The Administrative Review Tribunal’s (ART) backlog of student visa review applications grew by 42% in 2025–26, despite the Tribunal more than doubling the number of cases finalised, according to its latest annual report.
The number of student visa cases awaiting review grew to 54,176 at 30 June 2026, compared with just 11,528 two years earlier.
While the Tribunal increased its finalisation of student visa cases by 135% to 13,231, this was still well below the 29,346 new applications lodged during the year. Although lodgements fell slightly compared with the previous year, they remain more than 1,300% above 2022–23 levels.
Processing times have also increased, with the median time to finalise a student visa review now 68 weeks, compared with 59 weeks the previous year. Only around one-third of cases were finalised within 12 months.
The ART attributed the increase in finalisations to changes in how cases are managed and decided, including training for Tribunal members. However, it acknowledged that it does not have sufficient resources to manage the volume of applications, resulting in growing backlogs and longer processing times.
Legislative changes introduced in June require certain student visa refusal reviews to be decided ‘on the papers’, without an oral hearing. The Tribunal expects these changes to improve efficiency and significantly increase finalisations in 2026–27.
Separately, student visa reforms introduced earlier this month have substantially restricted eligibility to apply for student visas while in Australia. While these changes do not directly restrict access to the ART, they could reduce the number of student visa refusals proceeding to review.
The annual report also provides separate figures for graduate and training visa reviews for the first time. More than 3,300 applications were lodged during the year, with almost 5,000 cases awaiting review at 30 June. The median time to finalise these cases was 43 weeks.
The ART has identified reducing the student visa backlog as a priority for 2026–27.
