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Hoping to study in Australia with your partner or children? What the planned family limits mean for UK applicants

Visa guide · 2026-09-16 · 4 min read

For many people who study abroad later in life, the course is only half the decision. The other half is whether a partner or children can come too. In Australia, that second question is about to get a much harsher answer. The federal government is preparing to end, in practice, the option for most international students to bring family members with them on a student visa.

This guide sets out what is planned, who it affects and what a UK applicant with a family should do now.

The plan in brief

The change is part of a wider effort to bring net overseas migration down from roughly 300,000 to 225,000 by 2028. The government is working on several fronts at once:

• reducing the number of temporary visas, which have grown to around three million
• tightening enforcement so people leave when their visas run out
• narrowing the route to protection claims
• limiting family members on student visas, which is where many applicants will feel it most

The details were due to be set out in a major speech by the Home Affairs Minister, after the plan cleared the Cabinet committee that reviews spending.

How many families this touches

Last financial year Australia granted 337,427 student visas, and nearly 46,000 of them included a secondary applicant, meaning a partner, spouse or child coming as a dependant. That is a large group of people who built their study plans on the idea that family life and study could go together.

Think of a postgraduate researcher with young children, a mature student whose partner has a career of their own, or a couple planning to settle while one of them studies. For people like these, being told the family can maybe follow later is rarely a real option. Australia may keep its overall student numbers steady, but the mix of who comes, and who chooses another country instead, is likely to change.

Other changes in the pipeline

The government would prefer to pass the changes through Parliament, but has made clear it is prepared to use ministerial powers if it cannot. It has done so before: Ministerial Direction 119 moved offshore skilled visa applicants to the back of the processing queue, and in some cases waits have stretched from days to over a year.

Two further areas are under review:

• Protection claims and bridging visas. Around 1,580 protection claims are lodged in Australia every month, mostly by people who arrived on student or visitor visas. About 90% are eventually refused, but appeals can take up to eight years, during which applicants stay on a bridging visa with work rights. The government is considering removing work rights once a claim has been refused.
• Family members of skilled migrants. It is not yet confirmed whether similar limits will apply to skilled visas, but with processing for offshore skilled and family visas already slowed, it appears to be under consideration.

Good news for UK working holidaymakers

One proposal was dropped. Changes to the working holiday maker arrangement for UK backpackers were ruled out after the Prime Minister stepped in to avoid a clash with the Australia–UK Free Trade Agreement. If you are a younger person in the UK planning a working holiday rather than a course, this part of the overhaul does not touch you. Check the current conditions on the Department of Home Affairs visa listing.

What to do if your family is part of the plan

Students comparing Australia with Canada, New Zealand or staying in the UK often treat family rules as a deciding factor. If yours is one of those households, a few steps make sense:

1. Get accurate, up-to-date advice before the new settings take effect, as changes like this often come with transition rules that favour applicants who are already well prepared.
2. Look at whether applying alone first and bringing family later would work for you, or whether another visa type suits your situation better.
3. Weigh up other destinations honestly if your family must travel with you.
4. If you already have a study or family visa application under way, ask an experienced, qualified adviser how the changes could affect you.

The full detail is still to come, so keep checking official guidance before you make decisions you cannot easily reverse. For other routes, such as working in Australia with an employer behind you, browse the roles on our jobs page.

#student visa #family members #australia #secondary applicants #working holiday #uk students