Tourist Visa Australia Cost: What Indonesian Applicants Must Check

The cost of an Australian visitor visa for an Indonesian applicant is not a single fixed figure you can state without checking the official visa pricing table, because the base application charge is set by the Department of Home Affairs and is not published in the official guidance for this article. What the official sources do establish is that the visitor visa (subclass 600) is a temporary visa that can attract a subsequent temporary application charge if you apply for it while in Australia, and that the charge is calculated per person based on individual visa history. The base application charge, and any subsequent temporary application charge, must be verified on the official visa pricing table before you lodge. Processing times for visitor visas are published as a median, not a guarantee, and the current median for the combined visitor visa categories is less than one day, although your application may take longer if further information is requested or if your processing location is experiencing delays. You should not book travel until your visa is granted in writing.

The base application charge: what the official sources actually tell you

The official guidance for this article does not contain a figure for the base application charge for a visitor visa (subclass 600). It contains one worked example that refers to a base application charge of AUD150 for a visitor visa granted outside Australia and a base application charge of AUD380 for a visitor visa applied for in Australia, but those figures are illustrative examples from the Department’s explanation of the subsequent temporary application charge, not a current fee schedule. They are used to demonstrate how the charge is calculated, not to state what you will pay today.

You must therefore check the current base application charge on the official visa pricing table, which is published by the Department of Home Affairs. The official guidance explicitly directs readers to the Visa Pricing Table to verify which charges apply. Do not rely on any figure that is not on that table. The base application charge is payable by each person in the application, and it is payable at the time of lodgement.

The subsequent temporary application charge: when it applies

The subsequent temporary application charge is a separate charge that applies to certain temporary visas, including the visitor visa (subclass 600). It is payable in addition to any other visa charges that apply at the time of lodgement. It is calculated for each applicant individually, based on their own visa history, and it is not a flat fee that applies to everyone.

The charge is not paid for bridging, criminal justice or enforcement visas, and it is not paid for permanent visas. It is also not charged if any of the following exemptions apply to you:

• the base application charge for your application is nil
• the visa pricing table does not show a subsequent temporary application charge
• the visa pricing table shows the subsequent temporary application charge as nil
• the visa pricing table shows the subsequent temporary application charge as N/A
• you are outside Australia while making your substantive temporary visa application
• you are making your first substantive temporary visa application in Australia
• the subsequent temporary application charge formula evaluates the charge to nil

How the subsequent temporary application charge is calculated

The Department sets out a four-step calculation. You work through it for each applicant in the application.

Step	Question	If yes	If no
1	Are you in Australia applying for a visa of a kind specified in Table 1?	Go to step 2	The charge is $0
2	Do you hold, or was the last substantive visa you held, a visa of a kind specified in Table 2?	Go to step 3	The charge is $0
3	Did you apply for a visa specified in Table 2 when you were in Australia?	Go to step 4	The charge is $0
4	Do any of the five listed situations apply to the Table 2 visa?	The charge for the applicant is $0	The subsequent temporary application charge applies

The five situations in step 4 are: the Table 2 visa was for a new-born child born after the primary applicant applied; the Table 2 visa was granted by operation of law; the Table 2 visa was granted as a result of the Minister exercising ministerial intervention powers; the Table 2 visa was granted without the applicant making an application; or the Table 2 visa was a student visa you were required to apply for because an education provider defaulted and could no longer deliver a course. If any one of those situations applies, the charge is nil for that applicant.

Table 1 lists the temporary visas being applied for that are liable to the charge. It includes the Temporary Activity (subclass 408), Training (subclass 407), Skills in Demand (subclass 482), Student (subclass 500), Student Guardian (subclass 590) and Visitor (subclass 600) visas. Table 2 lists the previous visas that count towards the charge. It includes a wide range of temporary visas, including Visitor (subclass 600), Student (subclass 500), Working Holiday (subclass 417), Work and Holiday (subclass 462), Temporary Skill Shortage (subclass 482), Skills in Demand (subclass 482) and Training (subclass 407) visas, among others.

What the worked examples show about the charge

The Department gives two worked examples to illustrate how the charge operates. In the first example, a single applicant applies for and is granted a Visitor (subclass 600) visa in the Tourist stream in his home country. He pays only the base application charge, because the visa was granted while he was outside Australia. He then applies for a further Visitor visa while in Australia, before his first visa expires. He does not pay the subsequent temporary application charge on this second application, because the visa he currently holds was applied for when he was outside Australia. He then applies for a third Visitor visa while still in Australia. This time he does pay the subsequent temporary application charge, because he is in Australia, he is applying for a visa that is liable to the charge, and the visa he currently holds counts towards the charge and was applied for while he was in Australia.

The example notes that if he had left Australia before the expiry of the first visitor visa he applied for while in Australia, and applied for a further visitor visa in his home country or another location outside Australia, the subsequent temporary application charge would not have applied. This is a useful illustration of the rule: the charge is driven by whether you have previously applied for a temporary visa while in Australia, not merely by whether you have held a temporary visa.

The second example involves a family, but the official guidance is cut off before it is completed. You should not infer any additional facts from it. The first example is sufficient to show the mechanics of the charge for a single applicant.

Processing times for visitor visas: what the median means

The Department publishes median processing times for key visa categories. For the visitor category, the median processing time shown for July 2026 is less than one day. This figure is the combined processing time for subclasses 600, 601 and 651. The Department notes that processing times for the subclass 600 visa can vary significantly when compared with the subclass 601 and subclass 651 visas, which generally have shorter processing times. If additional information is requested, the final decision may take longer while that information is assessed.

The Department also states that processing times vary for many reasons, including whether applications have all necessary supporting documents, whether they are lodged online or on paper, how quickly responses to requests for further information are provided, how long it takes to receive information from external agencies, and the complexity of the application. Some processing locations are currently experiencing delays, which means your application may take longer to be finalised than the published times.

You should check the visa processing times guide for the specific visa subclass you applied for, rather than relying on the category median. The Department recommends applying well in advance of travel, and it states that you should not arrange travel to Australia until you have been notified in writing that your visa has been granted.

Priority processing for skilled visas: not relevant to a visitor visa, but worth knowing

If you are considering a skilled visa at any point, the Department has published processing priorities under Ministerial Direction 119, which came into effect on 25 July 2026. It replaced all processing priorities under Ministerial Direction 105 and applies to all on-hand applications, including for the Skills in Demand (subclass 482) program. Priority is afforded according to both occupation and the location of applicants at the time of application. Occupations supporting Australia’s law enforcement and defence interests are given the highest priority, followed by construction, healthcare and teaching. Applicants already in Australia have higher priority than those outside Australia. This does not affect a visitor visa application, but it is relevant if you are planning a later skilled application.

What to do next and what to verify

Before you lodge a visitor visa application from Indonesia, confirm the current base application charge on the official visa pricing table. The official guidance does not give you a figure, and you should not use the illustrative figures from the worked examples as a fee schedule. Check whether the visitor visa (subclass 600) is listed as attracting a subsequent temporary application charge, and check whether any exemptions apply to you. If you have previously applied for a temporary visa while in Australia, work through the four-step calculation to see whether the charge applies to you. Check the visa processing times guide for the subclass you are applying for, and lodge a complete application with all supporting documents to avoid delays. Do not book travel until you have written confirmation that your visa has been granted.