Quick answer: Ministerial Direction 120 sets the processing order for National Innovation Visa and related Class BX applications, based on achievement and nomination pathway rather than location. It commenced 25 July 2026 and remains current.
Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
Direction 120 is the third of the three directions Tony Burke signed on 24 July 2026, alongside Direction 119 (skilled visas) and Direction 117 (family visas). It's the one we spend the most time in, and it's also the odd one out structurally. Where the other two build their entire priority order around whether the applicant was in Australia at a given moment, Direction 120 doesn't mention location at all. It's built around the calibre of the applicant instead.
What is Direction 120?
Direction 120 sets the order for considering and disposing of Class BX visa applications - defined to mean the National Innovation visa, plus the older Global Talent and Distinguished Talent visas, which are both closed to new applications but still have matters on hand. It replaced Direction 112 on 25 July 2026, and it applies to every National Innovation application already on hand as well as new ones, and to any surviving Global Talent or Distinguished Talent application that hasn't been finally decided yet.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Instrument | Ministerial Direction 120 |
| Legal basis | Sections 47, 51 and 499 of the Migration Act 1958 |
| Signed by | Tony Burke, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Citizenship |
| Date signed | 24 July 2026 |
| Commenced | 25 July 2026 |
| Replaces | Direction 112 (6 December 2024) |
| Covers | Class BX visa applications - the National Innovation visa, plus legacy Global Talent and Distinguished Talent applications still on hand |
| Also does | Provides guidance to decision makers, including ART members, on assessing the exceptional and outstanding achievement criterion itself - not just queue order |
It does one more thing the other two directions don't. Alongside the queue order, section 9 gives decision makers - including ART members on review, not just delegates - formal guidance on how to actually assess the exceptional and outstanding achievement criterion in clause 858.212(2)(a) of Schedule 2. So this is partly a processing-order instrument and partly an assessment framework, which is a meaningfully different job to the one 119 and 117 are doing.
The five tiers
Section 8 sets a straightforward five-tier order, highest priority first. Notice what's absent: no onshore/offshore split anywhere in it.
| Tier | Who it covers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (highest) | Global experts and recipients of top-of-field international awards | See Schedule A - Nobel, Fields Medal, Pulitzer and similar |
| 2 | Nominated by an expert Australian Government or State/Territory agency on Form 1000 | |
| 3 | Exceptional and outstanding achievement in a tier 1 priority sector | Critical technologies, renewables/low emission tech, health industries |
| 4 | Exceptional and outstanding achievement in a tier 2 priority sector | Agri-food/Ag-tech, defence and space, education, financial services/FinTech, infrastructure/transport, resources |
| 5 (lowest) | All other Class BX visa applications |
The award list behind tier 1
Tier 1 is reserved for global experts and recipients of top-of-field international awards. Schedule A identifies examples of top-of-field international awards - the list is not necessarily exhaustive, and the relevance of any award depends on the Direction's terms and the applicant's circumstances. We'd rather put the actual list in front of a client than paraphrase it:
- Nobel Prizes
- Breakthrough Prizes
- Rousseeuw Prize
- Eni Award
- Institution of Electrical Engineers Medal of Honor
- Fields Medal
- Chern Medal
- Abel Prize
- L'Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science
- Turing Award
- ACM Prize in Computing
- Pulitzer Prize
- International Booker Prize
- International Tchaikovsky Competition Gold Medal
- Olympic Gold Medal
- Laureus World Sportsman or Sportswoman of the Year
Tier 1 and tier 2 sectors
Tiers 3 and 4 turn on which sector the applicant's exceptional and outstanding achievement falls into, not on the award itself. Tier 1 priority sectors are critical technologies, renewables and low emission technologies, and health industries. Tier 2 priority sectors are Agri-food and Ag-tech, defence capabilities and space, education, financial services and FinTech, infrastructure and transport, and resources. An applicant with a strong case in, say, FinTech isn't disadvantaged against the criteria - they're simply a tier lower in the queue than an equivalent case in critical technologies.
