1. Visa holders and people who are not citizens have the same right to participate in protests, rallies, vigils or marches as any other person in the Australian community, and there are no specific visa conditions that restrict the right to protest.
2. Protests, rallies and vigils that do not involve disruption usually do not involve confrontation with police and accordingly, participation involves little risk to your visa.
3. Before joining a protest, you should check the conditions of your visa and speak to others about whether they anticipate any disruption or confrontation with the police so that you can consider how to limit your involvement or keep yourself safe.
4. If you are at a protest, you should try to avoid contact with the police, and being either arrested or charged. If you are living in the community without a visa, any contact with the police presents a serious risk of being taken to immigration detention.
5. If you are arrested, charged, or convicted of an offence — or if you believe the Department of Home Affairs has been notified of your protest activity and you are concerned about your visa — then you should contact an immigration lawyer right away.

If you are a refugee, asylum seeker, visa holder, or not yet a permanent Australian resident or citizen, you have the following rights:

Despite these rights, there are some risks involved when protesting on a visa, or if you do not hold any visa at all. These risks vary depending on the type of visa you hold and the nature of your protest activity. Risks can also be heightened by xenophobic political calls to repress protests by particular community groups.

Before you attend a protest:

• speak with organisers or other people involved in the protest about what is planned and whether there is a possibility of police arresting people at the protest
• make preparations to stay safe at the protest and when travelling to and from the protest
• plan ahead what you will do if a protest escalates
• have the phone number of a lawyer or law firm ready
• find out more about your legal rights

When you are at a protest:

• attend with a friend or family member so you are not alone and to support each other
• look for areas where you are less likely to be in contact with police, such as away from police lines
• think carefully before taking any actions at a protest that may be unlawful or put you at risk of arrest
• stay in touch with other people in case the situation escalates and you need to change your plans

Getting detained, arrested, or charged at a protest

Most protests in Australia, such as rallies, marches and vigils, take place without any problems. However, police are often present and their behaviour is unpredictable. Police are known to intervene during a protest if they believe something unlawful is happening or about to happen, if they are trying to keep groups of people apart, or if they are no longer tolerating people occupying a space.

Although you have a right to peaceful assembly, police do not always respect or understand the correct application of this right and may arrest and charge people when they are lawfully exercising their right to protest.

It’s also important to note that while displaying flags, images or materials associated with a protest movement does not in itself present any risk, if the material relates to an organisation that the Australian government has designated as a terrorist group, this could result in your image being captured and made public by the media and/or police; being questioned, arrested or charged by police; or, ultimately, cancellation of your visa. Information about organisations currently listed as terrorist organisations can be found here.

IMPORTANT: Make sure that your contact details held by the Department of Home Affairs are always up-to-date. You can update your details in your ImmiAccount.

Being arrested or charged at a protest does not necessarily mean that your visa will be cancelled, or that you will have trouble applying for a visa in future. The risk to you depends on several factors, including:

• the seriousness of the alleged offence;
• whether you are convicted and the nature of any sentence you receive;
• the nature of the visa you hold (i.e. whether it is a permanent, temporary or bridging visa); and/or
• whether the Department of Home Affairs considers the charge or conviction to be a reason to cancel your visa on character grounds or otherwise considers your protest actions to be a breach of your visa conditions (see Powers to Cancel Visas section).

Most charges relating to protests are summary offences. For some people, a summary offence may not pose a risk to their visa; for others, particularly temporary or bridging visa holders or people with prior convictions, being charged with a summary offence may pose a greater risk to their visa (see Powers to Cancel Visas section).

If you are not an Australian citizen and you are facing a criminal sentence, make sure that your lawyer is aware of your immigration status so that they may seek advice from an experienced immigration lawyer about managing any impacts on your visa.

If you are living in the community without any visa and you are arrested or charged by police, police will likely communicate with the Department of Home Affairs and you will be taken into immigration detention (Migration Act s 189). If you are detained, officers are required to allow you to contact a lawyer (Migration Act s 256), and you should call a migration lawyer immediately.

If you hold a temporary or bridging visa, you should take particular care at protests to avoid contact with the police. You should also try to find out before the protest whether the organisers or others involved plan to use intentionally confrontational or disruptive tactics and carefully consider the extent to which you want to be involved in these activities. This advice also applies to people living in the community without any visa.

