Government doubles graduate visa fee but Pacific Island countries exempt
Mary Crock says discrimination based on a person's passport is "absolutely quite common". (ABC News)
In short:
Australia is charging cheaper visa fees for some passport holders as part of its push into the Pacific.
Advocates fear tiered pricing may set a precedent that could be used to target certain communities in the future.
What's next?
Recent international student graduates must quickly find thousands of dollars to meet the higher fees.
On an autumn Sunday, as the world was gripped by the news of the Middle East war, the Australian government quietly changed one of its visas.
Overnight, it doubled the application fee for the Temporary Graduate Visa, a lifeline for those trying to transition from study to work.
But there was also a more fundamental change.
There are different charges depending on where someone comes from.
The use of tiered pricing is framed as a tool to support, not punish, certain types of migrants.
But at a time of fierce political debate about immigration, some advocates fear it could set a precedent that could lead to discriminatory pricing being used to target certain communities.
"When the government implements migration policy that starts treating people differently based on their passport, it raises serious questions about fairness," said Jamal Hakim, chair of racial justice advocacy group Democracy in Colour.
"A tiered visa system risks pricing out some communities and undermining the idea that Australia is a multicultural country where everyone gets a fair go."
How Australia decides who to let in
Jamal Hakim says Australia's migration system should reflect the values of a multicultural society. (Supplied: Democracy in Colour)
Australia prides itself on having a "universal" and "non-discriminatory" visa system based on an individual's contribution, rather than their ethnicity, gender or religion.
But discrimination is built into the system and there are explicit exemptions from certain federal anti-discrimination laws.
Some discrimination is overt; Working Holiday Visas, for example, are only available to people of certain nationalities under a certain age.
Others are more subtle, like English language requirements, health tests and invitation-only visas.
University of Sydney immigration law specialist Mary Crock said the government was increasingly using "trade deals to quietly modify aspects of migration laws and entitlements".
She said discrimination based on a person's passport was "absolutely quite common".
"We don't discriminate on the basis of race but we discriminate on the basis of everything else,"she said.
"We discriminate on the basis of age, health, qualifications and experience.
"The truth is race becomes a factor when you preference qualifications from certain locations. Whose qualifications do we recognise? The answer is traditional partners."
The case for tiered pricing
Countries across the Pacific are exempt from the fee hike for a Temporary Graduate Visa. (Reuters: Hollie Adams)
In the case of the Temporary Graduate Visa, passport holders from Timor-Leste and Pacific nations including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga are exempt from the latest price rise.
They pay the old fee of $2,300; everyone else pays double.
A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said the arrangement recognised Australia's "special ties" with the Pacific.
It also "supports the Australian government's commitment to deepening engagement with countries in the Pacific region by fostering global education, workforce development, and skills exchange".
Anthony Albanese has offered Tuvalu residents the right to resettle in Australia. (ABC News)
Similar discounts for Pacific nations were introduced in 2025 in the Student and Student Guardian visas.
Experts say tiered pricing can be used more broadly to address inequality; while non-monetary tactics such as deliberate under-resourcing to cause processing delays can provide informal caps to certain visa types.
The department spokesperson said the price rise for the Temporary Graduate Visa was "unlikely to be a barrier to those wishing to remain in Australia after graduation".
But they did not respond to questions about whether tiered pricing would be expanded to other visas, or how the public could be assured it would not be used to target certain communities in the future.
The federal government has been driving net overseas migration lower in recent years since post-pandemic highs, while the opposition wants to see further cuts and says the door should be shut to those who do not share Australia's "core beliefs".
How a surprise price rise has hit students
The price rise for the Temporary Graduate Visa has caught many international students off-guard. (ABC News: Julian Robins)
While tiered pricing will help Australia's closest neighbours, strategic partners and those on the frontline of climate change, it has been a rude shock for the majority of international students.
Fabio Baptista, 24, said charging different fees to different countries was "definitely unfair".
"Apparently, my country is not part of that deal, so I just have to cop it,"he said.
The two-weeks notice of the price rise is particularly challenging for many international students who completed their studies in December and held visas expiring on March 15.
Mr Baptista was forced to take out a loan to cover the thousands of dollars in extra visa fees.
He said he knew others who simply could not afford to apply.
"It was quite frustrating as I've already invested so much time and money on my education here in Australia," he said.
"It definitely came as a shock as I wasn't expecting that."
Change 'snuck in' at the last minute
Education is one of Australia's largest exports, attracting thousands of students a year. (AP: Mark Baker)
Migration Institute of Australia chief executive Peter van Vilet said the government was entitled to "send price signals" to manage immigration, however, he was concerned about "the shifting of goalposts at the last minute".
"They've got to come up with an extra $2,300 in two weeks," he said.
"If you're an international student who probably is working part-time, has significant bills to pay, that's quite a lot of money."
"To sneak it in just two weeks before a large number of international students' visas were about to expire, I think was quite unfair."
Mr van Vilet said he did not think there was "anything untoward" about the Australian government wanting to broaden engagement in the Pacific but "would be concerned" if tiered pricing was rolled out to other geographic areas.
"We have a really strong strategic interest in that region," he said.
"We want to be seen to be helping out that region with climate change issues and supporting economic development.
"As a rule, visas should be non-discriminatory based on country of origin but I do understand the government's reasons for favouring the Pacific Islands."