself, so everything below rests on the reporting named here rather than on an official instrument.
Who Is Affected and Who Is Not
Family visas are a large share of the intake, so the change reaches a long way. Times Higher Education reports that 13 per cent of visas issued for taught bachelor’s and master’s courses last financial year went to family members.
Reporting on the draft rules says a narrow set of students would keep the right to bring dependants:
- Higher degree research students, meaning research masters and doctoral candidates
- Students funded by an Australian government or foreign government scholarship
- Students from Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste
Those exemptions come from Times Higher Education and The PIE News, not from a published rule. Treat them as likely rather than settled.
Applying from inside Australia is the other target. Times Higher Education reports that 37 per cent of visas for taught bachelor’s and master’s courses last financial year went to people who applied onshore, a route the government wants to narrow.
Everyone else applying for a place at an Australian university, college or vocational provider should assume the family option is closing. That covers the large South Asian intake at campuses in Sydney and Melbourne, where most international students study.
What to Do if You Are Applying
Nothing has changed for an application you lodge today, because the rule has not started. The safer assumption is that it arrives in months rather than years, since a regulation does not need parliament.
- Lodge early if bringing your partner is what decides whether you go at all
- Ask your university in writing what its international office has been told, because institutions are usually briefed before applicants are
- Watch the Department of Home Affairs website for the rule itself, which is the only place a start date becomes official
- Budget for one set of flights rather than a family’s worth
That last point is worth pricing now. Airfares to Australia swing widely across the weeks around a semester start, so compare dates from New Delhi, Kathmandu or your own home airport before you commit to a departure.
If bringing your family is what decides where you study, look beyond Australia. Wego compared student visa dependant rules in ten countries, and a few still let a spouse work with no restriction at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still bring my partner on an Australian student visa?
For now, yes. The change was announced on 17 September 2026 but has not been made, and no start date has been published.
Is Australia cutting the number of student visas too?
No. Burke’s change targets the visas granted to partners and children, and student visa numbers themselves are not being reduced by this measure.
When will the ban on student dependants start?
Nobody has said yet. Because it is expected to be done by regulation rather than legislation, it can take effect faster than a change that needs a parliamentary vote.
Sources
- ABC News, International students to be effectively barred from bringing family to Australia
- South China Morning Post, Australia to ban student dependants as Labor fends off far-right pressure
- Times Higher Education, Secondary and onshore Australian visas next to be targeted
- The PIE News, Australia weighs major new restrictions on international students
Disclaimer: We’ve worked hard to make sure the information in this article is as accurate and up to date as possible at the time of publishing. Travel details such as prices, schedules, visa rules, and entry requirements can change at short notice, so it remains your responsibility to verify the current details with official sources before you book or travel. Wego accepts no liability for any loss or inconvenience arising from the use of this content.
