A backpacker ballot and a detention centre for visa overstayers: Australia’s new migration plan

Australia's migration system is set to undergo changes, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke outlining tweaks to working holidaymaker visas, visa applications for international students' partners and families, and stricter monitoring and enforcement of visitors who overstay their visa. The changes aim to bring annual net migration down to about 225,000 by 2028, from around 300,000 currently.

International students will no longer be able to bring their families with them, with exemptions for students already in Australia, applicants from Pacific and South East Asian countries, and PhD students. Working holiday visas will be subject to a ballot system, with stricter rules for backpackers.

The government also plans to toughen enforcement on visa overstayers, including hiring 100 additional compliance officers and exploring the repurposing of a pandemic-era quarantine facility in Melbourne to house immigration detainees, according to Dawn. The move comes amid growing debate over high migration levels and concerns over housing pressures, with the hard-right One Nation party surging in recent polls.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Guardian Australia, DW News, DW English (Top Stories), Dawn, BBC World — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.