Do I need a lawyer or a migration agent?

Many visa applications are lodged directly. A registered migration agent or immigration lawyer helps with complex or refused matters.

What is a Section 48 bar?

It limits the visas you can apply for while unlawfully in Australia after a refusal or cancellation. A professional can map your options.

Can I appeal a refused visa?

Often yes — the Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviews many decisions, but strict time limits apply.

Can a provider report me to PRISMS for unsatisfactory attendance in 2026?

Yes — but only after a written notice, and only once one of the four Standard 8.14 gateways is met: appeals completed, the 20 working day appeal window closing unused, no external appeal lodged, or written withdrawal. What must happen first, and when Immigration advice is required.

Yes, a registered provider can report you to PRISMS for unsatisfactory course attendance — but not at the moment your attendance dips, and not automatically. Under Standard 8.14 of the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 (National Code 2018), a report may only be made in PRISMS once one of four specific gateways has been reached, all of them tied to the complaints and appeals process. This article follows the National Code 2018 text published by the Australian Government's Federal Register of Legislation, as at the September 2026 official page. It is general information about how the rules operate, not advice about your individual visa, and it does not predict the outcome of any decision.

What has to happen before a provider is allowed to report you?

Standard 8.14 sets the ceiling. A provider may only report unsatisfactory course progress or unsatisfactory course attendance in PRISMS in accordance with section 19(2) of the ESOS Act if one of the following applies:

What has happened	Why it matters
The internal and external complaints processes have been completed, and the decision or recommendation supports the provider (8.14.1)	Your appeal ran its full course and did not change the provider's assessment
You chose not to access the internal complaints and appeals process within the 20 working day period (8.14.2)	The 20 working day window closed without you lodging anything
You chose not to access the external complaints and appeals process (8.14.3)	You stopped after the internal stage
You withdrew from the internal or external appeals process by notifying the provider in writing (8.14.4)	Withdrawal has to be in writing to open this gateway

The practical effect is that a low attendance figure on its own is not a reportable event. The provider first has to assess you as not meeting the attendance requirement using its own documented process — Standard 8.6.5 and 8.12.4 both require a process for determining the point at which you have failed to meet satisfactory course attendance — and then the appeal timeline has to run.

Which courses actually carry an attendance requirement?

Not every sector is treated the same way, and this is where a lot of confusion starts.

Sector	Attendance requirement under Standard 8
School, ELICOS and Foundation Program	The provider must monitor and record attendance, and satisfactory attendance must be at least 80 per cent of the scheduled contact hours, or higher where state or territory legislation or other regulatory requirements specify it (8.6, 8.6.1)
VET	Attendance is monitored only where an ESOS agency makes it a condition of the provider's registration; where it applies, the minimum is 80 per cent of the scheduled contact hours (8.10, 8.11)
Higher education	Standard 8.8 requires a documented policy for monitoring and recording course progress; it does not set an attendance percentage

Two details matter for both school/ELICOS/Foundation and VET. First, the percentage is measured against scheduled contact hours, and the provider's policy must set out the method for working out minimum attendance (8.6.2, 8.12.1). Second, the policy must include an intervention strategy to identify, notify and assist students who have been absent for more than five consecutive days without approval, or who are at risk of not meeting the requirements before attendance drops below 80 per cent (8.6.4, 8.12.3). Intervention is meant to come first.

What must the written notice tell you?

Standard 8.13 requires that where the provider has assessed you as not meeting course progress or attendance requirements, it must give you a written notice as soon as practicable. That notice has to:

state that the provider intends to report you for unsatisfactory course progress or unsatisfactory course attendance (8.13.1);
inform you of the reasons for the intention to report (8.13.2);
advise you of your right to access the provider's complaints and appeals process, in accordance with Standard 10, within 20 working days (8.13.3).

If a notice arrives without reasons, or without the appeal information, it has not done what Standard 8.13 requires.

Can the provider hold off on reporting even if you're below 80 per cent?

It can, in a narrow band of cases. Standard 8.15 says the provider may decide not to report you for breaching the attendance requirements if you are still attending at least 70 per cent of the scheduled course contact hours, and:

for school, ELICOS and Foundation Program courses, you provide genuine evidence demonstrating that compassionate or compelling circumstances apply (8.15.1); or
for VET courses, you are maintaining satisfactory course progress (8.15.2).

Two cautions. The word is "may" — this is a discretion, not an entitlement you can claim. And 70 per cent is a floor: if your attendance is below that, this pathway is not available on the face of the rule.

What changes once your enrolment is extended, suspended or cancelled?

This is where the visa consequences become explicit. Standard 9.3.3 allows a provider to suspend or cancel enrolment on the basis of a breach of course progress or attendance requirements, but only in accordance with Standard 8. Before imposing a suspension or cancellation, the provider must inform you in writing of the intention and the reasons, and advise you of your right to appeal through its internal process within 20 working days (9.4.1, 9.4.2).

