Ministerial Direction 123: The New Character Test Rules Explained

Ministerial Direction 123 changes how the government decides whether a person passes the character test. It starts on 31 October 2026 and replaces Ministerial Direction 110.

Tony Burke, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, signed the new direction on 18 September 2026. If you have a criminal record, a charge, a family violence order or a cancellation in your history, these rules decide how much each part of your story counts.

Here is what changed, in plain English.

What Ministerial Direction 123 actually does

Section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 lets the government refuse or cancel a visa on character grounds. Section 501CA lets you ask for a mandatory cancellation to be revoked.

The Act gives the power. A ministerial direction explains how to use it. MD 123 guides everyone who makes these decisions, including delegates of the Minister and the Administrative Review Tribunal.

So the character test itself has not been rewritten. What has changed is how much weight each factor carries when someone weighs up your case.

The four primary considerations

Primary considerations are the factors that carry the most weight. MD 110 had five. MD 123 has four:

1. Protection of the Australian community from criminal or other serious conduct
2. Whether the conduct was domestic or family violence
3. The expectations of the Australian community
4. The best interests of minor children in Australia, including children who were victims

The one that moved is the strength, nature and duration of your ties to Australia. It has not disappeared. It is now an other consideration, alongside the legal consequences of the decision and the difficulties you would face if you were removed.

The big one: your ties to Australia now carry less weight

Under MD 110, your years here, your family, your work and your place in the community sat in the top tier. Under MD 123 they sit in the second tier, so they weigh less against the four primary considerations.

Family violence: a much wider definition

MD 123 adds a substantially expanded definition of domestic and family violence. It now lists conduct such as:

• Image based abuse
• Stalking
• Breaching court orders

It also covers a broader range of relationships, including caregiving relationships and cultural family groups.

Two related changes sit alongside it. Decision makers must now consider the effect of the violence on victims and witnesses, particularly where a minor child was involved. And the best interests of children section splits MD 110’s single factor on family violence into four separate factors, covering current and future risk of abusive or neglectful conduct, and current and future risk of exposure to family violence. The types of abuse now include psychological and economic abuse.

Hate crime and hate speech now count against you

This is new territory in three places:

• Seriousness factors. Hate crime conduct has been added to the conduct viewed very seriously, along with drug or property offences carrying a sentence of five years or more.
• Community expectations. Hate speech, incitement of violence or discord and related advocacy have been added to the conduct that can found a decision on community expectations grounds.
• A newer character test ground. MD 123 adds guidance on the ground at section 501(6)(baa). It covers membership of or association with a terrorist organisation, a state sponsor of terrorism or a prohibited hate group, hate crime conduct, and making, endorsing or encouraging hateful public statements.

The risk threshold has dropped

This one is easy to miss and hard to overstate.

It is a lower bar. Less certainty about future conduct is needed before it can weigh against you.

What has been taken out

Other changes worth knowing

• A new principle on compliance. The direction adds that the community expects non-citizens to abide by migration rules and depart when their privilege to remain has ceased, while recognising that most people do comply.
• Temporary visa holders. The guidance on weighing the duration and purpose of an intended stay, and compassionate grounds for a short stay visa, has been removed. Decision makers are directed to focus on availability for removal and the possibility of risk-based visa conditions.
• Community expectations still apply. They apply whether or not the person will remain in Australia on a temporary visa or another visa designed to facilitate their removal.
• If you cannot be removed home. Decision makers are directed to consider the impediments you would face in a third country where you have permission to enter.
• If you have already gone home. They must consider the impediments you face there, with less weight given where the return was voluntary.

MD 110 and MD 123 side by side

What this means for you

If you have a character issue in your past, the balance has shifted. The factors that used to help you now carry less weight, and more conduct is treated as serious. What you put in front of a decision maker, and how you put it, matters more than it did.

If your matter is on foot, the date is the thing to watch. From 31 October 2026, decision makers apply MD 123 instead of MD 110. Where your matter sits in the process is worth checking now, not later.

If you are responding to a notice of intention to consider cancellation, your response is your case. It is the material the decision maker weighs. Ties to Australia still belong in it, but they can no longer carry it on their own.

If your visa has already been refused or cancelled, there are review rights and strict time limits. Our page on visa refusal and cancellation appeals explains how review works.

Frequently asked questions

Based on Ministerial Direction 123, signed on 18 September 2026 and commencing on 31 October 2026. This is general information only and not migration advice. Every character matter turns on its own facts.