In his 2023 speech at the Sydney Policy Lab, then Immigration Minister, Andrew Giles said the below about Bridging Visas:

"You may have recently heard of bridging visas. These are simple administrative visas provided to people who have a visa application pending.

Typically, 40,000 to 80,000 people have held a bridging visa at any point in time.

Today, there are over 330,000 people on bridging visas.

There is no better indicator of a broken system, mired in uncertainty for everyone involved." [source](https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/AndrewGiles/Pages/speech-sydney-policy-lab-20220825.aspx?hl=en-GB)

There are now approximately [412,000](https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-visa-class-at-the-heart-of-labor-s-migration-woes-20260806-p60lx6.html) people on Bridging Visas. Keep in mind that Giles was removed for his poor handling of Community Safety concerns, not for the increase in Bridging Visas. 

Labor Day they will now introduce Condition 8503 "No Further Stay" for future Visa applicants but have not confirmed when this will take effect. Labor will also attempt to accelerate resolution of pending cases, backlogs and removal / detention for those who have exhausted the appeals process. Note that streamlined resolution does not necessarily mean that less Visas will be granted just that applicants will move off Bridging Visas more quickly.

Bridging Visas and the broken system