At last week’s Australian International Education Conference (AIEC), one ‘blink and you’d miss it’ line in the Keynote address by Assistant Minister for International Education, Julian Hill was, “With respect to visa processing, in mid-November a new Ministerial Direction will take effect which I will finalise and publish before then”.
The new Ministerial Direction refers to replacing Ministerial Direction 111, which provides a framework for processing offshore Subclass 500 (Student) visa applications A new MD is unsurprising, not least of which because ‘indicative allocations’ is defined in MD111 as defined by 2025 New Overseas Student Commencements.
There were further insights into what the MD might contain during other AIEC sessions.
At Thursday’s AIEC National Strategy Townhall session, Tim Watts, Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs said that “some students will continue to receive priority visa processing under the ministerial direction”. He went on to call out students studying from South-East Asia under government scholarships as well as Transnational Education (TNE) students studying at Australian university branch campuses.
At the always popular What’s new in PRISMS session also on Thursday, Andrew Munro, Director, Department of Education provided further details of the three new exemptions that will apply to the NOSC in 2026. These were flagged in the Factsheet released by the Department of Education in August on Managed Growth for International Education – Arrangement for 2026:
Pathway students
An exemption allowing students that study at an approved pathway provider to not count as a NOSC in their affiliated provider, provided the pathway provider’s Confirmation of Enrolment was a NOSC.
Transitioning year 12 students
Students that have completed a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education course on a primary student visa and move into a vocational education and training or higher education provider will not count as a NOSC.
Provider closure
Allows students that are subject to a provider closure to move to another provider and not count as a NOSC at the new provider.
We also know that the government considered increases in the 2026 NOSC allocation for public universities based on South-East Asian engagement and investment in housing.
Julian Hill has previously applauded the impact that the government’s integrity measures, including Ministerial Direction 111, have had on reducing the number of student visa applications in the system.
