Over 25,000 people have been living in Australia illegally for a decade, according to Home Affairs data, and in total about 77,700 unlawful citizens are still in the country as of June 2025.
Freedom of Information (FOI) figures provided to The Epoch Times on April 17 revealed that of the 77,700 people, about 20,000 have stayed in Australia for less than 12 months.
The figures are further broken down by the:
- 8,600 that have remained for one to two years;
- 5,500 for two to three years;
- 3,800 for three to four years;
- 2,600 have overstayed by four to five years;
- 3,100 for five to six years;
- 2,100 for seven to eight years;
- 1,700 for eight to nine years; and
- 1,500 for nine to 10 years.
About 25,800 people have overstayed for more than 10 years.
Only 1,502 Illegal Non Citizens were Removed in 2025
Only 1,502 non-citizens were removed from Australia following the cancellation of their visa between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 2025 according to a separate FOI released to The Epoch Times.
The data shows that while 5,158 visas were cancelled onshore during this same time frame, only 29 percent of these individuals were removed from the country.
Visa cancellations were most common among student visa holders, with 2,396 cases followed by visitors with 1,110 and other visa categories with 618.
Temporary residents made up 425 cancellations, while 228 were migrant visas, 158 were bridging visas, and 64 were bridging visa E holders.
Most cancellations were conducted under section 116 of the Migration Act, making up 3,696 cases.
Another 339 cancellations were due to incorrect information being provided, while 672 were made under section 501 subsection 3A of the Migration Act on character grounds.
A total of 59 cancellations were made under ministerial personal powers. This included 5 cancellations without notice under one type of ministerial power.
Ten cancellations were made with notice, and a further 44 cancellations made without notice under another type of ministerial power.
The FOI data also shows that 14 people had their visas cancelled and were removed on serious grounds including representing a danger to the Australian community, inciting discord, vilifying a segment of the Australian community and risk to health safety or good order.
Home Affairs noted they did not report specifically on hate preachers or extremist speakers.
Highest Number of From China
The highest number of removals involved nationals from China with 173, followed by India with 137, Vietnam with 94, New Zealand with 88 and the United Kingdom with 83.Other nationalities included the Philippines with 68, Japan with 67, Fiji with 61, Taiwan with 55, and the United States with 40.
However, there was a further 636 removals across all other citizenships where Home Affairs did not specify country.
Ministers Urges Non-Citizens to Leave
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke urged non Australian citizens residing in Australia illegally to leave.“If someone doesn’t have a visa, they should leave this country,” he told reporters. “At the end of your visa, if you don’t have another visa, you should leave Australia. That’s how a visa system operates.”
Burke claimed the government had inherited a “ridiculous backlog” of overstays and said the government had been reducing it.
“Some of these backlogs from when we came to office were in the order of 100,000. So we’ve been getting through it. We’ve been getting the numbers down.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Angus Taylor said the Coalition would shut the door on those abusing the immigration system, in comments made during a press conference in Queensland on April 16.
“And we know 77,000 people have exhausted all avenues for appeal. They no longer have a visa and they should leave the country.”
