People from China, Malaysia and the United States were the highest number of visa overstayers in Australia in 2013, with the Chinese topping the list at 7690.

According to an Immigration Department report, Migration Trends 2012-2013, visitors (44,800) and students (10,720) were the largest cohort of visa holders to overstay their visit. The highest number of visa overstayers in 2013 by nationality came from China (7690), Malaysia (6420), the US (5220) and the UK (3780).

Cracking down on illegal bikies: new Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, left. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The department says an estimated 62,100 people were unaccounted for in Australia during 2014, which is roughly 1.2 per cent of the 5.5 million people who enter the country each year on temporary visas.

The national president of the Migration Institute of Australia, Angela Chan, said the government needed more resources to track these people down, but also needed to be "realistic" about what to do with visa overstayers.