@raymon68 I don't think it will make any difference. The Coalition blocked the Government's legislative proposal to introduce the caps, so this is the Minister's attemt to achieve the same result using a Ministerial Direction. Having read the article, applicants receive a "priority" review up to 80% of what would have been the institution's proposed legislated cap. Thereafter they receive a "standard" review.

Essentially, by controlling resources allocated to these two streams, the Government can effectively achieve a cap-like control.

(I have a suspicion, though no direct proof, that this is a more general strategy that is used to control resource allocation to various public services. The longer you can make the queue, the more onerous the application process, the less the supply of any service that is actually delivered. I think this is also how many service companies control their service opex costs, witness wait times for bank and utility customer service centres. "Your call is important to us ...")

Disc: Held in RL and SM