The Parent visa allows parents live permanently in Australia if they have a child who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who is settled in Australia.
Most visa applicants must be sponsored by their child. The sponsor needs to have lived lawfully in Australia for the two years immediately before the application is lodged.
The Contributory Parent visa differs from the Parent visa in that the parent is required to make an additional payment to the Australian government, in return for which their visa application is processed more quickly.
There is currently an extremely long waiting period (approximately 30 years from date of application) for the Parent Visa, due to the large backlog of applications and because Australia only grants a certain number of Parent visas each year. The waiting period for a Contributory Parent visa is significantly less, approximately 1-2 years from date of application.