Requesting Ministerial intervention.

After the Administrative Review Tribunal has decided a review, section 351 lets the Minister substitute a decision that is more favourable to the applicant, “if the Minister thinks that it is in the public interest to do so”. In doing so the Minister is not bound by the Regulations.

Only the Minister can use the power, and there is no duty to consider using it. The Instructions describe it as “personal and non-compellable”.

s.351(1), (2), (3), (7) · Ministerial Instructions para 3.1–3.3

Once the Tribunal has made its decision. The power stops being available if a Minister grants a visa on that decision, if a court quashes the decision, or, where the Tribunal sent the matter back to the Department, once an officer decides it again.

While a remitted matter is still with the Department, a request is treated as inappropriate to refer.

Ministerial Instructions para 4.1, 4.2 · Ministerial Instructions para 12.1.8

The Instructions set no time limit for making a request and mention no charge. The clock that matters is your visa status: a request made by someone who is unlawful, not in detention and able to apply for a bridging visa, but who has not applied, is finalised without going to the Minister.

Ministerial Instructions para 5.4 · Ministerial Instructions para 12.1.3

The Instructions start from the expectation that a person who has not been granted a visa through the statutory process will leave Australia. While a request is being progressed, the person is expected to keep their travel documents available and valid, keep engaging with the Department, particularly on identity, and “continue to make arrangements to leave Australia”.

If an onshore visa pathway is available, it is generally not appropriate for a Minister to consider a request.

Ministerial Instructions para 5.1, 5.3, 5.5

Those that meet at least one of the ten criteria in section 13 of the Instructions. Quoted where the wording is short enough to quote, condensed where it is not:

1. 13.1.1 “the individual has provided evidence that they are the parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident child who was a minor at the time the request for ministerial intervention was made”
2. 13.1.2 the individual has the skills required for a relevant skilled occupation in section 14, “is presently working in the relevant skilled occupation”, and has provided the evidence section 14 requires
3. 13.1.3 “the individual was previously the holder of a Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa, and would now satisfy criteria in relation to time spent in Australia for grant of a Subclass 888 (Business Innovation and Investment (Permanent)) visa”
4. 13.1.4 the individual is the carer of an Australian citizen who has been issued a Carer Visa Assessment Certificate with a minimum impairment rating of 30, the person needing care has no Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen family members permanently residing in Australia, and care services are “otherwise unavailable to the individual because of a denial of access by care providers”
5. 13.1.5 “the individual is excluded from the grant of a protection visa or has had a protection visa cancelled or refused on character grounds and a protection finding has been made for the individual within the meaning of section 197C of the Act”
6. 13.1.6 the individual is a member of the immediate family of a child who has been found to engage Australia’s non-refoulement obligations and who holds, or has held, a protection visa or a visa under the refugee and humanitarian program
7. 13.1.7 “the individual is under the age of 18 and in the care of the relevant Australian State or Territory welfare authority”
8. 13.1.8 the individual would meet subclause 102.211(2) of Schedule 2 to the Regulations (the Adoption visa) but for subparagraph (b)(ii), and was refused for that reason
9. 13.1.9 the individual first entered Australia as a minor and has lived here for at least 50% of their life, a Commonwealth medical officer has assessed that their mental or physical health would be adversely affected if they had to return to any country where they have a right to reside, and they have no family members in any of those countries
10. 13.1.10 “the individual cannot return or be returned to any of their countries of citizenship or usual residence on a voluntary basis, due to the refusal of the authorities of the country to cooperate to allow the person’s return”

The request itself has to say which of these criteria it relies on.

Ministerial Instructions para 6.3.3, 8.10, 13.1

The occupation has to be on the MLTSSL, the STSOL, the Regional Occupation List or the Core Skills Occupation List. The evidence is a past or current positive skills assessment, or evidence of an appropriate qualification; evidence that the person is working in the occupation now; and, for an employee, evidence of support from the employer.

Ministerial Instructions para 13.1.2, 14.1, 14.2

The Department finalises it without referring it to the Minister, and tells the requester that it did not satisfy the criteria the Minister has set for when a Minister will personally consider a request.

Ministerial Instructions para 8.9, 10.4

Not necessarily. The Department first makes any health, character or other assessments and may seek more information. Once referred, the Minister may still decline to consider the request, or consider it and decline to intervene. If a Minister does intervene, they grant the visa they consider most appropriate.

