Source:- www.imminews.com.au

On November 14, the Australian government will put into effect a new Ministerial Direction. The goal of this Ministerial  direction is to make sure that international students are fairly and evenly spread out among education providers in both metropolitan and regional areas.

Ministerial Direction 115 will take the place of Ministerial Direction 111. It will also be in line with the 2026 National Planning Level, which sets goals for how many international students can attend universities across the country.

Julian Hill, the Assistant Minister for International Education, said that the move is in line with the government's goal of long-term growth in the education sector. He said on November 10, "Throughout 2025, we have seen the positive effect of a managed growth approach across the sector, returning student numbers to a more sustainable level."

Hill says that the number of international students has been steadily decreasing. Compared to last year, the number of student lodgings has dropped by more than 26% and the number of student starts has dropped by 16%. He went on to say that the new directive is meant to protect the quality, integrity, and long-term viability of Australia's international education system.

With the new framework, there will be a three-tier priority system for processing student visa applications. The new model links visa processing times to how education providers perform against their indicative allocations of new overseas student commencements. 

Students who apply to providers that are operating at less than 80% of their assigned numbers (Priority 1) will have their applications processed the fastest, usually within one to four weeks. Those who are linked to institutions that are between 80 and 115 percent of their allocations (Priority 2) should expect decisions within five to eight weeks. People who apply with providers that are more than 115 percent (Priority 3) will have to wait longer, which is thought to be between nine and twelve weeks.

The government made it clear that these timeframes could change based on how many applications they get and when they are busiest.

Hill also said that the new direction makes sure that all education providers get an equal share of the resources needed to process visas. He said that schools that follow the National Planning Level when it comes to managing their enrollments will get higher processing priorities. This shows the government's commitment to balanced and responsible growth in international education.