The federal government will tighten temporary visa rules in a bid to reduce net overseas migration to 225,000 people by 2028.
Labor is turning to regulatory changes to achieve the target after talks with the Coalition over stronger legislation broke down.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will unveil details of the temporary visa changes in a National Press Club address today.
Labor will rely on tighter rules for temporary visas to reduce Australia's net overseas migration rather than seek support for new laws to achieve its target.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke will use an address at the National Press Club (NPC) today to unveil measures that target temporary migrants seeking to bring family members to Australia, switch visas or extend their stay.
The overhaul will be pursued through regulation, including changes to visa conditions and application processes, as the federal government has no path to pass stronger legislation after compromise talks with the Coalition broke down.
In a speech titled The work of managing the migration program: who arrives, who stays, who leaves, Mr Burke will outline how the government plans to meet its target of reducing net overseas migration from about 300,000 now to 225,000 by 2028.
Mr Burke had intended to announce the policy six weeks ago but was forced to abruptly postpone his address amid disagreement between ministers weighing competing priorities.
Today, Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said reporting on the disagreements had been "overstated."
"We've been having sensible, detailed conversations because that is what a mature government does," she said.
"We want to have a sensible policy as a government that recognises that some immigration is still very important to this country.
"We also want to make sure the debate retains at its centre the reminder that Australia has been built on migration."
The ABC reported on Wednesday that the policy would include an effective ban on international students bringing family members to Australia.
While international student numbers are expected to be left untouched, the ABC has been told they will effectively lose the ability to bring their families to Australia under the enforcement action.
Last financial year, 337,427 student visas were granted. Of those, 45,991 went to secondary applicants, classed as dependents or family.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor met twice last week as Labor sought potential support for its immigration reforms.
The government hoped to pass legislation that would restrict the time people had to make onshore asylum claims and limit international students' right of appeal to remain in Australia.
But talks stalled after the Coalition presented a list of demands including tougher restrictions on so-called ISIS brides and linking migration to housing completions.
Having effectively dealt itself out of the reforms, Coalition figures have since argued the government already has sufficient powers to curb migration through regulation.
During Question Time on Wednesday, Mr Burke said the "best" outcome would have been to tackle migration through legislation.
"In the absence of that, there are still more levers the government will be able to use," he said.
Under pressure to reduce overseas arrivals, Mr Burke has already made changes to the migration system, pausing or slowing down the processing of working holiday maker visas in July, and re-prioritising the processing of skilled visas.
The changes, under Ministerial Direction 119, mean any worker applying for a skilled visa from overseas is now at the back of the queue, pushing visa wait times from days to over a year in some cases.
Asked by Indi MP Helen Haines about the "go slow" on working holiday visas hurting regional Australia, Mr Burke told parliament the government needed to get net overseas migration "down".
"We need to make sure that we deal with the numbers overall and do so in a sensible, targeted way that provides the easiest pathway through for the Australian economy," he said.
Ahead of Mr Burke's NPC speech, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson released a statement also accusing Labor of "starving" regional Australia of labour and tourists.
"The government would rather destroy industries in regional Australia than face the problem of unskilled arrivals and students head on," she said.
Senator Hanson pre-emptively criticised Labor's migration proposal because the government's net overseas migration forecasts, if reached, meant an extra one million people in Australia over the next four years.
One Nation this week announced it would cut the number of visas by 750,000 over three years, resulting in net negative migration.
The proposal targeting international students and the families of skilled migrants has been criticised by the Coalition and Labor, with Environment Minister Murray Watt arguing it would "probably drive the Australian economy into recession".
The opposition is finalising its own migration proposal, which Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonno Duniam has said it will release in the coming weeks.
Nationals Leader Matt Canavan said he was on a unity ticket with Coalition leader Angus Taylor who agreed immigration numbers "must come down."
"We've got to get this right in terms of balancing the impacts to the economy," he said.
Asked if it was a problem that the Coalition was going to be the last to release its immigration policy, Senator Canavan said the election was still a long way away.
"I don't see that as an issue seen as the election is not for another 18 months," he said.