Then two things are compulsory. Under Standard 9.5, the provider must inform you of the need to seek advice from Immigration on the potential impact on your student visa (9.5.1), and report the change to your enrolment under section 19 of the ESOS Act (9.5.2). Separately, Standard 8.17 says that if the provider extends the duration of your enrolment, it must advise you to contact Immigration to seek advice on any potential impacts on your visa, including the need to obtain a new visa.

There is also a timing protection: under Standard 9.6, a suspension or cancellation under 9.3 cannot take effect until the internal appeals process is completed, unless your health or wellbeing, or the wellbeing of others, is likely to be at risk.

Note that these duties sit on the provider. The National Code requires the provider to raise the visa-impact question with you — it is not something you have to chase down on your own initiative for the rule to be breached.

What does the complaints and appeals process actually give you?

Because Standard 8.14.1 turns on whether the internal and external processes have been completed, the quality of that process is not a side issue. Standard 10 requires:

a documented internal complaints handling and appeals process, with comprehensive, free and easily accessible information about it (10.1);
a formal complaint or appeal route where a matter cannot be resolved informally (10.2.1);
assessment to commence within 10 working days of the complaint or appeal being made, with the outcome finalised as soon as practicable (10.2.3);
an opportunity to formally present your case at minimal or no cost, with a support person at relevant meetings (10.2.4);
assessment conducted in a professional, fair and transparent manner (10.2.5);
a written statement of the outcome, including detailed reasons (10.2.6).

If you are unsuccessful internally, Standard 10.3 requires the provider to advise you within 10 working days of concluding the internal review of your right to access an external complaints handling and appeals process at minimal or no cost, and to give you the contact details of the appropriate body. And if the internal or external process results in a decision or recommendation in your favour, Standard 10.4 requires the provider to implement it immediately and tell you what it has done.

Does online or distance study change the count?

It affects what "scheduled contact hours" means in practice. The note to Standard 8 defines online learning as study where the teacher and student primarily communicate through digital media, technology-based tools and IT networks, and which does not require attendance at scheduled classes or the maintenance of contact hours. Online lectures, tuition or other resources that merely supplement scheduled classes are not online learning for ESOS purposes.

Delivery is also capped. A provider must not deliver a course exclusively by online or distance learning (8.18), must not deliver more than one-third of the units of a higher education or VET course that way (8.19), and must ensure that in each compulsory study period you study at least one unit that is not by distance or online learning, unless you are completing the last unit of your course (8.20). For school, ELICOS and foundation programs, any online or distance learning must be additional to the minimum face-to-face teaching requirements approved by the relevant designated State authority or ESOS agency (8.21).

Frequently Asked Questions

Does falling below 80 per cent attendance mean I will be reported automatically?

No. Standard 8.14 only permits a PRISMS report once one of four conditions is met, and three of them depend on what you do or don't do with the complaints and appeals process. Before that, the provider must assess you as not meeting the requirement under its own documented process and give you written notice under Standard 8.13.

What is the 70 per cent rule, and does it apply to every course?

Standard 8.15 lets a provider decide not to report you if you are still attending at least 70 per cent of scheduled contact hours and, for school, ELICOS or Foundation Program courses, you provide genuine evidence of compassionate or compelling circumstances, or for VET courses you are maintaining satisfactory course progress. It is a discretion available to the provider, not a guarantee.

How long do I have to appeal a notice of intention to report?

Standard 8.13.3 requires the written notice to advise you of your right to access the provider's complaints and appeals process under Standard 10 within 20 working days. Under Standard 10.2.3, the provider must begin assessing your complaint or appeal within 10 working days of it being made and finalise the outcome as soon as practicable.

Can my provider suspend or cancel my enrolment while my appeal is still running?

Generally no. Standard 9.6 says a suspension or cancellation under 9.3 cannot take effect until the internal appeals process is completed, unless your health or wellbeing, or the wellbeing of others, is likely to be at risk. The provider must also give written notice of its intention and the reasons first, under Standard 9.4.

Why does my provider keep telling me to get advice from Immigration?

Because the National Code requires it to. Standard 9.5.1 obliges the provider, when it takes deferral, suspension or cancellation action, to inform you of the need to seek advice from Immigration on the potential impact on your student visa; Standard 8.17 does the same where your enrolment duration is extended, including on whether a new visa is needed.

Do higher education students have to worry about attendance reporting?

Standard 8.8 requires higher education providers to have a documented policy for monitoring and recording course progress, and it does not set an attendance percentage. Standard 8.10 and 8.11 tie attendance monitoring for VET providers to a condition imposed by an ESOS agency. So for higher education, the reporting pathway in this material is about course progress rather than attendance.