Take three minutes with us. Understanding these changes protects your application.
The Minister has issued updated Direction guidance on the exercise of the character-cancellation power under section 501 of the Migration Act. The revised Direction gives greater weight to length of residence in Australia and to ties to Australian children, and it makes explicit that these factors weigh more heavily for New Zealand citizens who arrived in Australia as children under the trans-Tasman arrangement.
The context is well known. Section 501 permits the Minister (or a delegate) to refuse or cancel a visa on character grounds, most commonly following a criminal conviction with a substantial sentence. Over the past decade the power has been exercised at scale against New Zealand citizens holding Special Category Visas, many of whom had lived in Australia since early childhood. The updated Direction is a response to sustained criticism from the New Zealand Government and from Australian civil-society groups about the proportionality of that use.
The changes do not remove the character test. A visa can still be refused or cancelled where the applicant does not pass the test, and mandatory cancellation continues to apply where the sentencing threshold is met. What has changed is the balancing of considerations at the discretionary stage — the point at which the decision-maker weighs the reasons for cancellation against the reasons against it.
For long-term New Zealand residents, three factors are now given greater weight. First, length of residence in Australia, particularly where the person arrived as a minor. Second, the strength of ties to Australian children — including relationships with children who are Australian citizens or permanent residents, and the likely impact of removal on those children. Third, the extent to which the person has effectively no ties to New Zealand beyond citizenship on paper.
Individuals with active cancellation notices should not delay obtaining representation. The response periods are short — as little as 14 days in some cases — and the strongest submissions on the revised Direction take time to prepare, particularly where they rely on evidence from family members, employers, treating clinicians, and community organisations.
The revocation-request pathway remains available to those whose visas were cancelled under mandatory provisions. A revocation request is not an appeal — the Minister or delegate decides whether to revoke the cancellation on the same character and discretionary tests, informed by the updated Direction. Requests can succeed even where earlier requests, decided under previous Direction versions, did not.
AMSA acts for individuals in character-cancellation matters at both the initial-notice and post-cancellation-revocation stages, and coordinates with criminal-law counsel where an underlying conviction is under appeal. If you or a family member has received a s501 notice or a cancellation decision, contact us immediately.