Kate Dear

I've just come back from two weeks in Bali, and it's left me thinking about my work in a way I didn't expect. Sunrise over Sanur, Indonesia Bali runs almost entirely on visitors. Everyone I spoke with, my lovely driver Ketut (fourth son), restaurant staff, the people running the accommodation I stayed in, had opinions about travel, often detailed ones, shaped by years of listening to tourists talk about the places they'd been or were headed to next. A few had travelled themselves, mostly...

From 19 September 2026, healthcare Subclass 482 applications lodged from outside Australia can again receive the highest processing priority, under a new Ministerial Direction that replaces the one that took effect in July. What has changed Ministerial Direction 121 was signed on 18 September 2026 and commenced on 19 September 2026. It sets the order in which the Department of Home Affairs considers Subclass 482 (Skills in Demand) applications, and it expressly revokes Direction 119, which...

On 17 September, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced one of the largest overhauls to Australia's visa system in recent years, aimed at bringing net overseas migration down from around 292,000 to a target of 225,000 by 2028. His message was blunt: "If you want to come on a temporary basis to Australia, apply for a temporary visa." Most of these changes are being made through regulation and ministerial direction rather than new legislation, which means they can move faster than a typical...