Dependent Child visa

The department commits to upholding the safety, wellbeing and rights of all children.

Sponsors of children under 18 for Partner or Child visas must meet strict requirements that reflect our child protection obligations. These measures help ensure children are not placed at risk of harm.

For the purpose of visa sponsorship under the Child and Partner visa programs, a registrable offence is an offence against a child of a violent or sexual nature. It is an offence that would lead to registration on the Australian National Child Offender Register.

Registrable offences are prescribed under regulation 1.20KB of the Migration Regulations 1994. A registrable offence is an offence if it were committed in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia or the Australian Capital Territory, as defined in the:

• Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 (NSW)
• Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic)
• Child Sex Offenders Registration Act 2006 (SA)
• Crimes (Child Sex Offenders) Act 2005 (ACT).

A reportable offence is an offence if it were committed in Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania or the Northern Territory, as defined by the:

• Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 (Qld)
• Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004 (WA)
• Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005 (Tas)
• Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Registration) Act (NT)

The following applies if the visa applicant is under 18 years of age at the time of decision.

• If you, or your spouse/de facto partner, (if any) have a charge for a registrable offence, we must refuse the sponsorship. This will apply unless the charge has been withdrawn, dismissed or otherwise disposed of without recording a conviction.
• Similarly, if you, or your spouse/de facto partner (if any), have a conviction for a registrable offence, the sponsorship and therefore the visa will be refused unless the conviction has been quashed or otherwise set aside. The Department may approve the sponsorship in other very limited circumstances, but protection of the child will remain a primary consideration.

If you are applying to sponsor someone for a Partner visa, we will assess your criminal history to help ensure the safety of all applicants included in the application. This includes any children under 18. As part of this assessment, we will consider whether you have been convicted of a relevant offence and whether you have a significant criminal record in relation to the relevant offence.

A relevant offence regarding a Partner visa application is different from a registrable offence. Relevant offences are prescribed in the Migration Regulations 1994. These offences refer to offences against a law of the Commonwealth, state or territory within Australia, or a foreign country, involving any of the following matters:

• violence against a person, including (without limitation) murder, assault, sexual assault and the threat of violence
• the harassment, molestation, intimidation or stalking of a person
• the breach of an apprehended violence order, or a similar order, issued under a law of a State, a Territory or a foreign country
• firearms or other dangerous weapons
• people smuggling
• human trafficking, slavery or slavery-like practices (including forced marriage), kidnapping or unlawful confinement
• attempting to commit an offence involving any of the matters mentioned above or below
• aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence involving any of the matters mentioned above.

You will be considered to have a significant criminal record in relation to a relevant offence if, for that offence, you have been sentenced to:

• death
• imprisonment for life
• a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more, or
• 2 or more terms of imprisonment, where the total of those terms is 12 months or more.

We must also refuse the visa application if you have any conviction for a relevant offence and you do not consent for us to disclose your conviction to the visa applicant.