How “exceptional and outstanding achievement” actually gets assessed
This is the part of Direction 120 we think gets under-read. Section 9 tells decision makers not to treat the listed factors as a checklist - the applicant's circumstances have to be considered as a whole - but it still sets out, in real detail, what decision makers are told to look for. For most applicants (the tier 3 and tier 4, sector-based pathway), the factors are:
- A national or international research grant indicating top-of-field talent - for example an ARC or Department of Education Accelerator grant in Australia, or an equivalent from UK Research and Innovation, the EU Commission, or the US National Science Foundation.
- A PhD with real academic influence - recent publications in top-ranked journals such as Nature, Lancet or Acta Numerica, a high h-index for career stage, or a research degree from a top-100 ranked university.
- A recent keynote appearance at a high-profile international conference - the Direction gives Web Summit, the International Congress of Mathematicians, the AACR Annual Meeting and the International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium as examples, not an exhaustive list.
- Recognised intellectual property, such as holding relevant international patents.
- Earning at or above the high income threshold, as defined under section 12 of the Fair Work Act 2009 and updated periodically, evidenced either by a written Australian employment offer at or above that level or by current earnings at that level.
For the Form 1000 government-nomination pathway, the Direction expressly widens the lens. Decision makers are told to also consider top-of-field sports and arts awards, evidence of innovative business activity such as a track record as a significant angel investor or having led a company to IPO, promising entrepreneurial activity likely to lead to commercialisation in Australia (particularly where it's linked to a State or Territory start-up incubator), exceptional community service such as founding an organisation that improves community cohesion, and other achievements that fit the nominating agency's own strategic priorities.
Decision makers must also weigh any other relevant information available to them, favourable or not. Keep that in mind when preparing a file - the assessment isn't confined to what's volunteered.
What we think matters most about this Direction
- There's no location test. Unlike Direction 119 and Direction 117, being onshore or offshore has no bearing on an applicant's tier under Direction 120 - the entire order runs off achievement and nomination pathway.
- The Form 1000 government nomination route carries real weight. It outranks both priority sector tiers. For a government-agency nomination, section 9 identifies additional matters that may be relevant to the assessment, beyond the standard sector-based pathway.
- This Direction addresses ART members, not just delegates. Section 4(3) extends the exceptional and outstanding achievement guidance to ART members on review, to the extent stated - so the same assessment framework applies whether a case is being decided the first time or reconsidered on appeal.
- On-hand applications in the former Global Talent and Distinguished Talent programs are included within the Class BX processing order to the extent provided by Direction 120, even though neither program accepts new applications any more.
- “Not a checklist” cuts both ways. The Direction indicates that the factors are not a checklist and that the applicant's circumstances are to be considered as a whole - the weight given to any factor remains case-specific, and a file that ticks several factors on paper still needs the narrative to hold together as a case for outsized contribution to Australia.
Frequently asked questions
Does being in Australia help a National Innovation visa application?
Not under Direction 120. There's no onshore or offshore distinction anywhere in its priority order - unlike the skilled and family visa directions signed the same day.
Is the Form 1000 government nomination pathway better than applying on sector achievement alone?
It ranks above either priority sector tier, and it draws on a wider range of achievement factors. Whether it's realistically available depends on securing real agency support in the first place.
Do Global Talent and Distinguished Talent applicants need to do anything under this Direction?
No new action is required by the Direction itself, but any application from either closed program that hasn't been finally decided is now processed in this same five-tier order.
Sources
- Ministerial Direction 120, Department of Home Affairs (official PDF)
- Skilled visa processing priorities, Department of Home Affairs
- Migration Regulations 1994, clause 858.212(2)(a) of Schedule 2
For the bigger picture - including how Direction 120 compares to the other visa processing priority directions signed the same day - see our side-by-side comparison of all three.
About the author
Ruobing Yang, Legal Practitioner Director
Legal Practitioner Number (LPN): 5511418
Profile: alclawyers.com.au/person/ruobing-yang
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ruobingyang209
This article reflects our understanding of Ministerial Direction 120 as at the date of publication. Ministerial Directions can be amended or replaced, and this article is general information, not legal advice for your specific circumstances. Contact us directly for advice on your matter.