Living here · School fees
School for the children of temporary visa holders: who pays, which visas are charged, the state differences, the waivers, and when the fees stop
A sponsored worker who arrives with school-age children discovers, usually at enrolment, that the free public education Australians take for granted is not free for them: most states charge the dependants of 482 and student visa holders a fee for a place in a public school, set annually by the state and running to thousands of dollars a child, and the fee is one of the larger costs of a sponsored family’s years before permanent residence. The rules are the states’, they differ, they change, and they come with waivers that families do not know to ask for. This guide sets out the principle, what each state broadly does, the visas usually charged and usually exempt, the waivers, the enrolment process and its documents, the private alternative, what happens on the day the permanent visa is granted, and the questions a family settles before choosing a state.
By Keshab Chapagain, registered migration agent (MARN 1576536) since 2015 · WIDEN, Sydney · Reviewed October 2026
Keshab Chapagain · MARN 1576536 · Registered since 2015 - Citizens and permanent residents
- Public school free
- Temporary visa dependants
- Charged in most states, by the primary holder’s subclass
- Usually charged
- 482, 457 and student visa dependants
- Often exempt
- Bridging visa with a permanent application; some other temporary visas, by state
- Waivers
- Hardship, regional, occupation, subsequent children, by state
- Fees stop
- On the grant of permanent residence
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The principle
Schooling is a state responsibility, and each state and territory decides who may enrol in its public schools and on what terms. Every state provides free places to the children of Australian citizens and permanent residents, and every state must, under Commonwealth law, provide schooling to every child of compulsory school age who lives there, whatever the visa. What differs is whether the state charges for the place. Most states treat the children of temporary visa holders as temporary residents for whom the Commonwealth provides no school funding, and charge a fee to recover the cost, with exemptions for visas the state regards as leading to settlement and waivers for circumstances it regards as deserving. The fee is not a migration matter and the Department of Home Affairs has nothing to do with it; it is the state education department's, set under its own policy, and the family deals with that department.
What the states broadly do
- New South Wales runs a temporary residents program under which the dependants of 482 and 457 holders and of student visa holders pay an annual fee for public school, with the dependants of most other temporary visas exempt, and with a waiver that has applied to the children of sponsored workers in rural and regional areas and to families in hardship.
- Victoria charges the dependants of 482, 457 and student visa holders and of some other temporary visas, at primary and secondary rates, with exemptions for other subclasses and a hardship process.
- Queensland charges most temporary resident dependants, with a published list of exempt subclasses and a fee waiver scheme for hardship, for regional areas and for particular circumstances.
- Western Australia charges the dependants of 482 and 457 holders and of students, with exemptions for other temporary visas.
- South Australia charges the dependants of 482, 457 and student visa holders, with exemptions and reductions.
- Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory each have their own schedules, which have exempted more subclasses than the larger states and charged fewer, with the student visa dependant the one most consistently charged.
Each state's list of charged and exempt subclasses, its fee for the year, and its waiver criteria are published by its education department, and they are read for the year of enrolment, because the lists and the fees are revised. This page describes the pattern and not the schedule.
Which visas are charged and which exempt
The fee follows the primary visa holder's subclass, and the pattern across the charging states is that the dependants of the employer-sponsored temporary visas, the 482 and the legacy 457, and of student visa holders are charged, while the dependants of visas the state regards as leading to settlement, the 485 in some states, the 491 and 494 in several, the bridging visa holder whose permanent application is pending in most, and the holders of various humanitarian and special visas, are exempt. A 482 family's fee position therefore changes when the 186 is lodged, in the states that exempt bridging visa holders with a permanent application, and changes again on grant. The subclass on the grant notice, not the family's intentions, decides the category, and a family whose subclass is not on the state's list asks the department rather than assuming. The student dependants guide covers the student family.
The waivers
- Financial hardship, assessed on the family's income and circumstances, with a reduction or a waiver.
- Regional and remote areas, where some states waive the fee for sponsored workers' children to support regional workforces.
- Occupations the state wants, teachers, nurses and health workers in some states, whose children are exempted.
- Second and subsequent children, at a reduced rate in some states.
- Permanent application pending, exempt in some states from lodgement.
- Particular circumstances the state recognises: a child with a disability, a family on a humanitarian pathway, a sponsored worker in the state's own public service.
The waiver is applied for through the education department's temporary resident unit, with the evidence it specifies, before or at enrolment; a family that pays the year and asks afterward has a harder case. The regional checker shows whether an address is in a region the state may treat as regional for its own waiver, which is not always the migration definition.
