Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator Scarr, for the question. We obviously believe there was a strong case for reform of the ART. We had seen under the previous government, which had been in power for 10 years, the politicisation of the AAT at the time. We didn't believe that was serving the nation and its best interests, which is why we announced the significant review. Obviously, the Attorney-General worked consultatively as we went forward to implement the new tribunal.

There has been a significant and sustained surge in applications for the review of student visa refusal decisions. That is obviously due to a significant increase in the rates of student visa application processing by the Department of Home Affairs. Rates of refusal of these applications are linked to changes in the student visa policy, which contributed to an increase in applications for review of these refusals by the tribunal. In 2024, there were 22,158 student visa refusal applications lodged with the tribunal. This represents a significant increase when compared to pre-COVID-19 application rates. For example, in 2018 there were 6,000 and in 2019 there were 6,848. This increase is an even greater when compared to post-COVID rates, from 2,374 applications in 2022 and 3,893 in 2023. As you can see, there's been a significant jump in those cases.

The tribunal has enhanced powers and procedures to ensure that matters are resolved quickly and fairly. There are more powers for registrars, and there is a demand driven funding model which supports the appointment of additional members when needed, meaning that matters such as student visa refusal decisions can be resolved more efficiently. The government is currently conducting a recruitment process for general members, targeting migration and protection skills, which will help the tribunal address this surge.