EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Minister for Home Affairs
Migration Regulations 1994
Migration (Annual Applicant Limits for Subclass 202 (Global Special Humanitarian) Visas) Instrument 2026
The Migration (Annual Applicant Limits for Subclass 202 (Global Special Humanitarian) Visas) Instrument 2026 (the instrument), departmental reference LIN 26/035, is made under subitem 1402(3D) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations).
The instrument is made in accordance with subsection 33(3) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 (the Acts Interpretation Act). That subsection provides that a power to make a legislative instrument includes a power to amend or repeal that instrument in the same manner, and subject to the same conditions, as the power to make the instrument.
The instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
It is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2003 (the Legislation Act).
Purpose
The purpose of the instrument is to specify the maximum number of applicants that an Approved Proposing Organisation (APO) may propose for a Subclass 202 (Global Special Humanitarian) Visa (Subclass 202 visa) in a financial year. These applications are referred to as the Community Support Program (CSP).
Background
The CSP provides a visa pathway under Australia’s humanitarian visa program, which focuses on the resettlement of working-age primary applicants with adequate English language skills who can become financially self-sufficient within 12 months of arrival in Australia. Eligible persons and their families may access the CSP by making an application for a Subclass 202 visa and including a proposal by an APO. The Subclass 202 visa is a permanent visa.
An APO is defined in Part 202 of Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations as an organisation that has entered into a Deed of Agreement with the Department of Home Affairs (the Department), where that deed is in effect and not suspended. Under the deed, the APO is required to provide 12 months of settlement support from the time of an applicant’s arrival in Australia.
The instrument is made under subitem 1402(3D) of the Migration Regulations, which gives the Minister the power to specify the maximum number of applicants that an APO may propose in a financial year. Where a visa application is made, with the proposal of an APO, and the total number of applicants would cause the maximum number of applicants that the APO may propose in a financial year to be exceeded, the entire application will be invalid and will not be considered (see subsection 46(3) and 47(3) of the Migration Act 1958).
The instrument specifies the maximum number of applicants for the financial year commencing 1 July 2026. APOs will be responsible for planning and managing their proposals within the allocated places.
The instrument also sets out the method for counting, or disregarding, certain applicants toward an APO’s specified limit:
- an applicant is counted towards the limit specified for the APO who proposed the applicant at the time of making the application;
- an applicant is counted towards the limit specified for an APO in the financial year (beginning 1 July) in which the applicant applies for the visa;
- primary and secondary applicants are counted towards the limit specified for an APO; and
- applicants are to be disregarded in counting the number of applicants proposed by an APO, where an APO proposes the applicant after the application is made.
Attachment A provides further details.
Consultation
The Department has consulted with affected external (non-government) stakeholders on the proposed measures to reform the CSP, including through regular engagement with representatives of the 11 APOs at CSP Working Group meetings. The Department has also consulted with the Refugee Council of Australia, the Settlement Council of Australia and the Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia, who also provided stabilisation proposals. Additionally, the Department consulted with the Australian Refugee Advisory Panel and the Home Affairs-NGO Dialogue on Refugee and Humanitarian Issues, which includes participants from the non-government organisations in the refugee and humanitarian sector, relevant international organisations and representatives from refugee-led networks.
Public input was also gathered through the 2025–26 Humanitarian Program consultation process, where more than 70 submissions highlighted concerns about protracted processing times, and two coordinated campaigns called for higher CSP allocations, broadened eligibility for APOs, and prioritisation of certain cohorts. Similar concerns were raised during the 2026–27 Humanitarian Program consultation process, with some stakeholders supporting clearing the backlog and a continued pause, as well as the introduction of predictable and transparent service standards and program parameters.
Further details of the instrument are set out in Attachment A.
Parliamentary scrutiny and other matters
The instrument is exempt from disallowance under section 42 of the Legislation Act. This is because instruments made under Part 2 of the Migration Regulations are exempt under paragraph (b) of item 20 of the table in section 10 of the Legislation (Exemptions and Other Matters) Regulation 2015.
ATTACHMENT A
Details of the Migration (Annual Applicant Limits for Subclass 202 (Global Special Humanitarian) Visas) Instrument 2026
Section 1 – Name
This section provides that the title of the instrument is the Migration (Annual Applicant Limits for Subclass 202 (Global Special Humanitarian) Visas) Instrument 2026.
Section 2 – Commencement
This section provides that the instrument commences on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.
Section 3 – Authority
This section provides that the instrument is made under subitem 1402(3D) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations 1994.
The accompanying note describes the effect of subitem 1402(3E), which provides that an instrument made under subitem 1402(3D) may also make provision for working out which applicants are to be counted, and which applicants are to be disregarded, in determining whether the specified limit would be exceeded.
