Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning): What Happens on 5 October 2026
Right now there are 15,772 international students sitting in an Australian classroom studying one particular course. There are another 41,033 enrolment confirmations on issue for it. And 452 providers deliver it.
On 5 October 2026, the door closes on new overseas students in that course.
If you are already in the classroom, you are fine. If you are holding a letter for a course you have not started yet, you have until 5 October, and you should not wait until 4 October to work out where you stand.
Here is exactly what happens, plus four other things that changed this month.
The short version
The course is the BSB80120 Graduate Diploma of Management (Learning), often shortened to GDML.
From 5 October 2026, providers cannot issue new Confirmations of Enrolment for it, cannot enrol new overseas students in it, and cannot commence overseas students who have not already started.
Overseas students who have already commenced by 5 October can keep studying until they finish or withdraw.
Delivery to domestic students is not affected. This is not the course being switched off for everyone.
This acts on the provider's course registration and on enrolment documents. It is not a visa cancellation.
Which group are you in?
Everything turns on one word: commenced. Not enrolled, not accepted, not paid. Commenced.
Your situation on 5 October 2026 | What happens |
|---|---|
You are an overseas student enrolled in the GDMLand you have started it | You keep going. Your provider can continue delivering it to you until you complete or withdraw. Once every student like you is finished, the course comes off that provider's registration |
You hold a Confirmation of Enrolment for the GDML buthave not started | That Confirmation of Enrolment is automatically cancelled on 5 October 2026 |
You are adomestic student | Nothing changes. The instrument only touches delivery to overseas students |
If that second situation is yours, you are the group that needs to move. Your enrolment document is the thing your student visa position is built on, so once it goes, your position needs looking at properly.
What your provider has to do for you
This is the part that usually gets missed, and it is the part that protects you.
The regulator has told providers with this course on their books that they are expected to:
Tell affected students promptly and give them the Department of Education's student fact sheet
Meet their placement and refund obligations, including refunding students
Send students with visa questions to the Department of Home Affairs or to a registered migration agent
Brief the education agents they work with so students get consistent information
So if your enrolment is cancelled, you are not simply out of pocket with no recourse. Ask your provider, in writing, what they are doing about placement and refund.
Why the Government did it
The stated grounds were course level integrity concerns: rapid growth in overseas enrolments, students not commencing, low completion rates compared with other vocational courses, heavy transferring between providers, high visa refusal rates, and use of the course inside packaged arrangements.
Those are the Government's reasons, reported as the Government's reasons. This is also the first time these particular powers have been used since they came in, which is worth knowing whichever course you are enrolled in.
What not to do
Two things we would ask you not to do on your own.
Do not just enroll somewhere else. Changing course or provider carries Genuine Student and visa consequences that depend entirely on your own history, your visa, and your timing. It is not a fix you can apply from a forum post.
Do not assume your visa is gone. It is not. What changes is a course registration and, for some people, an enrolment document. Those are different things, and the gap between them is where the bad advice lives.
If you are affected, the useful move is to get your own situation looked at before 5 October, while you still have options rather than consequences. Bring your enrolment paperwork and your visa grant letter and we will tell you where you actually stand.
Child visas (subclass 101 and 802): a postal address problem
A separate change this month moved the postal address for child visa applications. There is a discrepancy between the address in the instrument, what Australia Post will accept, and the address shown on the Department's own website. It has been raised with the Department and the Department is looking at it.
We are deliberately not publishing a postcode here, because the correct one has not been confirmed. There are two sensible positions while that is unresolved:
If your child visa application is not urgent, wait until the correct address is confirmed.
If it genuinely cannot wait, a courier is worth considering, because what changed was the postal address, not the courier address.
If you are close to a deadline on a child visa, get advice this week rather than posting and hoping.
Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191): have your evidence checked before you lodge
The subclass 191 visa is the permanent visa for people who have held an eligible regional provisional visa and done their time in regional Australia. You do not need a sponsor or a nominator, but you do need three things.
Requirement | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
Hold an eligible visa for at least 3 years | The clock is on the visa, not on how long you have been in Australia |
Comply with the conditions of that visa | Including the regional living and working conditions attached to it |
Taxable income at or above the income threshold for at least 3 years | This is the one people get caught on. It is taxable income, evidenced, across the whole period |
New internal policy guidance for this visa was published this month. Internal guidance is not law, and nothing about the requirements changed. What can shift is how evidence gets looked at. If a subclass 191 application is coming up for you, that is a reason to have your income and compliance evidence checked before you lodge, not after the Department writes to you asking for more.
