International students whose visa applications are refused will no longer be guaranteed an in-person appeal hearing, after the federal government passed laws aimed at speeding up an overburdened migration review system.
Under legislation approved on Wednesday, the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) can be directed to decide certain migration cases solely on written submissions, removing the need for oral hearings.
The change is expected to cut about an hour from each case and help deal with a swelling caseload, particularly involving student visa refusals.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said in a statement student visa matters would be the first category targeted under the reforms, describing them as necessary to improve efficiency.
“These new measures are an important step towards strengthening the tribunal and ensuring its resources are used effectively.”
The tribunal exists to allow people to challenge incorrect bureaucratic decisions, but lengthy processing times have also made it vulnerable to misuse. Lodging an appeal allows applicants to remain in Australia while their case is under review — sometimes for years — even when their claims ultimately fail.
While the issue has long affected asylum claims, it has intensified sharply in the student visa system following the post-pandemic surge in international enrolments. As of November 2025, there were 48,826 active student visa appeals before the ART, more than double the number recorded less than a year earlier when the backlog first exceeded 20,000.
New cases are arriving faster than they can be finalised. Between 1 July and 30 November, 15,582 student visa appeals were lodged, but only 4,823 were resolved. Of those decided, 44 per cent were set aside, 25 per cent were upheld, and 29 per cent were withdrawn.
As a result, the median processing time for student visa appeals has blown out to one year and four months, compared with under 11 months at the end of 2024.
The surge coincides with higher rejection rates for students applying for visas while already in Australia on other temporary visas. Monthly appeals have jumped from just 257 in January 2024 — when onshore rejection rates sat around 10 per cent — to an average of about 3,000 a month, alongside rejection rates now typically between 20 and 30 per cent.
A government spokesperson told The Age that removing oral hearings was expected to save tribunal members about an hour per case, helping to ease mounting delays.
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