Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has announced an additional 100 immigration compliance officers and 250 detention places as part of a wider overhaul of Australia’s migration system.

The aim is not to create a new offence. Remaining in Australia without a valid visa is already unlawful and can result in detention and removal.

What is changing is how actively those rules will be enforced.

Burke said Australia previously had a more routine system for dealing with people who overstayed their visas. They could be taken into immigration detention and told to arrange their departure, something he said often resulted in people organising their own flights within weeks.

The government now wants to bring back that deterrent.

77,000 people have overstayed

Australia currently has more than 77,000 visa overstayers, up from around 64,000 a decade ago.

The government is considering using a former quarantine facility in Melbourne to provide additional detention capacity, alongside the 250 new places already being created.

Burke has rejected comparisons with the immigration raids carried out by ICE in the United States, saying the Australian operation will not resemble enforcement people may have seen happening elsewhere.

For ordinary tourists, the message is fairly simple: check the expiry date on your visa and leave Australia before it runs out unless you have secured another lawful immigration status.

Australian Home Affairs already warns that anyone who remains without a valid visa can be detained, removed from the country and charged for the cost of that removal.

There can be consequences for future travel too. Someone who leaves Australia after spending more than 28 days without a valid visa could be refused another Australian visa for up to three years, although exceptions apply.

Tourist visas are changing too

The crackdown is part of a much broader tightening of Australia’s migration rules.

The government also plans to make a “No Further Stay” condition standard on visitor visas. This is intended to stop people arriving as tourists and then applying for another type of visa from within Australia as a way of extending their stay.

International students and working holidaymakers are facing separate changes, including restrictions designed to prevent people moving repeatedly between temporary visas or courses simply to remain in the country.

The government says the reforms are intended to bring migration numbers down while still allowing Australia to recruit workers needed in areas such as healthcare and construction.

There has already been criticism. Human rights advocates have warned that tougher enforcement could make undocumented workers who are being exploited more reluctant to report abuse because they fear being detained.

For visitors planning a normal holiday in Australia, little changes as long as they stick to the conditions and dates on their visa.

For those who don’t leave when their permission expires, however, the chances of Australian authorities actively pursuing the case are about to increase.