Visa cancellations and deportations cannot happen automatically or immediately. If the Department of Home Affairs considers your protest activity to be grounds for the cancellation of your visa, they will communicate with you before commencing the cancellation process and provide you with an opportunity to respond (see Powers to Cancel Visas section).

If you have been reported to the Department of Home Affairs, or you are being threatened by someone in relation to your visa status, you should:

• seek advice from an immigration lawyer to confirm whether you need to take any proactive action, for example, contacting the Department of Home Affairs yourself; and
• inform others involved in the protest so they can support you or act as a witness if necessary.

You should be aware of your visa conditions before you engage in any protest activities as breaching one or more of your visa conditions may provide grounds for the cancellation of your visa (see Powers to Cancel Visas section).

You can check your visa conditions by:

• reading the visa grant notice sent to you by the Department of Home Affairs
• creating an ImmiAccount and checking your visa status online using your passport details

In particular, you should be aware of the following conditions that apply to certain temporary and bridging visas.

Student visa holders are not subject to any general conditions preventing them from engaging in protest; they have the same right to engage in protest as any other citizen or non-citizen.

However, specific risks might arise if the protest activity takes place on a university campus or other premises where you are enrolled as a student. One of the main conditions of student visas requires visa holders to maintain enrolment in a registered course (Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) (Regulations), Schedule 8, Condition 8202). Depending on the nature of the protest you engage in, and whether it constitutes a breach of university by-laws, your university might seek to exclude you from campus or prevent you from completing your course, which could have adverse consequences for your visa status.

Before a university or course provider can exclude you or cancel your enrolment in a course, they must first give you notice of their intentions and allow you the opportunity to respond. If you are excluded from your university or prevented from continuing your course and you do not enrol in another registered course you may be in breach of your visa conditions, which might result in your visa being cancelled.

If you believe that your university or course provider might be planning to take adverse action against you because of your protest activities, you should contact a lawyer or your university’s student legal service. A list of some of those services can be found here.

Be mindful of the fact that political opponents or anyone hostile to a particular cause may threaten people attending a protest based on their visa status. For example, if you are seen at a protest by someone aware of your immigration status, they may attempt to report or threaten to report you to the Department of Home Affairs to be deported.

Someone may be more likely to threaten you in this way if you hold a prominent or high-profile role in a protest, for example, by being a spokesperson, appearing in the media, or being named as a protest organiser.

It is important to note that, as outlined above, there is nothing inherently wrong or unlawful about participating in a protest. This means many attempted “reports” to the Department of Home Affairs are baseless. The power to cancel someone’s visa or deport them is not in the hands of individuals such as political figures or employers. If your employer threatens to report you to the Department of Home Affairs, threatens to cancel your visa or deport you, or otherwise tries to coerce or intimidate you based on your protest activity, they may be committing a criminal offence (under s 245AAC of the Migration Act).

The Migration Act gives the Minister and officers of the Department of Home Affairs the power to cancel visas in a range of circumstances.  Some powers are available only in relation to temporary and bridging visa holders (under s 116 of the Migration Act). Other ‘character’ based powers (under s 501 of the Migration Act) are available in relation to all visa holders, including permanent residents. 

The visa cancellation process differs, depending on whether the power under s 116 or 501 is used.  Generally, the s 116 process involves less time for response, while the s 501 process is slower and more formal. We have set out both processes below.

Cancellation powers applicable to temporary and bridging visa holders —  s 116 of the Act

Temporary and bridging visa holders are more vulnerable to visa cancellation than permanent residents. This is because these visa holders are subject to a greater number of visa conditions than other visa holders, and there is a greater range of cancellation powers available in relation to these types of visas.

A temporary or bridging visa can be cancelled if the Department of Home Affairs considers that:

• the visa holder has not complied with the conditions of their visa (see Checking your visa conditions section)  
• the visa holder has been convicted of a criminal offence (Migration Act s 116(1)(g) and r 2.43(1)(oa)) (regardless of the sentence imposed for the offence), or, in the case of Bridging E (BVE) visas, the visa holder has been charged with an offence (Migration Act s 116(1)(g) and r 2.43(1)(p)(i)) (irrespective of whether they are later acquitted of that offence, or the charge is withdrawn)
• the visa holder’s presence in Australia might be ‘a risk to the health, safety or good order of the Australian community or a segment of the Australian community; or the health or safety of an individual or individuals.’ (Migration Act, s 116) This cancellation ground might arise even if the visa holder has not been charged with a criminal offence.

Visa cancellation does not happen automatically. You will be given notice and a chance to argue why your visa should not be cancelled.

