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.

Reported for unsatisfactory course progress in Australia 2026: what happens next

What an unsatisfactory course progress report triggers under the ESOS Act, where PRISMS fits in, and how National Code appeals work.

Being reported for unsatisfactory course progress means your education provider has told the Commonwealth that you breached a student visa condition — it is a notification, not a decision to cancel your visa. Under subsection 19(2) of the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act), registered providers are required to notify the Commonwealth when overseas students have breached their student visa conditions, such as by failing to maintain satisfactory course attendance or progress, and that information is processed through the Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS). This explanation follows the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 (National Code 2018) as published on the Federal Register of Legislation. It is general information about how the framework operates rather than advice about one person's circumstances; what is open to you depends on your provider's documented policies and on the current official text.

What actually counts as course progress, and how is it different from attendance?

Progress and attendance are two separate measures, and a report under section 19(2) can arise from either. The National Code 2018 defines course progress as the measure of advancement within a course towards the completion of that course, irrespective of whether course completion is identified through academic merit or skill based competencies. Attendance is measured in "scheduled course contact hours" — the hours for which students enrolled in the course are scheduled to attend classes, course-related information sessions, supervised study sessions, mandatory and supervised work-based training and examinations.

The other building blocks are smaller but matter when you work out which period is being judged:

Measure	What it covers	How the National Code frames it
Course progress	Advancement towards completing the course, however completion is assessed	Definitions: "course progress"; providers must monitor and report on it under Standard 8
Attendance	Scheduled hours you are expected to attend classes, information sessions, supervised study, mandatory supervised work-based training and examinations	Definitions: "scheduled course contact hours"
Study period	Term, semester, trimester, short course, or another provider-defined period that does not exceed six months	Definitions: "study period"
Compulsory study period	A period you must be enrolled in, unless you were granted a deferment, suspension or leave of absence under Standard 9	Definitions: "compulsory study period"
Mode of study	Face-to-face classroom attendance, supervised study on campus, distance learning, online learning and work-based learning	Definitions: "mode of study"

Standard 8 of the National Code is the standard described as requiring registered providers to safeguard the integrity of Australia's migration laws by supporting overseas students to complete their course within the required duration and to fulfil their visa requirements for course attendance and course progress. That same standard sets flexible provisions to allow online learning while maintaining appropriate standards for students to comply with student visa conditions. So the monitoring obligation is on the provider, and it covers every mode in which the course is delivered.

When is a provider legally required to report you?

The duty itself is the section 19(2) obligation described above: once an overseas student has breached a student visa condition, including failing to maintain satisfactory attendance or progress, the registered provider must notify the Commonwealth. The National Code 2018 sets out the course attendance, progress and completion requirements that providers must monitor and report on, and Standard 9 requires providers to keep enrolment information, including deferments, suspensions and cancellations, up to date in PRISMS.

The detailed thresholds — how many units, what percentage, over how many study periods — belong to the standards themselves and to each provider's documented policy. Those specifics should be confirmed against the current official requirements rather than assumed, because they are not uniform across the higher education, vocational education and training, ELICOS and school sectors.

Assume a hypothetical student enrolled in a semester-length compulsory study period. If the student elected to take extra study outside that period, that extra period is not a compulsory study period; but within the compulsory period, if the provider follows its monitoring process and forms the view that the student's advancement towards completion is unsatisfactory, the provider's notification duty under the ESOS Act comes into play. Whether the student first obtained an approved deferment, suspension or leave of absence under Standard 9 is relevant to identifying the correct periods in the first place.

Where does the report go, and who else sits in the picture?

PRISMS is defined as the system used to process information given to the Secretary of the education department by registered providers. The Commonwealth department named in the instrument as the Department of Education and Training is responsible for the overarching policy development and administration of the ESOS Act and its associated framework, including the Tuition Protection Service (TPS) framework and the management of PRISMS, and it acts as the ESOS agency for schools.

Body	Role described in National Code 2018 Part A
Department of Education and Training	ESOS policy and administration, TPS framework, management of PRISMS; ESOS agency for schools
The department administering the student visa program	Administers the student visa program under the Migration Act 1958; the ESOS framework supports providers upholding its integrity
Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)	National regulator for the VET sector and ESOS agency for VET providers; can investigate and take enforcement action for ESOS Act and National Code breaches
Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)	Independent national regulator of higher education and ESOS agency for higher education providers; same enforcement powers
Designated State authority (DSA)	Makes recommendations on registering schools and performs ESOS functions for school education and school-delivered ELICOS, foundation and non-award programs

ASQA and TEQSA also have oversight responsibilities for English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) and foundation programs, except where those courses are delivered in the capacity of a school.

Does the report decide your visa?

The report does not, by itself, make a visa decision, and it is worth keeping the two bodies of law separate. The National Code has legal effect only as expressly provided for by the ESOS Act, and breaches of the National Code by a registered provider can lead to action against the provider itself, including suspension or cancellation of its registration under Division 1A in Part 6 of the ESOS Act. The student visa program is administered under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, and how a reported breach is treated on that side sits with migration law and the department administering it.

