I hold an Australian visa and have an old criminal conviction from many years ago, but I have lived in Australia for a long time, work steadily and ha?

The situation

I hold an Australian visa and have an old criminal conviction from many years ago, but I have lived in Australia for a long time, work steadily and have close family here. I understand Ministerial Direction 123, taking effect on 31 October 2026, replaces Direction 110 and changes how decision-makers weigh criminal history, community risk and personal ties under the character test in section 501 of the Migration Act 1958. How will the new direction affect the balancing exercise in my case, what weight is now given to community protection compared with family ties and rehabilitation, and what evidence should I prepare before a character decision is made?

Detailed Analysis

The law regarding your visa status is governed by the Migration Act 1958. Under the Act, the Minister has powers to cancel visas based on character concerns. If a visa is cancelled, there are specific processes for attempting to have that decision reversed. For example, if a decision was made because a person was serving a sentence, the Minister may revoke the decision if "the person makes representations in accordance with the invitation; and... the Minister is satisfied: (i) that the person passes the character test... or (ii) that there is another reason why the original decision should be revoked"^[1]. This means you have a right to tell your side of the story to try and fix the cancellation.

Regarding your specific question about Ministerial Direction 123, the provided statutes do not contain the text of the Direction itself, only the Migration Act. Therefore, I cannot definitively state how the 'weighting' between community protection and your family ties has shifted. However, the Act establishes that the character test is a fundamental part of visa decisions. Because you have lived in Australia for a long time, work steadily, and have family here, these factors are typically part of the 'representations' (formal written statements) you would make to the Minister to show you are no longer a risk.

If your visa were cancelled, the law provides that if a cancellation is revoked, "the original decision is taken to have not been made"^[1]. This would effectively restore your status as if the cancellation never happened. However, because the specific balance of the new Direction (123) is not in the provided text, the exact outcome of your 'balancing exercise' remains unsettled under these specific sections.

Statutory Citations

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