You will be given a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOICC) if your visa was granted under s 116 of the Migration Act. The NOICC may be given to you in person (i.e. if you go to the office of the Department of Home Affairs) or in writing (i.e. by post or email).

If a NOICC is given to you in person, then you will have a very limited time (perhaps less than an hour) to provide reasons why your visa should not be cancelled (Migration Act s 121(3) specifies that a response must be provided at an interview to take place within a ‘reasonable period’ after notice is given). You should contact an immigration lawyer immediately if you are asked to come to an interview at the Department of Home Affairs offices.

The usual way for notice to be given is in writing by post or email. If the NOICC comes to you by post, you will have 12 working days to respond to it (Migration Act s 121(2); Regulations r 2.44(2)(a); Migration Act s 494C(4)). If it comes to you by email, you will only have five working days to respond (NB: correspondence sent by email is taken to have been received at the end of the day on which it was sent; Migration Act s 494C(5)). If you receive a NOICC you should contact an immigration lawyer immediately to assist you to respond.

Character cancellation powers applicable to all visa holders — permanent, temporary, and bridging visas

The Minister and officers of the Department of Home Affairs can refuse or cancel a visa if a person is found to not meet character requirements (Migration Act s 501), also called the ‘character test’.

In most cases, the Department of Home Affairs has the discretion to decide whether or not to cancel the visa of someone who does not meet the character requirements (Migration Act s 501(2)). However, in some cases of serious criminal offending, visa cancellation is mandatory and automatically applied (Migration Act s 501(3A)).

Character assessments involve consideration of both criminal and serious non-criminal conduct. Section 501(6) of the Migration Act lists a variety of reasons why someone may not pass the character test such as:

• the person has a substantial criminal record (sentenced to a cumulative 12 months in prison or more);
• the person may represent a danger to the Australian community or may incite discord in the Australian community;
• the person is a member of a group or association involved in criminal conduct; or
• the Minister is satisfied the person is not of good character due to their past or present criminal or general conduct.

If the Department of Home Affairs intends to cancel your visa for this reason, they will issue you with a Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOICC) under s 501 of the Migration Act and you will have an opportunity to argue why your visa should not be cancelled. You will usually have 28 days in which to respond, but it is important to contact a migration lawyer as soon as you receive the NOICC. 

If your visa is cancelled despite your response, you will usually have the right to seek a review by the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART). There are strict timelines to apply to the ART so it is important to consult an immigration lawyer as soon as possible.

Did you know?

Ministerial Direction No. 110  strongly prioritises ‘protecting the Australian community’ in decisions about visa cancellations.

Key takeaways

• Visa holders have the same right to participate in protests, rallies, vigils or marches as any other person in the Australian community, and there are no specific visa conditions that restrict the right to protest.

• Protests, rallies and vigils that do not involve disruption or confrontation with the police involve little risk to your visa.

• Before joining a protest, you should check the conditions of your visa and speak to others about whether they anticipate any disruption or confrontation with the police so that you can consider how to limit your involvement or keep yourself safe.

• If you are at a protest you should try to avoid contact with the police and being either arrested or charged — especially if you are a temporary or bridging visa holder, or if you do not hold any visa.

• If you are arrested, charged, or convicted of an offence, or if you are threatened or believe you have been reported to the Department of Home Affairs as a result of your protest activity, then you should contact an immigration lawyer right away.

More information

Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Deakin University Legal Service (enrolled Deakin students only)

Federation of Community Legal Centres – find a community legal centre

Fitzroy Legal Service

Refugee Legal

Victoria Legal Aid

Law Institute Victoria (LIV):

• ‘Find Your Lawyer Referral Service’ offers assistance in finding a lawyer and accessing a free 30-minute consultation with an LIV member
• online search
• telephone:  03 9607 9550  (9am to 5pm Monday to Friday)

Credits

This guide was produced by Melbourne Activist Legal Support in collaboration with Human Rights Law Centre.

Special thanks to Sandrine Persaud for researching and writing this guide, and Josephine Langbien and Sanmati Verma from Human Rights Law Centre for reviewing it. Text is © Creative Commons  BY-NC-ND 2025, Melbourne Activist Legal Support. All images used throughout this guide are  copyrighted by Melbourne Activist Legal Support and cannot be used in any derivative work.

Legal Disclaimer

This is legal information only and should not be taken as legal advice. Up to date as of March 2025. For  Victoria, Australia only.in collaboration with