OFFICIAL
Key Brief Number: IG-15
Home Affairs Portfolio
Department of Home Affairs
Budget Estimates Hearing – May 2023
KEY BRIEF
Topic: Visa Cancellations
Responsible Deputy: Stephanie Foster PSM, Associate Secretary, Immigration Group
Key Points
Character cancellations
• From 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, 405 visas were cancelled, 267 decisions were made to
not revoke the mandatory cancellation of a visa made under subsection 501(3A), and 111
visas were refused under other character provisions of the
Migration Act 1958 (the
Migration Act).
• From 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, 96 decisions were made under section 501CA of the
Migration Act to revoke the mandatory cancellation of a visa.
Cancellations using general cancellation powers
• From 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, a total of 10,046 visas were cancelled under general
cancellation powers of the Migration Act, 8,550 of those being offshore.
• From 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, a total of 32 visas were cancelled due to risks to the
health, safety or good order of the Australian community (under paragraph 116(1)(e) of
the Migration Act).
• From 1 July 2022 to 31 March 2023, there were 119 cancellations for the provision of
incorrect information and/or bogus documents (under section 109 of the Migration Act).
• Student visa cancellation considerations have resumed for onshore visa holders where
evidence suggests they have breached a condition of their visa, following temporary
suspension of cancellation considerations for this cohort in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cancellation or refusal of Protection and Humanitarian visas
• As at 31 March 2023, there were 89 non-citizens in immigration detention whose protection
visas (subclass 785, 790 or 866) have been cancelled or refused under section 501.
• Additionally, there were 160 non-citizens in immigration detention on 31 March 2023
whose humanitarian visas (subclasses 200-204) have been cancelled under section 501.
• Unlawful non-citizens are not involuntarily removed from Australia contrary to
Australia’s
non-refoulement obligations. There are mechanisms within the Migration Act
that protect non-citizens from
refoulement.
National security related cancellations or refusals • There are a range of provisions under the Migration Act that allow the Minister (or their
delegate) to cancel or refuse visas if a non-citizen has been assessed by the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to be directly or indirectly a risk to
the security of Australia.
OFFICIAL
Clearing Officer: Justine Jones, FAS Status Resolution and Visa Cancellation Division
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OFFICIAL
Key Brief Number: IG-15
Key Statistics
Table 1: Section 501 adverse decisions, since 1 July 2018
2022-23
Decision
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
Total
(to 31 March)
Cancelled
937
1,015
939
655
415
3,961
Not Revoked
332
450
438
434
269
1923
Refused
272
355
798
209
111
1,745
Total
1,541
1,820
2,175
1,298
795
7,629
•
‘Cancelled’ represents all decisions to cancel a visa under section 501, which includes
both discretionary and mandatory cancellation decisions.
•
‘Not-revoked’ represents individuals who have sought revocation of a mandatory
cancellation decision and the decision was made to not-revoke the cancellation. A non-
citizen can be represented in both the ‘Cancelled’ and ‘Not Revoked’ columns if they
were mandatorily cancelled and subsequently sought a revocation of that cancellation
(noting not all will seek revocation). The revocation decision does not necessarily occur
within the same year as the mandatory cancellation decision. For example, a mandatory
cancellation decision may have occurred in March 2020, however the revocation decision
may not have been finalised until December 2021.
•
‘Refused’ represents the number of visa applications refused under section 501.
Table 2: Cancellations under Migration Act powers other than s501, since 1 July 2018
2022-23
Decision
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
2021-22
Total
(to 31 March)
Onshore
7,321
4,547
1,801
1,642
1,496
16,807
cancellations
Offshore
46,404
53,673
23,975
22,770
8,550
155,372
cancellations
Total
53,725
58,220
25,776
24,412
10,046
172,179
• The table above sets out the number of visas cancelled using grounds other than s501,
such as section 109 (cancellation for providing incorrect information to the Department),
section 116 (general cancellation grounds which includes non-compliance with visa
conditions and risk to the community), section 128 (cancellation without notice where the
non-citizen is offshore relying on grounds in section 116) and section 140 (consequential
cancellation of a visa).
Consultation
• The Chief Statistician has cleared the statistics contained within this brief.
OFFICIAL
Clearing Officer: Justine Jones, FAS Status Resolution and Visa Cancellation Division
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