Ministerial Instructions para 8.11, 9.1, 9.2

Section 12 lists thirteen circumstances in which a request is inappropriate to refer, whatever criteria it meets. In summary:

• another request for the same person has been received and is not finalised
• it is a repeat request
• the person is unlawful, not in detention, able to apply for a bridging visa, and has not applied
• the person could apply for a Partner visa in Australia but holds condition 8503, and no waiver was sought or decided within three months before the request
• the person has left Australia
• a substantive visa application is still with the Department
• a merits review application is still with a tribunal
• a tribunal or court has remitted or set aside a decision and the matter is still being considered
• the request follows a notice of intention to remove
• the person holds a Bridging E visa with condition 8512 (leave by a specified date)
• the person can apply for a medical treatment visa and meets the health-refusal, age-over-50 and unfit-to-depart circumstances in para 12.1.11
• the person is an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• the request raises only non-refoulement claims

Ministerial Instructions para 12.1.1–12.1.13

A request is a repeat request if a Minister personally dealt with an earlier request for the same person, declined to consider it or declined to intervene, and the Department notified that decision less than two years before it received the new one. It does not matter which Minister it was, or which instructions applied then.

The exception is where a Minister declined a whole class of requests and said those affected could make a new request.

Ministerial Instructions para 11.1–11.3

It will not be referred unless the first one is withdrawn or finalised. New or updated information can be given on the request that is already there.

Ministerial Instructions para 12.1.1 and the note to it

A request will not be referred unless a request to waive condition 8503 was sought or decided within three months before the Ministerial intervention request was lodged. Condition 8503 is explained in our visitor and short stay guide.

Ministerial Instructions para 12.1.4

A request that raises only non-refoulement claims is not referred. The Instructions point to two other routes: if a protection visa has already been refused, a request that the Minister use the section 48B power; if not, and section 48A does not bar it, an application for a protection visa.

Ministerial Instructions para 12.1.13 and the note to it · s.48B

The person affected by the Tribunal’s decision, or their representative. A representative is a registered migration agent or legal practitioner notified to the Department by a Form 956 or a signed letter giving the person’s details and, for an agent, the MARN; or someone the person has authorised in writing.

The Tribunal can also make a request by including it in its decision record. The Department then checks whether the person wants to proceed, and if they do, treats it as a request made by them.

Ministerial Instructions para 1.3, 2.1, 7.1–7.3

It must be in writing and must state which intervention power it relies on, the Tribunal decision, and the section 13 criteria it relies on. It must come with the information needed to assess those criteria; the Instructions put the responsibility for providing it on the requester. Anything not in English needs an accurate English translation, which should be done by a NAATI-accredited translator.

The Instructions require the Department to provide an online way of making a request and a postal address for a paper one.

Ministerial Instructions para 6.1–6.5

The Department notifies the requester. A referred request is reported with the outcome of the referral. One finalised without referral is reported as not having met the Minister’s criteria, not meeting the requirements for making a request, or falling outside the power altogether, depending on why it stopped.

Ministerial Instructions para 10.1–10.4

No. The first two rows in each block count requests; the third counts people, and one request can include several people. The rows also run on different clocks: a request finalised in a year was not necessarily received in that year. In 2025–26 the Department finalised 3,668 section 351 requests and received 3,122.

“Requests finalised” also includes requests finalised by the Department without ever reaching the Minister.

DA26/07/00392, notes 2 and 3 · Ministerial Instructions para 8.3–8.9

Section 417, the protection-review intervention power, was repealed on 14 October 2024, when the Administrative Review Tribunal replaced the AAT. The Department still reports under that heading: in 2025–26 it finalised 686 requests under it. A request that relies on the old powers is now dealt with as a request under the current ones.

Ministerial Instructions para 2.1 (note 2), 15.1

A separate power. The Minister may grant a visa to a person in immigration detention under section 189, whether or not they have applied, if the Minister thinks it is in the public interest. Like section 351, it is personal and carries no duty to consider. The Instructions on this page do not cover it.

s.195A(1), (2), (4), (5)

They were extracted from the Department’s systems for this request. The Department notes that its systems are dynamic, so figures may differ slightly from earlier or later reporting, and that the information was provided for the purpose of the request.

DA26/07/00392, note 3 and caveats