Australia's New Visa Character Direction Takes Effect October 31: Less Weight for Ties, Tougher Line on Family Violence and Hate Conduct
Canberra-- Direction 123, a ministerial direction signed by Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on September 18, takes effect on October 31, replacing Direction 110, which has applied since June 2024. The direction binds departmental delegates and the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) when making visa refusal and cancellation decisions under section 501 of the Migration Act, and decisions under section 501CA on revoking a mandatory cancellation. The character test itself, in section 501(6), is unchanged; what changes is how decision-makers weigh the factors once a person does not pass it.
The most significant change is that the 'primary considerations' fall from five to four: protecting the Australian community from criminal or other serious conduct; whether the conduct constitutes family violence; the expectations of the Australian community; and the best interests of minor children in Australia. An individual's ties to Australia -- the strength, nature and duration of those ties, previously a primary consideration -- are demoted to an 'other consideration', reducing their weight, while 'impact on Australian business interests' is no longer listed as a favourable factor.
Second, the definition of family violence is broadened to expressly include stalking, image-based abuse and breaches of court orders. Third, hate-related conduct receives sharper emphasis, including hate crimes, hate speech, public incitement to violence and associations with extremist or hate organisations. Fourth, the direction lowers the future-risk threshold in several places, from conduct a person 'would or will' engage in to conduct they 'might' engage in, and names certain drug and property offences carrying maximum penalties of five years or more as matters of high concern.
Migration law firms and the Migration Institute of Australia note that undecided character cases will be weighed under the new framework once it commences. For Chinese visa holders in Australia, long residence and family and work ties will carry less weight than before, while records involving family violence or hate-related conduct will carry greater cancellation risk. (Reporting based on the text of Direction 123 issued by Australia's Department of Home Affairs and Migration Institute of Australia guidance.)
Source: GSM · USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 澳大利亚堪培拉国会大厦。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Dietmar Rabich摄，CC BY-SA 4.0授权
