The Home Affairs department is finalising plans to contract a private company to run a new online system for Australian visa applications.
Officials told a Senate Estimates hearing they were waiting for the Morrison cabinet to approve the plan, before a firm could be chosen for a potentially lucrative contract to build the global, digital system.
More than 10 firms expressed interest in the project, which would require the company to invest $1 billion over 10 years but would promise a larger return “over time”.
Department boss Michael Pezzullo described an ailing visa application system that was struggling under the weight of a massive spike in global applications from people who wanted to visit, live or work in Australia.
