Decisions that were never put to you

One minister sets how many international students the country takes, by signing a direction

The government set a National Planning Level of 295,000 international student places for 2026 — 25,000 more than 2025. It is not a law. It is a ministerial direction telling the visa department which applications to process first, so it decides the size of the sector without deciding anyone’s visa. Every university and college gets an allocation; none gets less than last year, and extra places must be earned by meeting government priorities. Universities are effectively told how big they may be, by a document one minister signs.

A minister can now bar whole categories of visa holders from flying here, and Parliament cannot overturn it

A minister can now issue an arrival control determination: a temporary block stopping a named category of people who hold Australian visas from boarding a flight here. It applies to people outside Australia, including those already in transit, and it freezes the visa they already hold. It lasts up to six months and cannot be varied or extended — only revoked and replaced. Parliament cannot overturn it.

The NDIS is being cut back by 160,000 people, after an election where no cuts were announced

The government intends to reduce the number of people on the NDIS from about 760,000 to around 600,000 — roughly 160,000 fewer people — over four years. Funding for social and community participation is being reset to 2023 levels, about $31,000 down to $26,000 a person on average. Who qualifies shifts from a diagnosis to an assessment of what you can and cannot do. If you are already on the scheme you are not automatically off it, but plans and budgets change from this year.

Negative gearing and capital gains tax were changed after being ruled out before the election

Buy an established rental property from now on and its losses no longer cut the tax on your wages. From July 2027, profit on things you sell after a year is taxed a new way, with a minimum rate of 30%. If you already own it, nothing changes, and newly built homes are unaffected too.

A three-person panel can take a development away from your council, and it meets in private

The Housing Delivery Authority — a three-person panel — can recommend that a housing development be declared "State significant". If it is, your council no longer assesses it. It applies to developments worth over $60 million in Greater Sydney and $30 million in regional NSW. Since early 2025 it has recommended over 300 proposals, covering more than 102,000 homes. Councils say the panel meets behind closed doors, without regard to their local planning rules, and that residents get less time to respond.

Not open — Euthyna has not found a citable document behind this decision yet.

A levy that tripled what farmers pay was legislated, protested, and then frozen

From 1 July 2025 the old fire services levy on your rates notice was replaced by the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund, covering the CFA, Fire Rescue Victoria, the SES and Triple Zero. For farmland, the rate was set to rise from 28.7 cents to 83 cents per $1,000 of property value — close to triple — arriving during a record drought. Councils were required to collect it for the state, so the bill arrives with a council logo on it.

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