Enrolling and the documents
Enrolment of a temporary resident's child is usually a two-step process: an application to the state's temporary resident or international unit, which confirms the fee category and issues an authority to enrol, and then enrolment at the local school. The unit asks for the child's passport and visa grant, the parent's passport and visa grant, proof of the residential address, the child's birth certificate, immunisation records, previous school reports, and, where English is a second language, information for assessment; the fee is invoiced on the authority and payable before the child starts or by the state's instalment arrangement. The school's own enrolment follows with its forms. A family arriving mid-year applies as soon as the address is known, because the unit's processing takes weeks and a child cannot start until it is done. The arrival guide sets out where enrolment falls in the first weeks.
Private and Catholic schools
A non-government school enrols a temporary resident's child on its own criteria and at its own fees, and the comparison is made: a Catholic systemic school's fee is often below the state's temporary resident fee for a public school, and an independent school's above it, with some independent schools charging temporary residents an international rate above their standard fee and others not. The non-government school may also have places where the local public school is full, and a family that is paying anyway sometimes prefers to pay the school directly. The visa affects nothing but the fee category, and the school's enrolment office is asked about its temporary resident policy at the outset.
When permanent residence is granted
On the grant of a permanent visa the child becomes the child of a permanent resident and is entitled to a free public place from that date; the family notifies the school and the education department with the grant notice, the fee ceases, and most states refund the unexpired part of a fee paid for the year. A family whose permanent application is pending checks whether the state exempts bridging visa holders, because in those states the fee stops at lodgement rather than at grant. The timing of a permanent application against the school year is one of the things a sponsored family plans, and the 186 pathway guide sets out when the application can be lodged.
Preschool, university and the rest
Preschool and kindergarten programmes are state-funded on their own rules, and a temporary resident's child may or may not have access to a funded place depending on the state and the visa; long day care is the family's cost in any case, and the child care subsidy is confined to families who meet the residence rules, which most temporary visa holders do not. University and vocational education for a temporary resident's child, once they finish school, is at international fees until the family is permanent. The costs of a sponsored family's children are therefore highest in the temporary years, which is a reason the permanent application is lodged on the first day it can be. The studying-on-a-482 guide covers the parent's own fee position.
Before you choose a state
- Read the state's current list of charged and exempt subclasses for the visa you will hold, and the fee for the year, for each state where a job is on offer.
- Check the waivers: regional, occupation, hardship, and the position of a pending permanent application.
- Ask the employer whether it will pay or contribute to the fee as a term of employment, which some do and which is a benefit the migration rules do not restrict.
- Price the Catholic and independent alternatives in the suburb.
- Plan the permanent application against the school years, so that the fee stops as early as the visa allows.
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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. School fees for temporary residents are set by each state and territory education department under its own policy, are revised annually, and differ by subclass and by state; this page describes the pattern and not any state’s schedule, and the current published schedule of the relevant department governs. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.
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Do I have to pay for public school on a 482?
In most states, yes. The states that charge, which include New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia under their current arrangements, set an annual fee for each dependant of a 482 or 457 holder enrolled in a public school, at primary and secondary rates, with the fee reviewed each year and running to several thousand dollars per child. The Australian Capital Territory and some other jurisdictions treat particular visas differently, and the rules change, so the state's own schedule is read before the family relies on anything, including this page.
Which visas are exempt?
Each state publishes a list of the visa subclasses whose dependants are charged and those that are exempt, and they differ. Children of permanent residents and of holders of bridging visas with a permanent application pending are generally exempt; dependants of 482, 457 and student visa holders are generally charged; dependants of some other temporary visas, the 485, the 491 and the 494 among them in several states, are exempt in some states and charged in others. The exemption follows the primary holder's subclass, and the state's list is the authority.
Are there waivers?
Most charging states provide for waivers or reductions: for financial hardship, for families in regional or remote areas, for the dependants of workers in occupations the state wants, for a second or subsequent child, and in some cases for families whose permanent application is pending. New South Wales, for example, has waived the fee for the children of sponsored workers in rural and regional areas. The waiver is applied for through the state's education department with the evidence it asks for, and it is asked about before the fee is paid rather than after.
What happens when we get permanent residence?
The fee stops. A child whose parent becomes a permanent resident is entitled to a free place from the grant, and most states refund or cease charging the fee from that point, pro rata for a year already paid; the family tells the school and the education department with the grant notice. A permanent application lodged, with a bridging visa, is treated by some states as exempt from that point and by others as charged until grant.
Can my child go to a private or Catholic school instead?
Yes, on the school's own fees, which for Catholic systemic schools are often lower than the state's temporary-resident fee for a public school, and for independent schools higher. The school's international or temporary-resident fee status is asked about, because some private schools charge temporary residents an international rate above their standard fee. Enrolment is on the school's criteria and is not affected by the visa beyond the fee.
What does the consultation cost?
A$330 inc. GST for 30 minutes by video with Keshab Chapagain (MARN 1576536), credited in full if you engage WIDEN. For a family comparing sponsored jobs in different states, or planning the permanent application against the school year, the session puts the visa route and the state's fee position together; the fee itself is the education department's and its current schedule governs.
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