One part of that split is often misunderstood: the TPS. The TPS is described as a placement and refund service for overseas students whose registered providers are unable to fully deliver their course of study, letting the student either complete their studies in another course or with another registered provider, or receive a refund of unspent tuition fees. What triggers it is provider default — the provider failing to provide a course, or ceasing to provide it, within the meaning of section 46A of the ESOS Act. A report about a student's own progress is not provider default; "student default", under section 47A(2), concerns a student who does not start a course or who withdraws.

What support should you have received before it got to a report?

Standard 6 requires registered providers to support overseas students in adjusting to study and life in Australia through an age and culturally appropriate orientation program. That orientation must cover a defined list, and three items on it connect directly to this situation: complaints and appeals processes as set out in Standard 10, requirements for course attendance and progress where appropriate, and the support services available for general or personal circumstances that are adversely affecting a student's education in Australia. Orientation must also cover English language and study assistance programs, emergency and health services, relevant legal services, the provider's facilities and resources, and where to get information on employment rights and workplace issues.

Beyond orientation, Standard 6 imposes ongoing duties that become important evidence if a report has been made:

Information or referrals relating to those services and programs must be given at no additional cost to an overseas student who requests assistance in relation to them.
Reasonable support to achieve expected learning outcomes must be offered regardless of the place of study or the mode of study, also at no additional cost.
Access to learning support services must be facilitated in line with the course, mode of study and learning needs of student cohorts, with documented processes for supporting and maintaining contact with students undertaking online or distance units.
A staff member must be designated as the official student contact officer, with access to up-to-date details of support services, and there must be sufficient student support personnel overall.
Staff who deal directly with overseas students must be aware of the provider's ESOS obligations and of the potential implications of those obligations for students.

Standard 6 also requires a documented policy and process for managing critical incidents that could affect a student's ability to undertake or complete a course, including incidents that may cause physical or psychological harm. The provider must keep a written record of any critical incident and of the remedial action taken for at least two years after the overseas student ceases to be an accepted student.

What can you appeal, and how must the process work?

Standard 10 sets out that registered providers must ensure their overseas students have the right to natural justice, protected through access to complaints handling and appeals processes that are professional, timely, inexpensive and documented. Those four qualities are requirements imposed on every registered provider, not optional extras, and Standard 6.1.6 requires the process to be explained during orientation — meaning you should already have been told how it works.

What specific decisions a provider's process covers, and the steps and timing involved, sit in the provider's documented policy and in the standards themselves, and those specifics should be checked against the current official requirements. The practical implication of the "documented" requirement is that the process has to be written down, which is what makes it possible to test afterwards whether the monitoring steps required under Standard 8 — and the support steps required under Standard 6 — were actually followed in a given case.

Records are the other side of this. Because enrolment information including deferments, suspensions and cancellations must be maintained accurately in PRISMS under Standard 9, it is worth keeping your own copies of: your Confirmation of Enrolment (the electronic document issued by the provider confirming your eligibility to enrol in the particular course, and which must accompany a student visa application), assessment results across each study period, your timetable of scheduled course contact hours, any approved deferment, suspension or leave of absence, and any request you made for learning or wellbeing support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does being reported cancel my student visa straight away?

A report is a notification to the Commonwealth under subsection 19(2) of the ESOS Act that you have breached a student visa condition, made through PRISMS. Outcomes on the visa side are dealt with under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994, which the National Code does not itself decide.

Can my provider report me if my course is online or by distance?

Yes, the mode of study is not limited to classroom attendance. "Mode of study" expressly includes face-to-face attendance in a classroom, supervised study on campus, distance learning, online learning and work-based learning, and Standard 8 allows flexible online learning provisions while maintaining standards for complying with visa conditions.

Can I challenge the decision to report me?

Standard 10 requires every registered provider to protect students' right to natural justice through complaints and appeals processes that are professional, timely, inexpensive and documented. The decisions covered and the steps involved are set out in the provider's documented policy, which should be read against the current official requirements.

Will the Tuition Protection Service refund my fees because I was reported?

The TPS is triggered by provider default, where a provider fails to provide or ceases to provide a course within the meaning of section 46A of the ESOS Act. A report about your own course progress is not provider default; withdrawing or not starting a course is treated separately as student default under section 47A(2).

Do I have to pay to use the complaints and appeals process?

Standard 10 requires the process to be inexpensive. Standard 6 requires information and referrals about support services to be provided at no additional cost to an overseas student who requests assistance in relation to them, and reasonable learning support to be provided at no additional cost. Any charge in a particular case would have to be consistent with those requirements as set out in the provider's documented policy.

How long does my provider keep records of what happened?

Standard 6 requires a written record of any critical incident and of remedial action taken, kept for at least two years after the overseas student ceases to be an accepted student. Enrolment information must also be kept accurate and up to date in PRISMS under Standard 9.

Which regulator applies depends on the sector, doesn't it?

Yes. ASQA is the ESOS agency for vocational education and training providers and registered training organisations, TEQSA is the ESOS agency for higher education providers, and the designated State authority handles ESOS functions relating to school education and school-delivered ELICOS, foundation and non-award programs.