Employers: the training levy is yours, and so is the rest of your side
If you are nominating someone for permanent residence under the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), the Skilling Australians Fund levy is paid by the business. Not the worker. Home Affairs states it plainly: employers must not pass the levy on to the visa applicant.
And it goes further than the levy. Home Affairs also says you must pay for all costs associated with becoming a sponsor and nominating and sponsoring an applicant, and that you cannot transfer those costs to the visa holder or their family members. That covers the nomination fee and your own migration agent fees for the nomination.
Passing costs across can also raise a second problem. Every nomination has to show the position is genuine and the business can support it. If the worker is funding your side of the application, that invites a question you do not want asked.
We have written the full breakdown of who pays what: 186 visa, who pays the Skilling Australians Fund levy.
Western Australia: trade skills assessments closer to home
North Metropolitan TAFE is contracted to deliver Trades Recognition Australia skills assessments in Western Australia, including for the Electrician and Plumber occupations, with the technical interview and practical assessment stages conducted on site at its Balga campus.
One thing to be clear about, because it gets mixed up constantly. Where you can sit a skills assessment says nothing about whether your occupation supports a visa. A skills assessment is one requirement among several, and assessment availability is not an eligibility list. If you are planning around a trade, the assessment is a step, not the answer.
Nurses and direct care workers
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council is the skills assessing authority for registered nurses, enrolled nurses and direct care workers. It publishes its assessment types, the process and any information sessions on its own website. If a skills assessment is your next step, that is where to start.
What to do next
If this is you | Do this |
|---|---|
Holding a GDML enrolment for a course you have not started | Get your situation reviewed before 5 October 2026, and ask your provider in writing about placement and refund |
Already studying the GDML | Keep going. Do not change anything without advice |
Near a child visa deadline | Get advice this week. Do not post to an unconfirmed address |
Subclass 191 coming up | Have your income and compliance evidence checked before you lodge |
An employer nominating under the subclass 186 | Make sure your side of the costs is paid by the business |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my student visa cancelled?
No. The instrument acts on the provider's registration for the course and, for students who have not commenced, on the Confirmation of Enrolment. It does not cancel visas. That said, if your enrolment document is cancelled your visa position may be affected, which is why it is worth getting looked at.
I have already started the course. Can I finish it?
Yes. Overseas students who are enrolled in and have commenced the course by 5 October 2026 can continue until they complete or withdraw.
I have a Confirmation of Enrolment but my course has not started yet. What happens?
If you have not commenced by 5 October 2026, that Confirmation of Enrolment is automatically cancelled on that date. Speak to your provider about placement and refund, and get advice on your visa position.
Can I just transfer to a different course or provider?
Sometimes, but not as a reflex. Course and provider changes carry Genuine Student and visa consequences that depend on your own circumstances. Get it assessed before you commit to anything.
Does this affect domestic students?
No. Delivery of the course to domestic students is unaffected.
Will more courses be closed?
We do not know, and nobody who tells you otherwise does either. What we can say is that these powers now exist and have been used once.
Who pays the Skilling Australians Fund levy?
The employer. Home Affairs says employers must not pass the levy on to the visa applicant, and that the other costs of sponsoring and nominating cannot be transferred to the visa holder or their family either.
Talk to us
We are Nationwide Migration and Education, a team of registered migration agents in Brisbane. If any of the above is you, book a consultation and bring three things:
1. Your current visa grant letter
2. Your passport
3. A short note on what you are trying to achieve, whether that is the course, the job or the family
That is enough for us to tell you where you actually stand, and whether there is something worth doing about it.
Call or WhatsApp: +61 7 3726 5183
320 Adelaide Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
MARN 1800859
Disclaimer
General information only, current as at September 2026. This is not migration advice for your specific circumstances. Migration and education rules change without notice, and how any of this applies depends on your individual situation. Speak to a registered migration agent about your own case.
Nationwide Migration and Education is not affiliated with the Australian Government or the Department of Home Affairs. All visa decisions are made solely by the Department of Home Affairs.