Section 4 – Definitions
This section provides for the definitions of the terms used in this instrument.
Section 5 – Schedules
This section provides that each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
Section 6 – Limit on the number of applicants
This section provides for the purposes of paragraph 1402(3A)(d) of the Migration Regulations, the limit (if any) on the number of applicants that an APO may propose in a financial year is specified in the table in Schedule 1 to this instrument.
Section 7 – Determining whether the specified limit would be exceeded
This section sets out the method for determining which applications are to be counted, and which are to be disregarded, in working out whether the specified limit would be exceeded.
Paragraph 7(1)(a) provides that an applicant (or applicants) is to be counted towards the limit specified in a Schedule to this instrument for the APO who proposes the applicant (or applicants) at the time of making an application.
Paragraph 7(1)(b) provides that applicants are to be counted towards the limit specified in a Schedule to this instrument for an APO for the financial year in which an application is made. Section 4 provides that a ‘financial year’ is to be given the meaning of section 2B of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, which is that a financial year is the 12 months beginning 1 July each year. The effect is that any limit specified in a Schedule to this instrument applies from 1 July each year, until 30 June the year after. An APO who proposes the maximum number of applicants in July of any given year, will need to wait until 1 July the year after to propose new applicants.
Paragraph 7(1)(c) provides that applicants are to be counted towards the limit regardless of whether they seek to satisfy primary or secondary visa criteria. The effect is that where an APO proposes a family of five persons comprising of the primary applicant, their spouse and their three children, the APO will have proposed five applicants.
In the event that an additional applicant is included in the application at a later date (if permitted by the Migration Regulations), the additional applicant will also count towards the limit. For example, where an APO proposes a primary applicant and their spouse, and the couple later seek to include their newborn child in the application (as contemplated by regulation 2.08) the newborn child will count towards the number of applicants proposed by the APO. The same applies for an applicant included in the application via regulation 2.08.
In circumstances where the addition of the newborn child would cause the limit for that APO to be exceeded, the newborn child would not be prevented from making an application. This is because applicants who make an application via regulation 2.08 or 2.08A of the Migration Regulations are not required to satisfy paragraph 1402(3A)(d).
In those circumstances, the application by the primary applicant (and any secondary applicants who applied at the same time) would also not be affected by the inclusion of the additional applicant, provided that the original applicants did not cause the limit specified for that APO to be exceeded at the time they made an application. This is because an application that is validly made cannot later be treated as invalid.
Subsection 7(2) provides that in determining whether the specified limit under section 6 of this instrument would be exceeded, applicants are to be disregarded in relation to the limit specified for an APO that proposes the applicant after the application is made. This means that where an APO agrees to propose an applicant (or applicants) who have already applied for a Subclass 202 visa, the applicant (or applicants) is not counted against the maximum number of applicants that the new APO can propose.
The note after subsection 7(2) clarifies the interaction between paragraph 7(1)(a) and subsection 7(2). Where an applicant is first proposed by an APO (the original APO) at the time of making the application, and is later proposed by another APO (the new APO) after making that application, the applicant will continue to be counted towards the limit specified for the original APO, despite being disregarded in counting towards the limit specified for the new APO.
This avoids the applicant being ‘double counted’. It also ensures that APOs are not disadvantaged where agreeing to ‘take over’ a proposal, so that an application may continue.
Section 8 – Application
Subsection 8(1) provides that section 6 of the instrument applies, for the purposes of paragraph 1402(3A)(d) of Schedule 1 to the Migration Regulations, in relation to an application for a visa that is made on or after the commencement of this instrument. This ensures that the instrument operates prospectively as a requirement for making a valid visa application. It applies only in relation to applications lodged on or after commencement and does not apply in relation to applications made before commencement.
Subsection 8(2) provides that, for the purposes of working out whether a limit specified under section 6 would be exceeded in relation to an application mentioned in subsection 8(1), a person may be counted or disregarded as an applicant under the instrument whether the person’s visa application is made before, on or after the commencement of the instrument. This ensures that if the instrument specifies a limit on the number of applicants that an approved proposing organisation may propose in a particular financial year, the limit may be worked out by reference to applications made across the whole of that financial year, including applications made before the instrument commences. Subsection 8(2) does not operate retrospectively because it does not affect the validity of, or legal consequences for, applications made before commencement. Rather, it ensures that those applications may be taken into account only for the prospective operation of the limit in relation to applications made on or after commencement.
Schedule 1– Specified applicant limits
Item 1 of Schedule 1 to the instrument provides for the table that sets out in column 2, the maximum number of applicants relevant to an APO as mentioned in column 1 of an item in the table, for the financial year commencing on 1 July 2026.